A Week in Egypt

After buckling down at work all summer, we were ready to have a change of scenery come fall. We were also interested in trying out the really popular German all-inclusive tour packages. After doing a lot of research of different destinations and travel agencies, we got a great deal on a one week trip to Hurghada, Egypt. Knowing very little about Hurghada, other than that it’s a beach destination on the Red Sea, we weren’t sure what to expect but were ready to lounge on the beach.

In the end, we had some mixed feelings about the trip. One of the best aspects, was that everything was taken care of for us and we had to do zero planning to do ourselves. After a direct flight from Cologne, we were picked up in a coach bus and delivered to our hotel, where there would be no need to leave for 7 days. All food, drinks, and bottled water were included, so we did not have to pay extra (other than tips). All of the facilities in the hotel (pool, restaurants, etc) were really nice. The beach was really beautiful and the water in the Red Sea was so clear!

Our travel agency did offer a variety of day trips, activities, and excursions if you were interested. We had a day trip on a glass-bottomed boat and a shopping trip into the city center.

However...

We had no idea beforehand, but the hotel where we stayed was 100% catered toward Germans. It honestly could have been picked up and transported from Berlin, just dropped in a sunnier location. All of the staff spoke primarily German, the food was Germanized, and it seemed completely normal for all the other guests who seemed not to be the least interested in the “real” Egypt or local culture. There were even very few people who participated in the day trips outside of the resort. 

Although we had a good time, I think in the future, we will stay away from these pre-packaged travel agency options and plan our trips ourselves. In any case, here are some photos.

The Nile River

Approaching Hurghada

Our resort

Hurghada Marina

El Mina Masjid Mosque

Hurghada center

Other Summer Trips: San Marino and Paris

Although we were pretty busy with work during the rest of the summer, we did manage to take two weekend trips in July.

Will’s parents visited in early July and we spent a weekend with them on the Adriatic cost in Italy. One day we took a trip to San Marino, checking another micro-nation off of my list. ;)

At the end of the July, we took the train to Paris after work on a Friday. We had wanted to go to dinner at Ferdi, but unfortunately, they were closed for summer holidays. On this trip we tried to see different things since we’ve already been to Paris a few times before. We went to the Catacombs, the underground art made out of bones taken from Paris’ overcrowded cemetaries in the 1700s. We also visited Sainte-Chapelle cathedral which is overshadowed by Notre Dame (but I think is much prettier).

As I said, for the rest of the summer we stayed in Cologne and watched the Rhine roll by. 

Andorra La Vella

After our stay in Porto, it was time to say goodbye to Andy and head home. We decided to take a different route back, heading more north this time.

From the Barcelona airport, we drove to Andorra La Vella, in Andorra. I’ve always wanted to go to Andorra since it’s such a tiny country that hardly ever gets any attention, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Nestled between Spain and France, Andorra is a tax-free shopping destination, so much so that we felt like we were in one giant duty-free airport shop. Our hotel was surrounded by shops selling liquor, cigarettes, expensive watches, and electronics. We noticed  both on the way in and out that the border patrol seemed to be very thorough with searching cars! Although there wasn’t much to see in Andorra la Vella, the drive onwards into France was very scenic as we drove up into the Pyrenees and through ski resorts.

From Andorra, we drove all day until we reached a highway motel outside of Orléans, France. We spent the night there and then drove the rest of the way home, through Paris (crazy traffic even at 10am on a Sunday morning) and through Belgium. The final two days were really exhausting as we drove around 9 hours each day and there was not too much interesting scenery on the way.

Spain and Portugal

Although the journey was pretty fantastic, the main point of our trip was to meet our friend, Andy, in Barcelona and then travel to Porto, Portugal with him. We rented an Airbnb about 30 minutes south of Barcelona in a small beach town called Cubelles. Our apartment was directly on the beach, with the “boardwalk” right below us.

While we were in Spain, we visited Barcelona a few times and saw the Sagrada Familia, the FC Barcelona soccer stadium, and ate lots of tapas.

Pablo Picasso Museum

Sagrada Familia

Roman ruins in Tarragona

Sitges beach town

FC Barcelona Stadium

We also took a day trip to Monserrat, a monastery located in the Pyrenees mountains.

After a few days in Spain, we flew together to Porto, which was possibly my favorite place of the whole trip. We had not expected too much from Porto and chose it pretty much for its close proximity and cheap flights/accommodations, but it ended up being great.

The city is really photogenic and we got a lot of beautiful pictures along the Douro River and Maria Pia bridge. We also visited the Livraria Lello bookshop where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter.

Atlantic Ocean

I also really liked the food in Porto, which was surprising because I typically don’t eat seafood. The best place we ate, by far, was called Petiscaria Santo António. We went for a late lunch and were the only customers in the restaurant. Our waitress suggested that since we were not familiar with Portuguese food, that we allow them to make us a variety of small dishes to share. She said they would keep bringing us food until we said “stop.” Everything that we tried was delicious …..including the FISH. Really tasty.

Appetizers: Cheese with honey, beans, and olives

Flaming sausage

Porto is also the home of Port wine, which we tried several times, but I didn't really enjoy it. To me, it tastes exactly like cough syrup. We even went on a tour of a wine cellar and learned about the fermentation process. They explained to us that they can age the wine for many, many years in special wooden barrels and then sell the barrels to French companies to use to make bourbon, using the residue/sediment left behind from the wine. I suppose that is all quite sophisticated gastronomy, but it’s still not my thing. ;)