Our hotel is just wonderful ... Sofitel Cairo El Cezirah (the best of Morocco in the heart of Cairo, or so they say) ... very upscale complete with Hermes bath products in our spacious room overlooking Cairo. We are located on an island in the Nile in the midst of the city. Photos from Day 1 are taken from our hotel balcony. The hotel has lovely lounges, restaurants, spa, lobbies, walks along the Nile, gift shop where I see my first souvenir but never get it because the shop is never open when we are in the house, so to speak! We get a little break to rest and then head into the tour orientation.
The tour introduction session provides an opportunity for us to get the lay of the land about our fellow travelers - 31 in all including us. Five singles and the rest are couples. Several couples have traveled 13, 14, 15 times with Vantage ... that's a good omen. Mohamed sets the tone for our adventure with his distinction between tourists (looking at sites) and travelers (seeing the sites and learning about the culture through interaction and education). It's a valuable distinction!
Dinner follows with the full range of mezzo offerings: hummus, tahini, babaganesh, yogurt and cucumber and more then mixed grill prepared in the dining room and smoking up the entire room! Dessert is rice pudding! We could have stopped there and been perfectly happy! The members of the tour group seem very compatible and we are eager to get to know them over the next two weeks.
We walked along the Nile back to our room for a much needed night's sleep.
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