Travel

Tunis, Tunisia

20 March 2026

May your morning be as radiant as a blooming flower. 

EgyptAir

EgyptAir blessed us to have a good day as it transported Gabrielle and I from Cairo. We return to Tunis. The plane departs slightly late, allowing for the crew’s Call to Prayer on this auspicious holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.

We arrive into the Carthage-Tunis Airport on Fête de l’Indépendance. March 20 marked the end of 75 years of French protectorate rule in 1956. We celebrate Tunisian Independence Day!

Brilliant Tunisian flags fly beneath a bright blue sky. The air is clear and clean, a very welcome change after the smog of Cairo.

Everything runs smoothly as we speed thru customs and are met by Kamel, the guide for our ElderTreks tour. For the next few weeks, our lodging, meals, and activities will be the onus of someone else. It always seems a relief as I surrender myself to my one responsibility of each day: “What time am I to be on the bus?” 

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By Pat, ago

Museums and Mummies 

19 March 2026

This morning, I see the pyramids from my balcony. This bodes well for cleaner air today. We join our guide, Galal, for a final day exploring some of Cairo’s most interesting museums.

I find it difficult to believe the GEM didn’t have it all. However, there exists several other sites around the city that warrant a visit.

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By Pat, ago

Alexandria and an Ancient Wonder of the World

18 March 2026

Great Pyramid and Sphinx

No traveler in centuries has visited all Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, recognized for their grand scale and awesomeness. As a reminder: 

  • Great Pyramid of Giza
  • Hanging Gardens of Babylon now Iraq (uncertain location, likely destroyed by earthquake or neglect)
  • Statue of Zeus at Olympia Greece (could be at the bottom of the sea, maybe burned in Constantinople)
  • Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Turkey (burned, now a few rocks)
  • the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Turkey (destroyed and recycled rocks)
  • Colossus of Rhodes Greece (gone, earthquake, remains sold for scrap)
  • Lighthouse of Alexandria Egypt (destroyed by earthquake, ruins underwater)
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By Pat, ago

Cairo, Egypt

17 March 2026

July 11 1981

Cairo seems beyond belief. Then again, any city that tattoos minorities, leaves thousands to bed down on the streets, dresses in nightshirts and unzipped trousers, brews tea from canals, and is thick with tricksters, disbelief becomes the only reasonable Western response.

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By Pat, ago

Cairo Egypt – I Have Returned

16 March 2026

July 10 1981

I arrive on the African Continent. Cairo is a shock to my senses. Flying in, I could see the Nile Delta, beautiful green expanse becoming browner as we came to Cairo. What seemed longest runway in the world. In long drive from airport, one sees everything. The roads are packed with close relatives to Israeli bus drivers (I just arrived from Israel and their drivers are nuts.) Taxis honk and zoom in and out of traffic. Two kinds of drivers and pedestrians here: agile and dead. No such thing as a traffic lane. 

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By Pat, ago

What? Me Worry?

15 March 2026

Won’t kid myself: There exists a viable concern about flying in the direction of a war zone. Especially one started and executed by my own country. It is disconcerting that my government has declared Egypt, and for that matter, the entire Middle East, as a place from which Americans should immediately flee. 

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By Pat, ago

Jim 

31 December 2025

Jim was born in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve – an auspicious date if ever there was one, as if he arrived already aligned with fresh starts, late-night toasts, and a life inclined toward memorable experiences. 

What makes a BFF?

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By Pat, ago