A Visit to Egypt via Crete and Corfu March-April 1984 Crete, Greece Sunday 25th March. We flew on BA to Athens then Olympic to Heraklion, Crete. We hired a car and drove from Heraklion east to the Venetian port at Rethymnon. We drove south to Plakias and west to Malia, where we saw some windmills. Then across the Lasithi plateau to Agios Nikolaos .... .... with its nice harbour and boats. We visited Gournia Minoan ruins and the famous Minoan ruins at Knossos. This is the throne room at Knossos. Cairo, Egypt 30th March. We flew Olympic via Athens to Cairo and stayed at the Grand Hotel on 26th July Street. 31st March. Sightseeing in Cairo, we visited the Egyptian museum .... .... and Nile bridge, and checked out the Railway station for future reference. We had tea at the historic Shepheards Hotel on the Nile Corniche. In the evening we went to the market and had Shawarmas. Sunday 1st April. We visited Islamic Cairo, including Khan el Khalili bazaar, Bab (gate) el Nasr, Ezbekiya Garden and the imposing Bab el Futuh. There were market stalls outside Bab el Futuh .... .... and piles of garlic inside. We had tea at Groppi's on Talaat Harb square (on the left), once the most famous café, tearoom and patisserie in Egypt. We had dinner in the Cairo tower (cost £12 each plus drinks at £6). We got a horse and carriage back to the Grand Hotel for £3 - Jamie drove the horses! 2nd April. Another day of sightseeing in Cairo. We visited Ibn Tulun mosque, one of the oldest in Egypt .... .... where we eventually got inside .... .... and Rifai mosque in Citadel square, with shafts of sunlight and elaborate windows. We carried on to the Citadel (£E2 entrance fee) and the nearby Anderson House museum, dating to the 16th-17th century (£E1). We met Mohammed Kamal who invited us back for tea to his flat in Gizeh! We saw the son et lumiere at the Pyramids (£E4). We visited the luxurious Mina House hotel beside the pyramids and got the bus back to Cairo. 3rd April. We visited the Hilton hotel and got a taxi to Old Cairo, the Coptic Christian area, where we visited the Coptic museum, Babylon fortress, El Moollaya church and St George's church, and also the Amr Ibn Al Aas mosque in Fustat, Old Cairo. We walked to the Nilometer and got a train back to Cairo. We had tea at Groppi's and dinner at Ali Hassan Al Hathi restaurant. 4th April. We went to the Hilton hotel again and went for a Felucca ride on the Nile. We went up the Cairo tower to see the view of the Nile and the city .... .... and got a horse and carriage to the station to get the overnight train to Aswan. Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt 5th April. We stayed at the Old Cataract hotel, Aswan, and had tea and a swim there. We went on a tour to the unfinished obelisk, the Philae temple and the Old dam (but the new dam was closed). Had dinner at a riverside restaurant. 6th April. We flew to Abu Simbel to see the temples, and back on Egypt Air. Back in Aswan we went for a Felucca ride on the Nile. Then we got the train to Luxor where we had chicken at the 'Salt and Bread' café by the station. Luxor, Egypt 7th April. We stayed at the Grand Hotel, Luxor. We crossed the river, passed the Colossi of Memnon and visited the Valley of the Kings and some of its tombs - Tutenkhamun, Ramses VI, Horemheb and the 'safe tomb'. Back in Luxor town we visited the Winter Palace hotel and Luxor temple .... .... and looked around the souks. 8th April. We visited the magnificent Karnak temple. We sunbathed and swam at the Winter Palace hotel. And then we got the overnight train back to Cairo. Alexandria, Egypt 9th April. .... where we got the train on to Alexandria. There were rural scenes from the train on the way to Alexandria. We stayed at Hotel New Capri, 23 Port Street, with a great view of Cecil square and the sea below. We had lunch at a pizzeria, got a tram and a walk to Fort Kait Bey and had a carriage ride to the Amphitheatre. 10th April. We visited Fort Kait Bey, on the site of the famous ancient Pharos lighthouse at the mouth of the harbour. We visited Ras Al Tin, Pompey's pillar, the Catacombs and the Amphitheatre, and ate at 'The Diplomat' Italian restaurant. 11th to 13th April. Relaxing in Alexandria. We visited the Montazza palace, had sunbathes on the beach and went for tram rides and had a game of Tavola (backgammon) with people in a café. Had dinner at an Egyptian restaurant near the hotel. Cairo again, and Suez and Ismailia 14th April. We got the train back to Cairo and had a Chinese meal. 14th - 18th April. We stayed at the Grand Hotel again. We visited Fort Schulkowski, the Babs (Islamic city gates) and the Tombs of the Khalifs. Inside one of the tombs of the Khalifs in Cairo. We found the Bookbinder's house (Beit Gamal-ad-Din) at 6 Hosh Kadam off Sharia Liddin Illah, from directions in a hundred-year old Baedekker guidebook! We hired a car for a day and drove to Suez. The car was a wreck, it wouldn't go into reverse gear and we had to ask people to push us out of parking spaces! We drove to Ismailia and saw Lake Timsah, part of the Suez canal system. Back in Cairo we revisited the Pyramids and Mina House hotel. Then we visited Memphis and Sakkara for yet more pyramids and Ramses statues, this is Ramses II at Memphis. Lord Ti journeys through the papyrus thickets, in the Tomb of Ti, Sakkara, 2500BC. A timeless scene near Sakkara. Corfu, Greece 19th April. We flew to Athens on Egypt Air and on to Corfu on Olympic. On Sat 21st April we saw the Easter pot-breaking festival in Kerkyra, where people smash pots by throwing them out of the windows .... .... and looked around Kerkyra town. We went to Nissaki at the north end of the island and had a meal opposite Albania. We went to Paleokastritsa and Kouloura in the north, then down to Marathias, Lefkimi and Kavos in the south, and back to Vlahema Monastery at Kanoni near the airport. 24th April. We flew back to Athens on Olympic and on to London on BA. If you would like to see more of our travels just click the map.