Well after the drive to the hotel was so horrendously busy, Ty arranged for our driver and guides to come get us at 7am so we could hopefully beat the crowd. But that also meant we had to get up early so we could eat breakfast. The alarm went off at 6, and we all dragged ourselves out of bed. But it was totally worth it for the amazing breakfast spread!
The food was incredible, and we were falling over ourselves to try as much as we could. Then a waiter brought Ty over a bill to sign. It was over a 1,000 Egyptian pounds which equates to about $70 US, and all it had on it was an omelet and 3 juices! Ty just about fell out of his chair. He started sweating, and saying these items must not be part of the free breakfast. Finally I think a staff member saw us fretting and came over to let us know it wasn’t a bill it’s just a way for them to keep track of our table. PHEW! We are not $30 omelet people 🙂
Breakfast was delicious but not fast. So we had to have our driver give us an extra 15 minutes. We went back to the room to brush teeth, and grab our snacks, and layers for the day.
Our goal for the day was to see the Pyramids of Giza! And to go inside as many of them as we could.
So many dogs around. Which was fine as they were mostly nice. Till one dog decided he wanted L’s stuffy and L was trying to keep it away from the dog by running. So the dog thought they were playing and jumped up on his back. This freaked L out, he was crying. R was trying to defend the dog. It was a bit of a rough start.
We got away from the dogs and L was still struggling with being there. So we came up with a plan to help him smile. We would take a photo of Stitch his stuffy, on top of the pyramids. Well these became hilarious pictures and everyone was laughing as we were throwing the stuffy back and forth, trying to capture him in the air above the pyramid. It was a good mood changer.
Then we went inside the second largest pyramid. The one that still has some plaster on the top. It was the only one that was open. It wasn’t nearly as small as I was bracing myself for. Bonus there was no guard inside so people were just hopping inside the coffin for photos. Crazy!
From the second pyramid we walked around the backside to the third. It was just incredible to be finally walking the grounds and to see them in person. From here we went to a panoramic overlook to see all 9 pyramids in the area. Our guide then arranged for us to ride camels from the overlook down to the Sphinx about 45 minutes. Because when you’re in Egypt at the pyramids, you ride the camels!
After the Sphinx we were done for the day and it was about noon! We were looking forward to ordering some lunch to be delivered to our hotel and going swimming in the heated pools.
Ty worked on trying to download some local food delivery apps for almost 2 hours before we finally broke down and ordered room service. It’s not outrageous prices but it’s not something we want to do every day.
After our very late lunch and since the kids had been on their kindles the whole time we were trying to figure out the food, we decided it was time to check out the kids club. On our way down to it we passed a staff member that was carrying freshly baking Harry Potter themed cookies to our room! They made them especially for our kids since R said they were both huge Harry Potter fans.
When we were checking in they said there was a kids club with a PlayStation and games. We didn’t totally realized that this was locked unless someone requested it. So a nearby life guard opened it for us and called up to the front desk, who then apparently sent a staff member down. So you can drop you kids off there for a few hours is my understanding and the hotel staff will watch them. FANCY!
Aside from the PlayStation which interested L it was all mostly toys for smaller kids. The staff member tried to get R interested in making slime but she was more interested in heading back to the library and reading. So her and I headed back upstairs to lounge and read while the boys played video games.
After reading for an hour or so, R and I went out to the lounge area and ordered some juice and tea. Again we thought these were free since it was mentioned at check in. Ty and L then joined us and we ordered juices for them. We sat there reading for a while before deciding to go change for swimming. We all got up and left but apparently a staff member was calling after Ty, but the kids and I didn’t notice. They were handing him a bill for $30 for 3 juices and a cup of tea. The staff member obviously noticed Ty’s confusion so almost as soon as he got up to the room and was telling us about it, the phone rang. It was a Service Manager asking if everything was all right. Ty explained we just misunderstood and everything was completely our fault and it was fine. So the Service Manager offered us a free High Tea service for the next afternoon! Seriously it was our misunderstanding but because they want everything to go smoothly for their guests they offered us High Tea?! These fancy places have a serious learning curve but so far it’s all worth it.
We started with the indoor heated pool, which we had all to ourselves. It wasn’t warm enough for me so shortly after we headed to the outdoor heated pool and hot tub area. Despite it being outside this pool was warmer and the hot tub was wonderful! There were two other people out there, and they left after a while. So we had the whole place to ourselves. It was nice to let the kids be as crazy, and as loud as they wanted to be.
We were all having such a nice time at the pool we stayed down there till 7:30. Then we came up, tried out the big tub and TV. Finished with a shower and bedtime for everyone.
