Alexandria: wherein "My Queen" visits the major sites

I debated whether or not to go to Alexandria pretty much right up until I got in the car.  The city was apparently 2 hours away from Cairo, which adds up to a full half-day spent in the car.  Also, given the distance and what not, this was a pretty expensive tour.  And they were going to make me get up all early in the morning again. :)

But, I paid, and I went.  And I really don't mean for this to sound bitchy, but I kind of wish I hadn't.

My guide and driver met me in my hotel's lobby at some insane hour.  5:30 AM I think?  Anyway, it was bloody early.  And so began what was not, in truth, the two-hour ride I had been told to expect.  With traffic in both Cairo and Alexandria, and a lovely queue to buy gas halfway, it was definitely approaching closer to four.

My guide's name was Ahamed (sp?), and he sported an Indiana Jones hat and not much in the way of practical, in depth knowledge of his subject, as far as I could see.  Ismail from the Tower Prestige this was not.  He had this awesome habit of prefacing sentences with "As I have told you" when he had done absolutely nothing of the kind.

And he kept calling me "My Queen".

Eventually we arrived in Alexandria and pulled up to our first stop, the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa.

As always, it seemed these days, photos were forbidden inside but I got a few anyway.  Ahamed was convinced that this was the place that Cleopatra is buried; in fact there is a particularly beautiful tomb, with bas reliefs showing a woman bearing symbols and styles of both Egypt and Rome.  But for some reason, the Egyptians can't or won't open this tomb, so it appears we'll never know.  Anyway, there were lots of guards at this spot, so no photos.  Sorry.

The catacombs were extremely cool and creepy.  This being Egypt, Ahamed let me venture into some roped-off areas, and even go down to the next level that had been closed for flooding.  In the limited light provided my illegal sojourn, I saw lots of dead cockroaches and a few live ones.  Headed back up.

The catacombs were extremely creepy and awesome, and I very much enjoyed my guide-given liberty to climb around a little.  But then it was back into the car and across town to Pompey's Pillar.  And I began to see that these catacombs were maybe going to be the highlight of the day.

Seriously, it is only a testament to the incredible awesomeness that had suffused almost every hour of my trip so far that the sites Alexandria had too offer seemed lackluster by comparison.  But let's be real, the day after climbing into the heart of Khafre's pyramid, one lone Roman pillar is not going to make you squee with uncontainable joy.  It's just a perspective thing I suppose.  Jaded by ancient splendor after four days, who would have thought? :)

It's a cool site, even if there's not much left.  One of the best things were the underground tunnels.

With the lighting, this reminded me of a Predator spaceship

It was also here that Ahamed and I would get our signature photo taken, at his request.  This was the end result of several Egyptian teenage girls in traditional dress asking if they could take their photo with me.  "Look, here I am with this silly, giant, half-dressed, bright pink person!"  You're welcome, Egyptian Facebook.

Then it was time for more Roman ruins, and Ahamed and I headed back to mobile air-conditioning on our way to check out one of several Roman amphitheaters.

And then, it was time for lunch.  Fresh from yesterday's extreme and expensive awkwardness, I very nicely told Ahamed I wanted to go somewhere very quick and casual for lunch.  "A chicken schwarma place would be fine," I said.

Well, wouldn't you know, but apparently there just wasn't one single place in the entire city of Alexandria that would fit that description.

I was trying, as I had been trying my entire time in Egypt, to not be bothered by small stuff.  But this fired me up something fierce.  We are in what is probably Egypt's second-greatest city, and you're telling me you physically cannot take me to once single goddam cafe where they have goddam chicken schwarma on a stick so I don't have to throw back another 150 EGP for a fucking awkward lunch?

I'm sorry, but this was my tour.  My private tour.  I was paying no small amount for this, and I really did not think it was too much to ask that my guide honor a very simple preference request for lunch.  Apparently, it was.

Ahamed sulked through the entirety of our next stop, which was the Citadel of Qaitbey, built on the ruins of the Alexandria Lighthouse.  I did not get much "guiding" here, that's for sure.

I was basically ignoring him and romping around, but it cannot be denied that my time at Qaitbey was my first experience at a major historical site while dragging along a small child.  I now have appreciatively more respect for parents with recalcitrant toddlers.

Ahamed did not let his sulk get in the way of asking for our second picture together.

After the Citadel, we walked down to the end of a nearby pier.

It was here that Ahamed took my hands, looked sorrowfully into my eyes, and said: "My Queen, I wish so much to honor your request.  But it is just not possible."

Of course.

At which point, I sighed, smiled, and said: "That's okay, Ahamed.  You take us wherever you like.  I'm sure it will be great."  There is only so much one woman can do against the onslaught of Egyptian shenanigans.

And so it was that my hapless guide and I arrived at a seaside fish place which was inevitably where we were fated to be all along.  Once again, it had an expensive fixed menu but at least, praise the sweet Lord, had beer.  And Ahamed sat with me while our driver did not, which was a mixed blessing because it meant I didn't have to eat lunch alone again, but it did mean I had to have lunch with Ahamed.

The mezes, or the equivalent of what they call them in Arabic, were quite good, and the fish wasn't bad either, although I kind of did get my fill of heads and tails while in Georgia.  A chicken schwarma would have been really ideal here.  I scandalized the waiter by ordering a beer, and then scandalized him further, plus Ahamed and everyone else in the entire restaurant, when I ordered a second.  It was... necessary.  I was wondering if Ahamed sitting with me meant I might be paying for his lunch as well, but thankfully when the bill came, this was not the case.  Small favors.

Finally, lunch was over and we were off again, this time to the Library of Alexandria.  Of course, the original Library has been completely destroyed, but they've built a new one, very modern.  (I had to check my backpack in a separate kiosk, this will be relevant later.)  Inside... it's a library.  I was feeling a little bit of... "Why did we come here?", but there happened to be an interesting modern art exhibit which we walked through.  Ahamed kept poking at the art to try and impress me.  Best guide ever.

After the gallery, there was a Rare Books and Manuscripts Room which you could pay extra to see.  Not wanting this site to be a total loss, I paid, and was very glad I did.

The manuscripts room was excellent, and Ahamed actually translated some texts for me, this making it the first time he had made himself useful as anything other than a protective male escort in Egypt.  (Which really was most of what I wanted when I booked the tours anyway, so no giant harm done I suppose.)

On the way back to the car, Ahamed forgot about my backpack and I had to remind him.  Once again, best guide ever.  Top notch.

And that was it for Alexandria.  I really enjoyed it, and was really sorry I happened to see it with Ahamed.  We had a log ride back with traffic once again in both cities, and a gas queue.  (The gas situation in Cairo was kind of critical while I was there; frankly I felt really lucky to have gotten to drive to Alexandria at all.)  On the drive home, Ahamed reviewed my itinerary and start times for tomorrow (Egyptian Museum and downtown Cairo), and mentioned specifically that he would not be my guide on the following day.  I thought: "Good", because I had been planning to say something to my hotel, but if the situation was taken care of, I saw no reason to make a fuss.

Big mistake.  Huge.

Guide shenanigans and hilarity continues in the next post!  Stay classy, internet.

Cairo: Giza and Saqqara, and wrangling Mickey Mouse

Okay folks, it's time.  Time for one of the most important blog pieces I have ever written.  We're going to talk about Cairo, and the day I visited the pyramids.

No lie, there are some tears welling up here.  Unashamed.

Why has it taken me so furiously long to write about visiting the pyramids?  I don't know.  Probably because I've simply feared that I will never be able to do the experience justice.  As I've said in past posts, the whole of Egypt was so completely thrilling, so overwhelming, at times frustrating and confusing, but overall so simply amazing that it's difficult to convey all of that chaos into the typed word.  What's even the point after so long?  Well, that should be freaking obvious.  And how can I even remember details from over six months ago?  Well, I have my journal, and hundreds of photographs, and the fact that I have been drafting and re-drafting this post in my head even before I even laid eyes on the blessed things.  No, rest assured.  My memory of this day is crystal clear.

But before all that, there was a slight hiccup in my meticulously-laid travel plans.  I flew from Luxor to Cairo, and there as promised was a dude with a sign waiting to drive me to the hostel.  It turned out his black sedan had no air conditioning, but I grimly and cheerfully bucked up for the hour-long drive through mid-afternoon Cairo traffic.  As we finally neared our destination, I gazed out my open window into what was decidedly a very active and local neighborhood.  We finally drew to a halt in front of a completely nondescript building, and entered, past the three guys in a hallway cubbyhole sitting on a mattress on the floor and watching an antique TV.  And rode up the equally antique elevator, which incidentally had no door.  The hostel itself was the very definition of basic, and instead of the single room I had booked, they put me in an empty quad.  The window overlooked a noisy main street, and the first time I turned on the light in the bathroom, a cockroach ran out of the shower to hide under the toilet.  Um.

I really wish to extend my apologies to these very nice hostel folks for my inability to honor my reservation at this particular establishment.  But the neighborhood combined with the sketchy TV guys, the weird room and the cockroach all combined to just a little more gritty hardcore travel experience than I wanted right just then.  They were extremely kind and understanding, and even let me use their wireless to book a new place.  Thanks again guys.

Only now I was riding by my very own self in a Cairo taxi, armed only with an address written in Arabic.  Naturally the guy couldn't find the place, and I ended up dragging my filthy and exhausted, backpacked self into a five-star hotel to ask for directions.  (Remember this is still the same day I'd gotten up at 5:00 AM for Valley of the Kings!)  They set me straight, and Glory Be, eventually I was finally settled in my very own proper single room with AC and a modern, cockroach-free bathroom.  Woohoo!  The new hotel was in a much quieter neighborhood, on the Nile and in view of Cairo Tower.  This was much better.

Of course I'd given up the tours I'd originally booked when I decided to check out of the old place, but my new hotel was able to book me exactly the same for... only a little more.  Oh well.  I was going to see the pyramids the next morning!!!  I changed out of my dirty and Cairo-inappropriate tank top and capri shorts, and set out to find a hotel-recommended place for dinner.  Naturally, I got lost and street-harassed.  But just as I was thinking of giving up, lo and behold I found it.  Super cute, with a nice mix of tourists and locals.  They gave me a nice table with my back to the wall, and I ordered a simple dinner of hummus, chicken schwarma, and Egyptian beer.  It was a splurge but the portions were enormous, and they actually gave me a to-go box, which would make tomorrow's dinner virtually free.  Good times.  I gratefully made my way back to my hotel and had a quiet night in anticipation of another early morning.

6:00 AM.  Pyramid Day.  My guide and driver met me in my hotel's lobby, and we piled off together.  I was so excited I was literally bouncing, and could barely pay attention to what my guide was saying about the site, most of which I think I already knew.  But then the inevitable Egyptian Shakedown started, and he began, first subtly then insistently, to suggest that we go visit his friend to provides Giza camel rides to tourists.  I told him I did not want a camel ride.  He told me it would change my life and also possibly cure cancer.  And eventually we pull up in front of Rick's Camels R Us, or whatever the place was called, so I could get my camel sales pitch.

Well, fuck a duck.  When you're in Rome Cairo.  I bought a freaking camel ride.  Not only did I buy a camel ride, I paid for the Big Camel Ride, which they assured me would take several hours and would investigate all the hidden nooks of Giza.  That last bit was pretty tempting, but mostly I booked the Big Camel Ride because of this:

Rather than herding you through the gamut of fellow tourists, aggressive schlock sellers, and panhandlers that surround Giza's main entrance, the Big Camel Ride takes you in through the back way, across the desert.  I'm not going to lie, what happened next was the single best moment of my entire life.

There they were.  Rising out of the desert just like every movie image, every dream I'd ever had.  And it was just me, my camel dragger, and my tour guide on a white horse.  Strictly, simply, incredible.  The best thing ever.

Before I go any further, a word about camels.  I am by no means an accomplished rider, but riding a camel is nothing like riding a horse.  For one thing, a camel hump is something like eight feet off the ground.  That means there are a lot of camel legs that need to sort themselves out as the camel goes from sitting to standing.  The first time my camel, whose name was apparently Mickey Mouse, lurched up, I was so taken off guard that I very nearly pitched forward right over Mickey Mouse's head.  My tour guide and camel tour guide both had to grab me.  It made for an adventurous couple of seconds every time Mickey got himself either up or down.

Totally not awkward.

After I finally got down from the camel, my camel tour guide immediately began motoring me though a series of tourist poses that must certainly be mandatory rote learning at Camel Tour Guide School.  Honestly I could have done without them but at this point I was hardly in the mood to complain.

White belly signalling to the aliens up in space

Then, our small caravan of camel, camel dragger (sweet young kid with fake Adidas sandals and bleeding gums), and camel tour guide made our lurching way to the Pyramid of Khafre, which is the middle pyramid with the marble cap.

In true Egypt fashion, my guides tried to counsel me against going inside any of the pyramids.  Um, were they joking???  I insisted on going inside Khafre's pyramid, which was about half the cost of going inside the Great Pyramid, or Pyramid of Khufu.  In hindsight, I really wish I'd ground my heels and insisted that we go to both of them, but oh well.

The entrance down into the pyramid's burial chamber is tiny.  Tiny, and really steep.  You basically have to bend almost double, and inch your way down bracing yourself on wooden beams that are not quite, but almost a ladder.  Having just come from the Valley of the Kings the day before, I was struck by the fact that the walls and chambers here were pretty much completely devoid of writing or ornamentation.  I thought that would change when I reached the actual burial chamber, but no.

Oh, and I've now been inside Khafre's burial chamber.  I've taken a short rest on part of his sarcophagus.

Like the Valley of the Kings, they don't allow cameras inside the pyramids.  I was actually made to give mine to my camel guide.  They didn't take my iPhone, however, and natch when I got to the burial chamber there was a guy stationed there who would take your phone photo for a few EGP.  I paid of course, but they all came out really poorly.  Enormous sad face, but again, oh well.

After about 10 or 15 minutes, I'd seen what there was to see and climbed my steep claustrophobic way out again.  Simply amazing.  Incredible.  Humbling.  Triumphant.  Joyous.  I can't even come up with enough adjectives for this entire morning.  Only that it was, and will remain... the best day of my life.

Topside, my camel guide instructed me to climb up on Khafre's pyramid despite frequent and blatant signs instructing that we not do this.  Well, when in Cairo...

He let me take some more photos, and then it was back up on Mickey!

Great Pyramid of Khufu

Great Pyramid, with some jerk in the way

Mickey and I walked a little ways toward the Sphinx, and then I was cheerfully told "Camel finished!"  Wait, what?  We never even got over to Menkaure's pyramid, let alone the queens' pyramids.  It couldn't have been much over an hour.  Camel finished?  Not exactly what I had been so sincerely promised when I forked over my considerable fee.  Well, once again -- Oh well.  Getting to approach the pyramids from the desert like that, and getting to sit for a minute or two with just me and them and the desert wind, that made it worth it a dozen times over.

On foot now, I went to meet my original guide who was going to take me to the Sphinx.  Here's a surprise -- coming at the Sphinx from the back, I completely missed it at first.  After an hour with the hugeness of the pyramids, my eyes just kind of skipped right over it as part of the desert.  However, I will say that from the front it is slightly more breathtaking.

And that, my dear ones, was the Giza plateau.  Wonderful, amazing, whirlwind morning.  I wish I'd had more time.  I wish I'd had all damn day to wander around these wonders, tracing my fingertips over ancient stones and imagining.  But this is the time I had, and I made the most of every picosecond.

Believe it or not, this day was about to get even more awesome.  Reunited with my original guide, we got back in the car and they took me to lunch at the "authentic" place that was such a damn tourist trap that I was kind of pissed.  Expensive, and built for large groups, my guide and driver left me alone at this huge table where waiters proceeded to bring a multi-course meal that was easily enough for four people.  I hardly want to tarnish this day by nitpicking, but this lunch was seriously awkward.  Yet again, I just felt completely taken advantage of.  At least it was tasty.

This was not even all of the food.  Delish, but could feed a family.

But then I put Awkward Lunch out of my mind, because we were off to something that just might be equally awesome to the Pyramids of Giza.  The Step Pyramid at Saqqara., also known as the Pyramid of Djoser.

This pyramid is amazing for so many reasons.  It was the brainchild of architect Imhotep, whose has garnered almost pop-culture celebutante status thanks to a certain trilogy of movies.  The real Imhotep is even cooler than fiction, and to this day there are scores of unexplored tunnels below this pyramid that some believe lead the way to Imhotep's hidden treasure.  Treasure-hunting aside, the Step Pyramid ushered in the dynasty of great pyramid-building at Giza, and basically changed not only the whole of ancient Egyptian culture in a single stroke, but also laid the first groundwork for modern architecture.

After all of this, pretty much anything else was going to seem slightly lackluster.  We visited Memphis, which was the Ancient Egyptian capital and would have been totally incredible, except absolutely nothing of Memphis remains.  Never one to be deterred by facts or other obstacles, Egyptians have simply relocated several artifacts from various other places to this site, called it Memphis, and set up a ticket booth.  I gotta hand it to you, guys.

Anyway, there was a colossus of Ramses II here, and you know I've got a sweet spot for that guy.

After that, my tour was over, just in time for the truly gloves-off heat of midafternoon.  They drove me back to the hotel, where I remained.  I had a shower, ate my leftovers, and asked the front desk if they could order me some beer.  Tomorrow was going to be a yet ever earlier start.  I was taking a little mini road trip to Alexandria.

There's not much more about this day that I can say.  People hear hyperboles all the time, like "best thing ever!" or "it changed my life!".  It makes those phrases and sentences not have the same meaning they should when actually, they turn out to be true.  This day was the best thing ever.  Heat, awkward lunch, hemorrhaging baksheesh, none of that mattered.  I will never, ever forget this day I had with the Pyramids at Giza and at Saqqara.  It changed my life.

2013 Year in Review

I haven't done one of these before, but several of my friends have posted their own yearly reviews over the past few days, so why the heck not?  Let's take a look at good old 2013.  I've had an impressive 12-month stretch.

January -- Back home with family in VA.  Slow, less-than-great start.  Dealt with confusion and depression after returning to Georgia got yanked out from under me in December.  But then... I got accepted to teach in Istanbul!

February -- Got settled in my new life and work in Istanbul, and struggled with discovering the enormity of discipline problems at my school.  Did a fair bit of city sightseeing.

Will always be one of my favorite buildings in the world.

Met some good friends, especially my would-be roommate Rachel. We found our fabulous apartment, but discovered too late that it so happened to be in the most boring neighborhood in the entire city.  So began what would be many nights in.  At the end of the month, I traveled for a long weekend to Izmir and Ephesus.

March -- Continued to face challenges at work.  Discussed possible solutions with both my school and program, and in some classes at least, things began to improve.  Also continued exploring Istanbul a little, but not as much as I should.  Got myself over to beautiful Kadikoy on the Asian side, and celebrated several expat birthdays.  Oh, and I introduced Rachel to Doctor Who, changing our (Istanbul) lives forever. :)

April -- Traveled for a long weekend over to Kadikoy again, and visited The Prince's Islands.  Watched more Doctor Who.  And I think that's pretty much all that happened in April.

May -- On a whim, booked a flight to Egypt.  Freaked out in equal parts joy and terror.  I also traveled to incredible Cappadocia for what would be the highlight of my entire time in Turkey.

At the end of the month, my excellent friend Sarah came to stay with us for nine days, which was the perfect reason/excuse to knock out pretty much all the remaining items on my Istanbul Bucket List.

June -- So Turkey kind of exploded, socially and politically anyway.  Stayed as far away from all that as I could, but it was still rather unsettling.  Meanwhile, my Istanbul adventure was finally drawing to a close!  Said farewell to expat friends Rachel, Mallory, and Sarah, and headed off to Egypt!  Which was, and probably will always be, the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Aswan, Nile cruise, Luxor, Karnak, Valley of the Kings and King Tut's tomb, Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria.  (And yes, I know I still haven't done the pyramid post!  Here's a teaser.)

And then, the day before Egypt exploded, I flew home and only a few short days later found myself holding my brand-new nephew in Pensacola.

June was... not boring to say the least!

July -- Finished up a not-quite month-long stay in Pensacola with Eve, Brad, and Paxton.  Then flew home for three days before roadtripping it up to Pemaquid Lake, Maine.

August -- More Maine!  Lobster and swimming and dockside cocktails.  And one adventure sliding on my ass down a mountain, lost, in a rainstorm.  Good times.  But mostly swimming and cocktails, here:

Eventually tore myself away and drove home to Springfield so I could start to get my future in order.

September -- I was offered a teaching position in Kassel, Germany!  Teaching adults no less!  Accepted (natch), and found myself in Germany less than a week later.

October -- Began teaching, and explored Kassel.  Met some expats.  Began the visa process, which of course included Health Insurance Fun.  Worked.  Wrote lesson plans.  Wrote more lesson plans.  Oh, and TPS Reports, just for laughs.

November -- Worked, rode buses and trams, wrote lesson plans, and completed TPS Reports.  Turned 34 with buffalo wings and good friends.  And the Christmas Market opened in Kassel.

December -- Worked, rode buses and trams, wrote lesson plans, and completed TPS Reports.  Visited the Christmas Market a bunch.  Finally got my work visa!!  And flew HOME on the 20th!!  Had an incredible Christmas with family and NYE with friends.


Not a bad year.  Best yet?  I dunno... Georgia in 2011 and Georgia/backpacking in 2012 are pretty tough contenders for that title as well.  Life has been pretty unequivocally great these past three years or so.  There's no denying that.

And now, what's in store for 2014, you ask?  Well.  My two New Year's Resolutions are to learn German (formally, by taking classes) and to re-establish some kind of health regimen.  With all the excitement, awesomeness, and schnitzel above, this hasn't exactly been a priority for me recently, but now that I actually have something resembling stability (for the moment), I'd like to change that up a little.  Join a gym maybe even?  We will see.

I'd also really like a little more financial solvency, not to mention maybe a slightly better work-life balance here, so there may be some changes on the horizon as well.  Change is good!  It keeps me on my toes and -- always important -- gives me something to blog about.  Stay tuned, lovers.

EDIT:  How could I have forgotten???  Travel goals/plans/wishes for 2014!  They are many, and range from the almost certain to almost impossible, but you never know.  First:  see more of Germany, obvs.  I'm hoping/planning to make a trip in the spring (maybe two weeks), and explore southern Germany -- Munich, Dachau, Schloss Neuschwanstein, down into Salzburg so I get to add another country to my list, and over to Freiburg and the Black Forest.  Need to price it and see about timing, but this is the nebulous hope for now.  My family and several friends have also expressed interest in coming over, so that may be something to look forward to.

Recently I've become obsessed with two enormous travel dreams.  The first is this very expensive cruisetour I found that takes you to all the must-sees in China and all the way into Tibet!  The second is this backpacking dream of hitting the major Mesoamerican ancient sites (with lots in between of course) -- Tikal, Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, what's left of Tenochtitlan in Mexico City... and eventually, of course, all the way down to Machu Picchu in Peru.  Sadly both of these are rather exponentially out of my budget for now, but isn't it nice to dream?  Who knows, maybe the Travel Channel will see this and sponsor me to go.  Nudge nudge.

Home for the Holidays

December was kind of a blurry rush.  Lots of work, with a fair bit of Christmas Market thrown in.  Two days before I was supposed to fly out, I got the best present that Germany could give me.  My work visa finally arrived!

This was really, really excellent, because without it, there was a possibility that I wouldn't be allowed back into the country come January.  (It's apparently supposed to be 90 days in, 90 days out.)  So this was a giant relief.  And then, December 20th arrived and I said a temporary auf wiedersehen to Kassel and flew home to the sweet suburbs of Washington, DC, where my family (and favorite people) were waiting for me.

The days leading up to Christmas were like a nonstop whirlwind.  My parents held an open house wine-and-cheese party two days after I arrived.  I wrapped presents, played with my nephew, told Germany stories (the few that I have so far), and made food, ate food, and cleaned up food.

Christmas Eve for my family is always very special.  We have a lot of traditions that need attending to, and this requires some serious time management!  This year, my sister and I also managed to make a veritable army of Christmas cookies.

In the late afternoon, we open our stockings.

Stockings for us have become rather more epic than what might be considered usual, because of my father's "Stocking Quest", which he began way back when we were kids.  We haven't had a Stocking Quest in several years, since we've not been able to all be together.  But this year, of course my Dad couldn't resist and the Stocking Quest was reborn!  And just what is a Stocking Quest?  It's a giant scavenger hunt, and it begins with a riddle in the form of a poem, hidden in the toe of our stocking.  This year's first riddle was written in the style of the Scottish poem, "Twa Corbies".

‘In behint yon auld stone dyke
I wot a spot for something they’d like;
And naebody kens that it lies there
Save us, the creeping jenny and three hearts laid bare.’

Take thee out to the dark and dare
To descend to the realm of the chipmunk and hare.

So off we went into the backyard to find the next riddle (and gift that was hidden along with it) and so on.  The second riddle took its inspiration from none other than J.R.R. Tolkien.

Prizes for the young ones under the sky,
Some for the air lord in his cloud halls on high,
Many for the ladies, sweet as pie,
One for the little man of peace, by and by,
In the Land of Squirrels where the Shadows lie. 

One Ring to lead you to them, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring you to them and in the darkness light them. 

From north to south the pendulum seat carves its arc,
It is to the east that you must go, in the dark.

It goes without saying that the whole family always has a complete ball with this.  There's a lot of laughing and charging around.  And it makes for a very memorable Christmas Eve!

One of our more recent traditions is that after dinner (Mom made amazing steaks!),  we visit our neighbors across the street for wine and dessert.  And then, when we come home, Dad reads Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory".  I've linked to this before (probably last Christmas), but it is just the sweetest story, and we all get weepy at the good parts (except my brother-in-law, who thinks we're a little weird).  The Stocking Quest is good romping fun and makes Christmas Eve epic, but the fact is that the evening simply would not be Christmas Eve without my father reading this story.  And finally, the rest of the family tromped off to bed and I looked through our Christmas in America coffee table picture book, one of my own private little Christmas Eve traditions.

After all of that, Christmas morning and day is pretty damn chill. :)  Personally, I always consider Christmas to be a success if I get to stay in my pajamas all day.  Everyone takes their time waking up and getting settled, and then we open presents.

After all that, and breakfast, and cleanup, I took a nap and I think other people took walks and/or made Christmas crafts.  In the evening there was dinner:  turkey with gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, and roasted winter vegetables.  Amazing.  

And that, pretty much, was Christmas.  The only thing I wish we had done was take a picture of all six of us!!  Oh well.  If that's the only thing that went wrong I think we can still call it a pretty unqualified success.  It was fantastic to have everyone together for our favorite holiday.  As always, I feel very blessed!

Post-Christmas, things calmed down.  Eve and her family went back to Pensacola, and the folks and I spent two days not doing much of anything.  I even made banana daiquiris one afternoon which they both shared with me!  It was really nice to have some unwinding time after the frenetic happy chaos of Christmas.

New Year's Eve rolled around, and a friend of mine came to stay from out of state.  We visited a couple wineries, watched some hockey, and generally caught up.  It was great to see him.  To ring in 2014, we got dolled up and headed to this truly incredible NYE party that some friends in Gainesville throw every year.  This year, the theme was 1920's Mardi Gras, and they outdid themselves!

 

Midnight toast

Beer Pong in the basement's "jazz club"

 And -- I flew home on the 3rd.  An amazing thank you to everyone -- family, friends, Whole Foods cashiers, that made this holiday one of the best I can remember.

To all of you out there in internet-land, I hope you were able to spend a few happy and peaceful days with your loved ones as well.  Here's to 2014!