let's do this again

Wipe the dust off your luggage! It's time to do this Winter Work thing one last time.

So, while I'm packing my bags to head back to Dubai, I should probably bring you up to speed...

Last January, I flew out to the UAE to intern on a yacht restoration project, henceforth "The Haida Project." Haida was launched in 1947 by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, USA. There's a short background on the project here. Shortly after my arrival, the vessel was towed from her berth in Port Khalid, Sharjah to Al Jadaf Shipyard in Dubai. We waited almost two weeks before the shipyard had room to lift Haida. The lift itself was quite an undertaking. Ten years had elapsed since Haida's last docking, and shipyard and dry dock officials were concerned about the vessel settling onto the keel blocks squarely. There's an account of Haida's dry docking here.

After getting Haida out of the water, the shipyard went to work replacing steel plates that were worn from 63 years of cruising the Northern Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. The shipyard also fitted new stabilizing fins and installed underwater lights. The entire process lasted more than three months, but when they finished with a fresh coat of paint, Haida looked ready to cruise again.

That ready-to-cruise look was merely on the exterior. When I returned in July, the cabin spaces were in the process of a face lift, nay, a deep cleansing, er... stripping. At her launch, Haida was a cutting edge yacht, outfitted with the latest technologies, many fresh from developments made in World War II. The present owner wants to restore Haida to that glory by outfitting her with advanced systems. In order to do that, it was necessary to cut out most of the joinery work on the interiors. My summer work included sizing air conditioning units, taking freeboard measurements, and an assortment of CAD projects. The summer in Sharjah also meant avoiding the outrageous 120° weather.

Since the summer, the consortium of engineers, designers, and consultants have been working on several important projects including the addition of two watertight bulkheads, a new retractable, azimuthing stern thruster, and revised crew accommodation arrangements.

Phew. A semester's worth of dust sure does cake up. So this January, I'll head back to Haida to keep working on the restoration. I'll be joined by one of my classmates, and together we will tackle planning the piping systems. It's like marine engineering class all over again.

Well, you better dust off your luggage, too. Let's do this again.

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Posted in: announcements,haida,traveling

deja vu

I am almost positive that I've been here before...

The flight from Atlanta to Dubai was regrettably turbulent-free, and we arrived practically on time. I flew Delta this time around, so I didn't run into any flight attendants named Guido. From my recollection of the Emirates flight, I think that there were more Americans flying on Delta. It was particularly great to find that there were no screaming children stomping about the economy cabin on my Delta flight. Overall, I suppose I would fly Delta to Dubai again; although, I do miss my free Emirates Airline socks.

After an excruciatingly long queue for Passport Control, I raced to collect my bag, narrowly saving it from the "return bag to behind the carousel's wall" monster. I scanned the crowd that lined the exit towards ground transportation. Which driver had been sent to pick me up? None of the faces looked familiar until a waving arm caught my attention: Abhi!  My return to Dubai was starting much like my first trip. Only the hot, moist air stood between juxtaposing the two arrivals.

I was greeted by Bijou the waiter by name as I walked into the hotel. Huzzah! The new management kept almost all of the staff from when I was last here. At the end of February, there were strong rumors of the new management cleaning house at the beginning of March. It will be good to see all of them again. I checked in and was surprised to find that I would be staying in my old room, too.

The staff and room number may not have changed, but the room furnishings had! New furniture including two chairs and a side table sat to the side of the door. The TV was upgraded to a better flat screen, and I counted more English-speaking channels.

I opened the door to the bathroom. Yikes. The vent fan was left off, so a mass of stale air had accumulated. The temperature outside wasn't that bad; it was just odd for it to be so warm in the middle of the night.

George and his family arrive Friday, while Captain Scott is on holiday until Sunday. My first item of business is to get a haircut. We'll see if the deja vu continues...

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Posted in: Delta Airlines,dubai,Emirates Airline,sharjah,traveling

stick to the script

Over the last 48 hours, I have often reminded myself to stick to the script. You see, readers, since returning from Pawleys Island, South Carolina after the Fourth of July, the schedule on on the First Coast has been chock-o-block. While the circumstances that led to what some may call a hectic schedule are a touchy subject with at least one reader, it will suffice to say that time on the First Coast was more limited than I had anticipated.

But let's talk about what's been going on!

The parentals and I made the annual trek up to Pawleys Island, South Carolina on Friday, July 2. Pawleys, for the Google Maps challenged (though, do see below) is about 90 minutes north of Charleston, SC. The tiny barrier island is generally calm and peaceful until the summer months when residents escape and rent their beach homes to visitors. Pawleys is great for relaxing on the beach, resting on the porch swing, or floating down the "crick." (Creek, y'all.)

View Larger Map

The Johnson Family is gracious to host us each year at their beach home, even though the place is packed with family. When we get there we become honorary members of the family, make ourselves at home, and dine on all of Mrs. Johnson's great food. The Fourth of July on Pawleys Island is a scene right out of the Music Man (mostly). The patriotism on Pawleys Island that weekend may have been the greatest concentration in the State of South Carolina. (After all, the island is only 0.7 square miles.)

We had a great time there (even if our trip up cut my time at home a bit shorter). The Griswolds returned to the compound late on Monday evening.

Okay. It isn't quite Harold Hill, but this parade had America written all over it.

The combination of getting back late on Monday coupled with leaving early on Friday meant that I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to see all of the people that were on the list. (There wasn't really a list... well, there wasn't a written list.) Starting Monday night I started making plans to cram as many people into the next 36 hours as I could. This is when sticking to the script became really important. My days were planned down to the quarter-hour, and tiny deviations could cause more disruptions than a heat wave in the Northeast. (Shout out to those readers who lost power over the last few days. The Hippie would want me to remind you of the benefits of home-installed solar panels.)

Tuesday was a busy day. I woke up around 7:30 am to make a 9:10 am dental appointment in Jacksonville. I promised Cindy at Huckins Yacht Corporation that I would stop by and update her on my work with Haida and the Webb semester. My time with Cindy was limited by an 11:45 am appointment at the Apple Store to drop off my PowerBook to send to Apple Depot for extended refurbishment. I kept eying my watch (iPhone) at the periodontist's office. They were running late by almost 30 minutes. Every minute that tic-tocked by meant less time to talk to Cindy.

When I finished with the appointment, I raced over to Huckins. It was great to see the yard and some of the remodeled offices. Huckins is a fantastic family company. They do great work, and they're designers and craftsmen you can trust. (/shameless plug)

Unfortunately, I started to deviate from the script... I arrived 15 minutes late to my Apple appointment. On arrival, the concierge told me that I probably would need to make a new appointment, but I explained the situation and the obvious time constraints. Success. I dropped off the PowerBook and continued back on schedule to my next destination: lunch with Mary Kraack.

There was a small side trip on the way to see Mary. Back in May while I was down in Houston for the Offshore Technology Conference, my iPhone 3G became an unwilling participant in an experiment with gravity. One cracked screen later, I mustered every ounce of self control and vowed to hold out on repairing or replacing the phone in anticipation of the iPhone 4's imminent release. Tuesday was the scheduled delivery date of my replacement iPhone, and I was checking the delivery status habitually. I stopped by the house to check on arrival and waited there for Mary to call back about lunch.

Mary got back with me around 3:00 pm, and we agreed to scrub the lunch plans so that I was able to keep my dinner plans with Kyle DuBose. In the meantime, the iPhone arrived, and I spent the next hour getting it setup. (Ok. The phone was up and running within minutes, but I had to take time to tinker with all the new features. -- If you're an iPhone 4 owner, let me know so that we can use FaceTime on our next call.)

Dinner with Kyle went according to the script. We met at Osaka, had a leisurely hibachi dinner, and caught up on the last year's worth of living. (Yup, it really had been that long.)

I made a house call to spend time with Nana before heading to the CCHS Theatre to catch up with MK. She's operating a spotlight for Cinderella (Ash Girl), and she seems to be enjoying it. After rehearsal, Mary, Paul, and I were delighted to be joined by Jeremy Douylliez, a recent graduate of Camden County High School and, basically, the coolest people in the theatre department. We talked about his new adventure at Piedmont College and life after Camden. Dinner with the Kraacks and Jeremy was refreshing, and I hope to be able to get the group together again.

Paul took this picture of Mary and I with the iPhone 4.

By this time, the script had run out -- 11:30 pm. I was tired, but a text message earlier in the day had alerted me that my 9:00 am Wednesday appointment with Troy was canceled. After some quick decision making, I decided to forgo a little sleep and go meet up with Troy. Three hours later, I was really tired, but the deviation was worth it!

Wednesday morning started slowly because of the late night. I did some laundry, and prepped the iPod for my ensuing 16 hours of flying. I managed to grab a quick lunch with Brad before heading down to the airport. Silly rules about checking in 90 minutes for international flights really shouldn't exit. (Yes, they probably should.) My time on the First Coast ended as I passed through security and on towards the gate.

My time at home was frenetic, and I think that this quick trip home really represented the epitome of my personality. When I look back over the last several days, there were so many great moments. The script didn't allow for not-so-great moments, and that's why I stuck to it.

Next stop: Dubai.

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Posted in: first coast,leisure photos,script,traveling

victory in newport

I pulled out of Newport, Rhode Island on a crisp Thursday morning after spending the last two days working with David Pedrick, a Webb alumnus from the Class of 1970 on the Haida project. One of my tasks this summer is to move the watertight bulkhead arrangement project along so that ABS can approve construction drawings, and Haida can be one step closer to satisfying the most stringent, modern rules and regulations. David and I spent time in February surveying Haida to determine the least obtrusive locations to install additional watertight bulkheads. For the non-naval architects in the readership, watertight bulkheads allow a vessel to be compartmentalized under the main deck to increase the survivability of the vessel in the event of a breach of the hull. Yes, it's the same concept that almost worked for the RMS Titanic. For compartmentalization to work, the entire compartment has to be watertight. In other words, water should not be able to spill over the top of one bulkhead into the next compartment. This past week we laid the proposed bulkheads over a general arrangement of the vessel to see how the bulkheads would affect crew and guest movement and piping and ducting runs. I will use these preliminary drawings in Sharjah to assess whether the proposed locations are the most convenient for ease of construction.

The buzz word this week has been "iterative," as in design is an iterative process. Iteration works well on paper and computer screens. In AutoCAD, mere key strokes and mouse movements can reposition the bulkhead in seconds. When one starts to iterate a design that has already been built, complications arise, particularly in ship design. On a ship, yacht, or even your neighbor's small fishing boat, each system interacts with all of the other systems. A minor change to one component will likely require a change on several other components in other systems. Again, iteration or design changes work well on paper. System changes in the real world can require removing existing systems to gain access to change the design. Do that over and over again for, say, ten years, and you can see why a solid design plan can make the difference between a quick refit and a long overhaul.

Newport offered many new experiences to me beyond working in David's office. On Lynn's recommendation, I had lobster quesadillas at the Red Parrot on South Thames Street. I toured the Newport Shipyard and saw a great collection of 12-m America's Cup boats. David was a principal member of the design team for several of the boats; he had a story for each boat we encountered. (The weather was overcast on the day that we looked at the 12-m boats; I'll take pictures when I return to Newport in early August.)

The Red Parrot

Of course, that same crisp Thursday morning that I was trying to make way for New York to fly home, the BMW Oracle racing team landed in Newport as part of the victory tour. Although the impressive catamaran wasn't in attendance, the fruit of BMW Oracle's hard fight was – the America's Cup trophy. The stately, silver cup stood atop a carbon fiber pedestal -- a true juxtaposition of the old world tradition and modern technology. After meeting a formidable “who’s who” from the sailing community, I loaded up the Jeep and raced back to Glen Cove to catch the train for my flight home.

The America's Cup

I’ll be home for five days before flying over to Dubai. Those five days will be my summer vacation, so I won’t be updating the blog during that time. Rest assured, we’ll have plenty to discuss once I get back to the Middle East. Enjoy the Fourth of July weekend!

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Posted in: america's cup,haida,leisure photos,newport,traveling

thesis adventure

What started as a simple day trip to Mystic, CT for the 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show metamorphosed into an epic three day adventure over land and sea to ports of call including Greenport, Orient Point, and Shelter Island, NY and East Lyme, New London, and Mystic, CT (plus some small towns on back roads between Mystic and New London). In May, the thesis team of Dixon, Lachtman, and Mouravieff (henceforth, Lidia, Andy, and Hampton) made plans to attend the WoodenBoat Show as a means of conducting parametric research for our senior thesis project. Lidia, Andy, and I are designing a solar-electric, wooden launch for our thesis. Our thesis will take the design from blank paper screen to construction-ready drawings. In order to do that, we need to know something everything about wooden boats. Because we all are aren't great wooden shipbuilders, there's a very large stack of books to read.

Each year, WoodenBoat magazine in association with the Mystic Seaport produce the WoodenBoat Show. The show is an excellent opportunity to see hundreds of wooden boats built by professionals, museums, families, and individuals. We thought it would be a great way to see, feel, smell, and hear about wooden boat building. (Don't worry there's great food in the adventure so as not to leave out our fifth sense.)

The day before the boat show, invitations to Seth Cooley's and Schuyler Needham's houses in East Lyme, CT and on Shelter Island, NY prompted our day trip to grow.

Thursday evening we chilled at Seth's house on the water in Connecticut. Seth took us out for a quick round of wake skating and wake boarding under a great sunset. After it grew too dark, we sat around Seth's patio while his dad grilled steaks and steamed lobsters. Dinner was fantastic, and it marked the beginning of a great weekend of food. (I told you we used all five senses.) Some other Webbies joined us for dinner, and it turned into a Webb party complete with a girl visiting from Scotland. The talking and games went late into the night until the thesis crew realized that we had to be up and out early in the morning.

King Neptune with a creature from the deep

More pictures from the entire trip can be viewed here.

Getting to Mystic from East Lyme is a snap. I-95 provides a quick, 15-minute link between the two towns. That is, it provides a quick link if there isn't a fuel tanker that spills diesel fuel all over I-95 two exits before Mystic. The tanker accident effectively shut down the interstate, prompting us to "choose our own adventure" on the back roads to Mystic. Can you imagine a time without a dash-mounted GPS? Technology has improved our lives in so many ways -- the only problem being that it has improved ALL of our lives, including the other 10,000 cars trying to go north on I-95. The traffic planners that mapped out the road(s) to Mystic didn't plan on that kind of traffic volume. We crept along to Mystic as the day approached noon. Finally, we ditched the Jeep just west of the Mystic drawbridge and decided to walk the last 1.5 miles to Mystic Seaport.

Our walking adventure commenced directly after the "where can I park so that the Jeep is still here this afternoon?" adventure. I'm glad we walked -- we found a great deli/ice cream shop at the drawbridge, the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Shop.

The boat show proved to be quite a success. We talked to some folks, took a ride on a repowered electric launch from 1903, and learned a few things about boat building. I even had the opportunity to listen to a launch operator who spoke in stream of consciousness. A real (GHP) Commie treat!

The 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport

We packed up for the New London-Orient Point Ferry to head back to Long Island. Schuyler invited us to Shelter Island to see the custom boat shop and meet another wooden boat designer who used to work at Sparkman and Stephens. Shelter Island was a nifty place, and I can understand why so many people vacation there in the summer.

Shelter Island's Coecles Harbor Marina under moonlight

Our thesis adventure drew to a close the next morning as we shoved off for Webb. Lidia and Andy had to get back early for family and travel obligations. I, on the other hand, had time to burn as I waited for the next leg of my summer travels to begin.

What do you see in the clouds reaching up to the Moon?

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Posted in: ferry,mystic seaport,shelter island,thesis,WoodenBoat

at it again

It has been a few months, admittedly. To those (to one) of you who have frantically wondered what happened since Day 4 in Egypt, I've got a quick summary in this post to bring you up to speed.

After leaving Dubai at the end of February, classes resumed in full force. This semester marked the beginning of the Webb Trifecta: ship design, marine engineering design work, and thesis. Over the duration of sixteen weeks, our class completed conceptual designs for six different "small" ships, a preliminary design for a product carrier fire main, and researched and selected thesis topics. We also continued to take classes like hydrodynamics, ship structures, and American government. The end of the semester ended in its usual whirlwind.

And now, I'm at it again. Most Webbies take the summer for themselves and turn down job offers. We all need a certain amount of decompression time after the "total emersion" curriculum. Be it an indicator of my mental health: my decompression starts with three days in Newport, continues with 5 days at home, jumps to the Middle East for 30 days, hops back to Newport for another 7 days, and ends with Leadership Week back at Webb on the 16th of August. Now, in words, that doesn't look too daunting, but don't forget that I have to travel to all of these places. It's a 4.5-hour drive from Webb to Newport (on a good day), and a 15-hour flight to Dubai. Did I mention that when I go "home" that I am actually only spending two days in Georgia and the rest in Charleston? Yes, my decompression is a little spastic.

Why do it? Well, the Haida project is super cool, and I get to go back to Dubai for a month. (Regrettably, in the middle of the blazing summer...)

So what do you have to look forward to seeing and reading this summer? I'm covering a smorgasbord of destinations Newport, Mystic, East Lyme, Glen Cove, Shelter Island, Jacksonville, Kingsland, Charleston, Pawley's Island, Dubai, Sharjah, and who knows where else I might land.

It's game on, readers. There's a world out there for making waves, and I'm at it again.

Sunset at Webb Institute

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Posted in: announcements

Day 4: "i love egypt"

After two great days with the Briers and Mohammed, I didn't know what we would do on Thursday when the Far Horizons group was traveling to Luxor. Luckily, Mohammed had a friend that was also a tour guide. Mohammed set everything up for Mother and me and almost jumped off of the bus on Wednesday afternoon without telling us his friend's name. "I made it easy for you. His name is Mohammed -- you're in Egypt, what did you expect?"

Mohammed (Mohammed I's friend) and Mohammed's friend, Moudi, picked us up at our hotel on Thursday morning. Both Mohammeds (okay, honestly, this is turning into an Abbott and Costello routine) arranged a half day of touring Islamic, Coptic, and Old Cairo. As Mother and I set off for the Citadel, we had no idea how much we would see on our last day in Egypt.

Our first stop was the Citadel to see the Mosque of Muhammad Ali sometimes referred to as the Alabaster Mosque.

This building has been the icon of the Cairo skyline since it was built in 1830.

Muhammad Ali was the self-proclaimed leader of Egypt during the nineteenth century. He built the mosque to honor himself and his accomplishments. Now, don't jump down Muhammad Ali's throat just yet. He's actually responsible for the birth of modern Egypt, a real reformer. Take his mosque for example. He built it at the Citadel on top of the ruins of Mamaluk palaces. The mosque became one of the most recognizable features of the Cairo skyline.

Let's talk architecture. The mosque may be the most recognizable feature on the skyline, but it is the least Egyptian. The courtyard's colors and architecture are decidedly more European than Arabian. Muhammad Ali departed from traditional Ottoman styling because he intended to break away from Istanbul and build a bigger, more modern city.

The interior courtyard of Muhammad Ali Mosque.

This clock tower was donated by France after Egypt gave Paris an obelisk from Luxor. Muhammad Ali got the short end of the stick-- the clock has never worked.

Our Mohammed took a page from Professor Brier, walking us out of the mosque and towards the Citadel gates. We had a full day still to come.

The Citadel has defended Cairo from its foreign enemies for hundreds of years.

We left the Citadel and drove a short distance to the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun. This mosque is significant because the original structure was built with mudbricks just like the mastabas. The Mosque of Ahmad ibin Tulun is one of Egypt's oldest that is still standing, and it is a popular destination for tourists.

The fountain of absolution from the Ibn Tulun mosque.

A Cairo street view from the top of the original minaret from the Ibn Tulun mosque.

Mohammed and Moudi then drove us through the "back" way to Coptic Cairo. At one point we entered a three-way intersection, stopped, reversed, and parked. I wasn't quite sure what was going on because I could tell that we hadn't reached Coptic Cairo.

"Falafel!" Mohammed had spotted a falafel shop as we were entering the intersection. He explained that falafel balls started in Egypt as a meat substitute for the Copts during Lent. Today falafels are a ubiquitous Middle Eastern street food. Mohammed order some of the fried fava bean balls, and we jumped back in the car for Coptic Cairo. As we drove, we snacked on the falafels. They were surprisingly light and quite tasty. I don't expect to find falafel that good on the streets of New York!

Our first stop in Coptic Cairo... wait, who are those people? Is that Bob Brier's shopping group?? Yes, it is. We ran into the Briers, Mohammed I, and the Far Horizons gang as they were leaving Coptic Cairo. Judy gave me a heads up that I would want to take pictures. (Thanks, Judy!)

Our first stop in Coptic Cairo was the Hanging Church, so called because it was built over an old Babylonian fortress. The church dates back to 690 AD and may have been the first church in Egypt to have been built in the Basilican style. In later times, travelers referred to it as the staircase church because of the 29 steps that lead up to the entrance.

The remains of the Babylonian fort that became the foundation for the Hanging Church.

The Hanging Church was an important stop for the Holy Family on their trip through Egypt.

After the Hanging Church, we visited the Church of Saint George (10th century) and the Ben Ezra Synagogue (9th century). "We have more falafel to fry." (Ok... Mohammed didn't actually say that, but I bet he thought it.)

We drove down to the Nile and had lunch on a (touristy) buffet barge. The lunch was so-so, but the view was spectacular.

When Mohammed I arranged the tour, he told us that we would finish by 3:30pm. As we left the buffet barge, I glanced at my phone; it was already 2:00pm. Our next stop was the Bazar in Old Cairo, and I knew that stop would take a while because Mother wanted to buy spices for people back home. I shrugged, put my phone away, and got back to the action.

Moudi was a great driver. We darted around the traffic with grace, not clumsily like the Cairo cab drivers. The traffic on the way out to the Bazar was starting to build, and I knew from the past three days that getting back to Giza in the afternoon can take forever.

Moudi dropped us off at the entrance to Khan el-Khalili aka The Khan or just the Bazar. We walked ahead while Moudi parked the car. Mohammed pointed out the giant gates that allowed ancient Cairo to tightly control immigration and to defend itself. Moudi approached with two glasses of a green-ish liquid. A wide grin appeared on Mohammed's face. "Drink this. It's an Egyptian favorite." Mother took the first sip and immediately gagged. Mohammed and Moudi laughed, and I decided to try it for myself. As I slowly drank from the glass, Mohammed explained that it was sugarcane juice or kasab. Moudi finished his in record time while Mohammed answered Mother's question about the ingredient list. "Sugarcane... that's it." Mother and I both drank our full glass of sugarcane.

Moudi delivers the super sweet kasab, a pure sugarcane juice.

We walked deeper into Old Cairo passing the House of as-Suhaymi. The house dates back to 1648, and it is a prime example of an affluent man's home in Ottoman Cairo. The rooms wrap around a central courtyard like a maze. Each room seems to be on a different level with stairs guiding you from place to place.

The streets of the Khan are always filled with children running and playing games.

A stained glass window inside the house of as-Suhaymi provided colorful light.

One of the many courtyards

Mother explored the market a bit, and then Mohammed guided us toward Fishawi's cafe in the heart of the bazar. The afternoon had definitely transformed from sightseeing to just hanging out with Mohammed and Moudi. We sat at the cafe watching the people bustle around the market and talking about life in general. I explained that I was visiting Cairo as a visa run while working in the UAE. As I talked more about the internship and Webb's winter work program, Mohammed and Moudi switched to Arabic for a moment. It turned out that Moudi was a industrial engineering student at Cairo University. His four year program also had internships or training periods. In contrast to the Webb (and American) system, Moudi had to pay his employers for the internship. Moudi told me that there is no charge for Egyptians to go to college. I explained that I was getting paid to work and live in Sharjah and that my college had a full-tuition scholarship for each student. "I love Egypt," he sarcastically declared.

Mother contemplates her next purchase while sipping tea in Fishawi's cafe.

We finished our tea, and Mohammed proposed that we go to Downtown Cairo and then to a real spice shop in Giza near our hotel. We skipped the market's spice stores and walked back towards the car.

Mother, Mohammed (black vest), and Moudi (brown jacket) explore the Bazar at Khan el-Khalili.

As the sun started to sink on the horizon, we time traveled (through a tunnel!!) back to modern Cairo. This time traveling marked the end of the sightseeing and the beginning of what could only be called the "Walk Like an Egyptian Tour." I really enjoyed the local perspective of walking the streets and seeing what the afternoon rush is like for people living in the greater Cairo area. Downtown Cairo is as big and crowded as any Western city. The streets are lined with shop after shop, with like goods generally grouped together. Moudi negotiated the car into a tight parallel parking spot. Mohammed got out and directed us towards a bakery.

Not just any bakery -- El Abd Bakery, Cairo's most well known and busiest. The aroma of fresh sweets and breads filled the air as we shoved our way into the crowded shop. We followed closely behind Mohammed as he searched for the perfect Egyptian pastry. He finally settled on some nuts and a "bird's nest" cake.

Moudi parted the crowd so that we could easily exit the bakery tightly clutching our tasty goods, and then we walked around the streets. Mother found Egyptian cotton towels (I wonder if Egyptians covet Sea Island cotton like we covet Egyptian cotton?) to take back to school. (Seriously. The people taking her college class are so lucky. They're getting bookmarks, postcards, food, and who knows what else.) I was impressed by the orderly chaos on the streets. Walking teaches Egyptians to be fearless. Pedestrians will walk anywhere and cross anywhere, particularly if there is an onslaught of cars approaching. The roads rarely have marked lanes, and local drivers -never- follow them if the roads are marked.

After walking around a bit, we loaded up in the car. Cairo has these neat parking meters that are connected with a steel bar on the ground that "locks in" your car until you pay. This is a great concept to avoid people cheating the meter and cut down on enforcement costs. Of course... the system only works with the steel bar actually retracts when you feed it money. Right. With some finagling, the meter started working and the bar went back into the ground. We were off for our next adventure.

Mohammed had promised to take Mother to a real spice store so that she could avoid paying the tourist price. We hopped out on a busy Giza intersection and ran to the spice store. Mohammed worked as interpreter for Mother and the Yemeni shopkeepers. I had never stopped to think that spice names weren't universal. As Mother looked around Mohammed sometimes had trouble translating the spices. We walked out with quarter kilos of cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, dried red chilies, and dukkah. Dukkah is an Egyptian meat spice that typically goes on chicken and similar meats. It can also be used for dipping breads with olive oil.

With that final acquisition, we crawled back to the hotel in the evening Giza traffic. Our time in Egypt was nearly finished, and today had been the best day of the trip. Mohammed and Moudi were fantastic guides and very generous. What was supposed to be a half-day tour turned into a full day adventure! If you're traveling to Cairo, consider using Mohammed's company, Egypt Fun Tours. (Ok... yes, the name needs work, but the service is spectacular and reasonably priced.)

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Posted in: cairo,coptic cairo,egypt,giza,islamic cairo,leisure photos,old cairo,walk like an egyptian

Day 3: "and behind this pyramid..."

Let's get this out in the open now: I misspelled the name of one of the largest and oldest necropoli on my Egyptology midterm. There. From this day forward, you can "wake me up in the middle of the night," ask me to spell Saqqara, and I will respond with S-A-Q-Q-A-R-A. Thank you. We can now go fry bigger fish.

Our second day with Professor Brier and Pat started a wee bit earlier to accomodate the long drive out to Memphis, the oldest capital of Upper and Lower Egypt. Memphis is in the valley near the Saqqara and Dashur plateaus. Almost everything that remains of the city has been damaged by thousands of years of mud and water. The high water table that allowed Memphis to thrive now jeopardizes the integrity of the artifacts.

We visited the open air museum in Memphis to see the second largest sphinx and several Ramses colossi. The sun, still low on the horizon, provided excellent lighting for interesting pictures.

Ramses the Great (Ramses II) may not have built a pyramid, but he certainly erected his likeness everywhere.

This is the second largest sphinx known to Egyptologists. Extensive water damage has ruined the alabaster stone.

Here's a yummy mummy question: What is the name of this Egyptian god?

Calling all shoppers! Pat Remler, a fantastic art historian and Professor Brier's wife, guided the group to a roadside stand just outside of the museum. The Memphis-area has some of the best handicraft prices around Lower Egypt. Several people from the group, including my mother, purchased baskets.

I kept my distance from the shoppers, but there were "great deals."

Professor Brier and I were both in grief over the number of baskets that seemed to be making their way home with us. "Guys, if you keep buying stuff you're going to ruin my reputation... 'Oh, there's Professor Brier's shopping group...' "

The road between Memphis and Saqqara bisected several villages where the bus had to slow down. The villages were a nice change of pace from the chaos of Cairo and Giza. I was able to take several pictures as we drove along.

Camels, while not native to Egypt, have become ubiquitous in the Egypt iconography.

The greater Cairo area is home to more than 20 million people making it the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. It is the 2nd largest in the Islamic world, following Jakarta.

These men are all awaiting carpool vans to commute into Cairo.

I don't know what this says in Arabic, but the banner got my attention. Any translators following the blog?

The bus picked up speed as Professor Brier reminded us that we had "bigger fish to fry."

We quickly arrived at the Saqqara necropolis. While the Great Pyramids and the Giza Plateau are embedded in Egypt's iconography, the Saqqara necropolis is much larger and spans more dynasties. We picked up an inspector for a special entrance into the Tomb of Unas.

We entered the causeway up to the Unas tomb. The pharoanic tombs usually had a causeway that joined the valley temple and mortuary temple. The Unas causeway is in surprisingly good condition.

Professor Brier points out a boat ala Ben Fisher. This carving appeared on the walls lining the causeway to the Pyramid of Unas and depicts the transportation of tall columns.

These sand-filled holes are the remnants of an ancient Egyptian game that the priests used to pass the time.

Michael, a Far Horizons tour member, reads out the hieroglyphs for the group. For an emergency room physician and software developer, he really knows his Egyptology.

The Tomb of Unas is one of those places that often is overlooked by travel guides and solo tourists. It sits in the shadow of Djoser's step pyramid concealed by several mastabas. Make no mistake. This tomb is very important for the history of Egypt and the world.

The Pyramid of Unas as seen today at the Saqqara necropolis.

Inside of this crumbling tomb, Professor Brier began to explain the evolution of the funeral ceremony. In the early dynasties, priests would cast spells over the body of the deceased to ensure its passage to the next life. As time progressed, the list of spells became longer and more complex. An innovation is preserved inside of Unas's tomb: the first known example of ancient religious texts. The walls of the burial chamber are carefully inscribed with the Pyramid Texts, the priests' spells to protect and guide Unas to the afterlife.

Photography is not permitted inside of the tomb, but today was an exception. The lighting is very poor, but you can clearly see the blue paint that still remains inside of the heiroglyphs. Stop and think. These are the oldest religious writings in the world.

Professor Brier points out one of the spells used to guide Unas west to the afterlife.

The walls of the antechamber and burial room were completely covered with spells. Professor Brier believes that the pyramid was finished in a hurry because not all of the carvings have the same craftsmanship.

After hiding our cameras and exiting the tomb, we walked towards the Step Pyramid complex. Along the way we passed several Egyptian Cadillacs.

Mohammed warned, "It may be free to ride the camel, but it's going to cost you to get off."

We descended down to Djoser's Great Court. Imhotep, the Step Pyramid's architect, originally designed a mastaba for King Djoser of Dynasty 3. When the mastaba was finished, Djoser was still kicking. Imhotep decided to embellish the mastaba by adding a second level. He widened the existing mastaba and continued upwards. Again, Djoser was drinking the right Koolaid and still hadn't died. Imhotep added a third level. a fourth level. a fifth level. a sixth level. Each new level required the preceeding levels to be widened. The result is the world's first pyramid.

This is it. The pyramid evolution starts here.

Imhotep has claim to another world's first: stone construction.

Notice the size and quality of the stones in contrast to the ones from the Giza Plateau. It's no wonder that the small, uneven stones caused structural problems for Imhotep.

As a result of building the world's first (take heed, Dubai), the structure was not very sound. Cedar beams were used to keep the walls from collapsing, and Uncle Zahi is directing an extensive restoration and soil management plan in order to preserve the Step Pyramid.

Uncle Zahi's restoration scaffolding obscured much of our view of the Step Pyramid.

Hey! These guys are cheating. Shouldn't they have to restore the Step Pyramid using ancient techniques...

"We've only scratched the surface, boys and girls."

We exited the Step Pyramid complex through the priests' hidden entrance, boarded the bus, and drove towards Dashur. From the Step Pyramid to the Great Pyramid there were less than 100 years. In fact, Egypt's pyramids can be placed on a 100-year timeline. Mind you, the pyramids are an Old Kingdom thing. Egyptian civilization did not evolve to pyramids over thousands of years. The pyramids are early in Egyptian history, and they came and went like a blip on the Egyptological timeline.

"I wonder if we'll see another pyramid?"

Yes, indeed! Dashur is home to the Bent and Red Pyramids of Snefru. While Snefru's son may have built the Great Pyramid, father still wins. During Snefru's reign not one but three pyramids were constructed for the pharoah. Whoa. Three pyramids? Snefru had terrible luck with his first two pyramids. His first pyramid in Meidum crumbled horrifically, leaving a tower-like mess.

His second attempt, the Bent Pyramid, will soon be opened to the public, as a letter from Uncle Zahi in the Egyptair magazine stated. The Bent Pyramid was another failure for the Snefru construction company. Remember, these are early pyramids, and construction techniques were no where near perfect. As the pyramid rose, a corner settled and the entire structure began to implode. In order to finish it, the angle was decreased. "So, Pharoah, it's almost like we planned this neat architectural design..." The Bent Pyramid is one of Professor Brier's favorites.

The Bent Pyramd's settling corner can be seen in the lower right of the picture.

"This way, boys and girls, I have a surprise for you."

Behind the Bent Pyramid is a small, crude pyramid that doesn't seem to have a purpose. "It may have been a trial for the Great Pyramid. I've been inside of it, and it has a miniature grand gallery." Professor Brier's previous tour inside of the small unknown pyramid took place before Houdin's theory was announced, so he didn't pay attention to the details about the miniature gallery. Could it be that this often overlooked pyramid could unlock the secret of its greater cousin? The entry was locked, so we'll have to wait for another day. Besides, Professor Brier had one final pyramid treat before we returned to Zamalek.

This unknown pyramid might just be a stack of leftover stones from the Bent Pyramid, but the miniature grand gallery might be a clue.

Our final stop at Dashur was Snefru's final resting place, the successful Red Pyramid. So named because of the red hue the stone assumes under the Egyptian sun, this pyramid is one of the most difficult to enter.

With the day nearing to an end, no one turned down the opportunity to climb into another pyramid with Professor Brier.

Mother carefully climbed the uneven stone stairs up to the entrance. The rest of the Far Horizons group can be seen behind her.

Once inside, you climb down 200 feet and then back up to enter an antechamber. From the antechamber you climb up a ladder to the burial chamber. At this point, you are inundated with the strong scent of ammonia. Even after many fumigations, the smell of bat guano clings tightly to the walls. Our pyramid treasure seekers began looking for stone patterns that suggested hidden rooms. No luck in the Red Pyramid... or was there?

Tomb robbers thought that there might be something under the sarcophagus and excavated below it. This picture gives you a great idea of the crude stones used to form the foundation.

All of this talk about secret rooms and different stone patterns had the Nancy Drews looking for hidden chambers. Even if we did find a room, I wouldn't tell you...

Our time with the Briers and the Far Horizons group had come to a close. Professor Brier awarded a Yummy Mummy to one of the Far Horizons travelers on our way back to Zamalek. I really enjoyed touring with the Far Horizons group, and I hope they enjoyed the rest of their time with Professor Brier and Pat. Anyone can go to Egypt. Anyone can tour Egypt. Only the Briers can show you Egypt like you've never seen before.

Professor Brier and his wife Pat have been leading tours through Egypt for Far Horizons for 30 years. They still find new and exciting things each time they make the trip.

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Posted in: bob brier,dashur,egypt,far horizons,leisure photos,saqqara,traveling