In the morning we picked up our car and jumped in ready for a good meal. We definitely found one in the neighboring city of Prato, at a restaurant called “La Strada” Mom had a very exquisite dish of various shellfish and fettuccine that was more of art piece than a dish. She didn’t even now where to start!

Eventually, the restaurant closed and we rushed to finish our meal. As we were driving down the main road we happened upon a very large shopping center. When we went inside we saw many different shops and boutiques, along with a huge market in the back. After finding our food, renting a movie and going up and down the really cool diagonal moving walkways we headed home.

Pyramids are to Egypt as the Empire State building is to America. In other words they're huge! This morning after a complementary buffet breakfast, we headed out to see the pyramids in the neighboring city Saqqara. There you can see the Step Pyramid and we learned all about it from our wonderful guide Hamada. It is HUGE compared to the smallness of all of the other buildings. When I looked over the horizon I could see even more gorgeous pyramids in the distance. We spent a long time there taking in the sights. But eventually we moved on to stop at a carpet making school and shop.

At the carpet school we saw richly colored, tall, thin, big, small and fringed carpets made in the school. After a while, we decided on a small traditional brick red detailed carpet. When it came to pay, I learned another lesson about life in Egypt, you have to bargain, even if they say it's the final price. In the end, my Dad bartered down to a price that was satisfactory.

We eventually had lunch and moved on to The Great Pyramid of Giza. Wow, is it HUGE!!! We climbed up part of the north side and saw the vast city of Giza in front of us. I even built my own mini pyramid in the sand next to it though I don't think it will be marked as a monument anytime soon!

We drove down the road a bit and stopped next at The Second Pyramid. At the top of it, you can still see some of the smooth limestone that covered the entire surface at one time. People have chipped away at it for souveniers and to build other buildings. For a small fee, we could all go inside The Second Pyramid. We didn't know what to expect until it was too late! Once you step onto the long, steep downward sloping ramp, you start to feel hot and smell the body odor of tourists that visited moments before you. At the base of the ramp, you have to stoop down and double over and continue walking (crouching) steeply downhill for about 60 feet. Then you reach a flat part where you can stand up again. And in about another 20 feet, you double over again and climb up the same type of steep ramp to a corridor leading to the burial chamber.