Egypt Day 1: Arrive in Cairo - The adventure begins

Sigrid planned the Egypt portion of the trip through Sayeed at Oriental Tours Egypt. We love the itinerary and have great expectations.

As usual, I am going to try and maintain a photo journal throughout the trip on this blog. We'll see how it goes.

Itinerary Day 1:  Arrive in Cairo 

"Arrive at Cairo International Airport, where you will be met and assisted with customs and visa formalities. You will be transferred to your hotel – overnight in Cairo. Sleep and relax at the hotel."

Journal:

Almost 30 hours of elapsed time door to door. The long London  layover and connection from Gatwick to Heathrow was a mistake. Should've stayed overnight to relax between flights.

Heathrow is a big beautiful Airport. The airport rivals shopping malls in the US. Our thinking was that - between the stores, restaurants and frequent flyer lounge - we would have plenty to entertain ourselves between flights. Problem being, all that stuff is behind security and EgyptAir does not show up at the departure terminal until a few hours hours before flight time. We had no way to get behind security to enjoy the Heathrow amenities. 

We were both feeling beat up by the time we got on the flight to Cairo. To make matters worse they don't serve alcohol on EgyptAir flights.

Landed in the dark around 5:00 AM.  Ramadan, our representative from Oriental Tours Egypt, was the to greet us with our prepaid visas and escorted us through customs.

I don't know if it was the time of day or Ramadan's expediting services, but getting through customs was a breeze. Probably the easiest Transit into a country I've never experienced. no lines, in the car and heading to the hotel within minutes.

Didn't spend much time enjoying the view from the terrace of our room...

... as we crashed as soon as we got to the room.

It's a Marriott today but was originally a palace back in the day. After recovering we spent some time in the evening exploring the grounds and enjoying a drink in the Billiard Room Bar.

Sigrid is ready to move into her living room

Editors Note: I intend to pre-load and schedule automated blog posts with the daily itinerary for our Egypt and Jordan adventure. For those interested, this may be an easy way to follow along. Internet access is always a crapshoot. My hope is that by pre-loading the itinerary it will be easier to add some pics and journal commentary as time and the internet permits. If there are no pics or commentary, you'll just have to wait until we get back. Further!

OAK => LGW => LHR => CAI

A four airport day is always a bad day. But it's not so bad when accompanied by the excitement at the beginning of a new travel adventure. At least we've planned this so that we are leaving before Friday 13th and arriving in Cairo after Friday the 13th. We will only be on airplanes and in airports during Friday the 13th. But I'm not superstitious. So no problem.

We're off on a tour of Egypt and Jordan. As per usual, my Travel Advisor has planned an extraordinary cultural and sightseeing packed (possibly over-packed) 3+ weeks. It'll be great. But exhausting. But great.

Also as per usual, I will attempt to maintain a daily photo journal of our travels on this blog - time and internet availability permitting.  The Itinerary is pre-loaded and should appear on a day-by-day basis. But the the map is never the territory and it's likely we'll diverge from the plan. Also as per usual, the journal will be incomplete and sustain significant gaps while en-route. I'll finish it eventually. If interested in our travels, watch this space.

This trip has been on Sigrid's list for a while. It'll be our fourth trip to Africa (Ethiopa in 2012, West Africa and Mali in 2007, Southern Africa in 1995) and first to the Middle East.

We've received more than the usual expressions of concern from friends and family about this trip. Truth be told, Early in the year I told Sigrid to forget about it and plan a trip in some other part of the world. There are a lot of places we have yet to visit. Then - at a Thanksgiving table with friends - we sat across from a couple who had recently returned from a trip to Egypt (you know who you are). They were effusive about the people, the trip, and the experience. As I sat there listening, I knew it was game over.

The fear is, of course, terrorism. But when you look at what has actually transpired over the last couple years, it's not like you can eliminate the risk by being in an airport in Fort Lauderdale or Brussels, a nightclub in Orlando or Paris, on the waterfront in Nice, at an office party in San Bernardino, or at a Christmas market in Germany. The risk is small and just staying home is not something we are going to do.

Finally, for my friends and family in Chicago, I'd just like to point out that the murder rate per capita in Cairo and Amman is about 1/3 of what it is in Chicago. So, while we're gone - you guys be careful out there.

Can't wait. We're off.

Sharp Park in the Mud

 Perhaps my best swing of the day. 

I forewarned the usual suspects that we would be playing a round in between winter storms, which means a muddy course. Bob and Stuart confirmed anyway.

The forecast held, weather was clear and cool, and the course was muddy. We didn't take the usual group shot until later in the round, as Bob did not join us until later in the round. You'll note in these screenshots that the course venue was specified in the e-mail invite subject header as well as the 8:30 tee-time. Just sayin'

Bob was still at Lincoln when we teed off. Surprisingly, he caught us on the 3rd tee. Impressive.

The course was as muddy as forecast. Winter rules. As it turns out, the Women's Club Tournament we thought was behind us skipped the canyon and jumped ahead of us anyway. This slowed things down a bit, even by Sunday public golf standards.  Willie was playing as a single and joined us in the canyon. He was best prepared among us to deal with typical Sunday muni delays.

Folding seat, table attached to cart with drink, snacks, and music. Muni golf at it's finest.

In the hope of following up my decent outing at Lincoln with another sub 100 round, I decided to not attempt the usual live blog on the course. Instead we'll just post a few pictures from the day, with a focus on my new favorite blogging toy - animated gifs. Without further ado:

Stuart misses his putt on 10

I was feeling pretty good at the turn...

SJ 46
MW 49
BP 54

Bob out of jail in 10th fairway

Stuart on 12th tee

You'll note my drive on 12 is not heading toward the green.
Neither is my divot.
Yes, I hit a divot off the tee.

Bob on 14th tee

Traditional 17th Tee Portrait

Bob on 18

Willie on 18

Stuart on 18

Muddy but fun. Didn't quite get there (sub 100) but a great day at Sharp in tough conditions.

SJ - 89

BP - 100 

MW - 103

19th Hole

I tripled on 18 but won't complain. Any time I break 100 is a good day. Kyle was appreciative of  his first experience at Lincoln. Sure, he was whining about the greens, but acknowledged that Lincoln offered some of the most spectacular vistas in golf. 

BF 93

MW 95

KF 98

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Other Bob brings it home on 18

After I explained that others have given up the game after losing a round to me, Bob smacked this 165 yards approach shot to put it on in regulation.

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17th Tee

We had some time to kill on the 17th tee waiting for the green to clear. Getting these two to line up properly for the traditional 17th hole portrait was like herding cats.

Got it right eventually.

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At the turn...

... I'm kicking ass.

MW 49

BF 50

KF 50

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Kyle safely out of the trap on 8th...

... and well over the green.

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6th Tee

Bob and Kyle are showing off for the golf gods.

Bob cut a bit too much off the corner. 

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5th Hole

This => "I need to borrow your beer for a prop levers drinking the Red Seal right now"

Was apparenetly accidently added to the post by google voice recognition overhearing a random conversation snippet. As a blogging originalist, I thought it best not to delete it.

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Kyle off the 4th tee

Striped it, - on his way to a bogey.

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Live Blogging Lincoln Park

Playing with the Feldscher boys. We had a late start because Bob set up the tee time. Except that he didn't. We had to hang around for about 45 minutes before they could fit us in.

I wasn't going to live blog this threesome but Bob insisted. He wanted Kyle to get The Full Lincoln Park Experience - so we'll be documenting the round. Kyle is already making excuses, claiming he has not played golf in months. Whatever.

Couldn't be a nicer day at Lincoln Park. Sunny, cool, no clouds, no wind - I have high hopes for my round.

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Golf Therapy at Lincoln Park

On my doctor's orders I am at my safe space in Lincoln Park playing golf to take my mind off of... well... you know.  I don't want to repeat that trigger word here. No live blogging today due to my fragile mental state.

Playing with Stuart, Rick, and Bob. Beautiful day. Early fog has burned off and we are now enjoying warm temps, sunshine, and little wind... it couldn't be nicer. Stuart is contributing photos, partially relieving me of the burden documenting the round. Will update with photos after the round.

A great day, except for the fact that Rick "Trumped" me on the front nine. At the turn:

SF 44
RZ 45
BP 49
MW 53

The election result is affecting my game more than I anticipated.  I was reminded that I've frequently asserted that I would give up the game if Rick beats me. He's playing out of his mind with four pars on the front. I'm playing badly. At this point in the day I began to realize this could be the end of me golf career. On the 10th tee I was determined to fight back.

Believe it or not this corkscrew follow-through resulted in a great drive and a par. Alas it was not enough...

I guess I must disclose the final results.

SJ 44 43 87
BP 49 40 89
RZ 45 54 99
MW 53 52 105

I've decided that it would be wrong for me to give up the game based on this single round. It was not my fault. Clearly the blame for my surprising under-performance lies elsewhere. I blame James Comey, the FBI, Vladimir Putin, WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, Bernie Sanders supporters, the New York Times, Washington Post, Mainstream Media, John Podesta, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Millennials, Boomers, Donna Brazille, Debby Wasserman-Schultz, Bill Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, House Republicans, the DNC and the low information, racist, sexist voters representing 50% of America.

I don't blame Hillary though. Not her fault.

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