HOLIDAY WEEK REVIEW - Egypt Red Sea

Since Tuesday I am on holidays at the Red Sea in Egypt, to escape the cold and grey "spring" weather and all the worries around me and the world !

Here it is the paradise the sun is shining the sky is blue it is very warm 30° or a little more, but with a little wind very nice !

It is the 9th time I am now in this hotel and I have never been here in May, always in November. It's amazing that there are no flowers and nothing is blooming, while end of the year it's a real flower show ! There are mostly English and Germans, very few French and a few Dutch. Everybody goes well together and as usual the atmosphere in this big hotel is rather homely.

When I arrived I was kissed and welcomed "home" by a few employees and in my room was a nice plate of fruits. New is also that there is now Internet everywhere even in the rooms.

I have no time to write, I am so busy with laying on the beach and watching people, or read my book, or I swim ! I am only interrupted for lunch !

In the evenings I am so tired from all this fresh air and swimming that I just watch a movie on the balcony of my room and then fall asleep ! I have to say that the animation team is not so much to my taste, but that's my personal opinion. Anyway I have seen these shows already so many times.




The view of the balcony of my room




Breakfast at the swimming pool or inside ! For everybody even real English breakfast ! I love these croissants and a fruit salad. For the first time I also have little guests on my table, birds ! Never happens in November.



The beach and the sea, there are a lot of activities, here it was beach ball



There are also a few Egyptians in the Hotel, a very friendly lady, only we were dressed differently _




The garden without flowers. There was a special supper for VIP guests. Unfortunately it was a little windy.

Still a few days to go ! Fortunately ! 

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Five on Friday

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OUR WORLD - Hurghada (Egypt)

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I have been two weeks in Hurghada at the Red Sea in Egypt. Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometres (22 mi) along the seashore, and it does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as package holiday tourists from Europe, notably Italians, Russians, Poles, Englishs and Germans. Until a few years ago it was a small fishing village. Today Hurghada counts 248,000 inhabitants and is divided into three parts: Downtown (El Dahar) is the old part; Sekalla is the city center, and El Memsha (Village road) is the modern part.

One late afternoon, we strolled through the rather big town which it has become now. Fortunately the hotels have their own beaches and are very quiet from the very busy main street you go through a hotel door and you are in another world, with parks, lots of flowers and a beach.



shops after shops you can buy anything you want !





Hotels and little shopping centers. Since a couple of years some of them have fixed prices, otherwise you have to haggle, even in a pharmacy !





Street sellers



Sand filled glass bottles with a camel as motive



in case you wish to become a belly dancer



very busy people ....



Russians or russian speaking people are not very welcome, but they are very generous with their dollars ! Good for the locals ! When I haggle I always say, you can put the price difference on the next Russian tourist ! which usually works with a lot of laughter.





and taxis "en masse" very cheap. Cheaper then a bus ticket in Brussels ! We payed 1 $ for a ride of about 2 km !

OUR WORLD - Red Sea Egypt

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I am actually in a very sunny part of our world. In Egypt at the Red Sea. While at home the trees loose their dress and become naked, it IS cold aNd people have to put on the heating, I am laying at the beach and enjoy the sunshine and the warm weather.



The view from our balcony to Hurghada



We are welcomed at the beach with "Good Morning Sunrise Holidays" somebody has written in the sand.



View from our beach bed



and the beach itself



A little bridge leads us to our place



There is also a little swimming pool for little kids and comfortable chairs for the parents



Chantal and I with our drink before supper



view on the reception and the bar on the second floor



Of course we watch who goes in and out




The buffet is always decorated by real artists ! everything you see is made out of fruits and vegetables.

SHOW & TELL

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Being on holidays at the Red Sea in Egypt, I don't have to show much, but to tell a lot ! So far we haven't bought anything special, we just walked around and had a glance on what to buy for us and also for Christmas gifts.

We found little things, but of course I can't show them here. But for ourselves we bought these little cats. My friend Chantal is also a cat lover.

When we came back from the beach, we found this beautiful flower arrangement on the bed. Our room boy did it with the fresh towels he brought.

here is the entrance to our flat with a little patio and garden

watching people (of course, we are women)

the view from our patio

and along the little street to the beach

SHOW & TELL - SKY WATCH

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As there is nothing else to do in the evenings but window shopping and feeling the athmosphere of another world, we walked along the main road yesterday night and found a shop with beautiful semi-precious stones. The prices are so unbelievable cheap for us that I couldn't resist to buy these once and Chantal bought 5 too. At home we wouldn't even get a plastic collar for the same amount. I think it is due to the many stones you find in the dessert or in the sea. There are so many turquoise and coral jewlery and of course other stones too. I think when I come home I have to learn a little more about these stones.







Coral necklace








Rose quartz

These collars have an average cost of 5 € ! and they are nice gifts for Christmas !



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Skywatch Friday





The beautiful blue sky at the Red sea in Egypt

UNCOMPILED NEWS FROM EGYPT

Today I have some compiled news but only here from Hurghada. I worked very hard laying on my beach chair in front of the swimming pool. The tourists are mostly Russians, the real once, not those from Ukraine, who eat with fingers and have their nose hanging in their plates. These once at least are educated and don't disturb. We feel like at the black sea and not the red, because you hear russian everywhere, even the poor Egyptians now speak Putin's language.

But sometimes they still have a strange behaviour. While we were sitting in our restaurant, built in false rocks with view on the very blue sea and waited for our lunch, a young woman came by looked at our bread basket full of delicious rolls, and without saying a word, dived in with her fingers took out a roll and went away. We all looked a little surprised and at each other, when another appeared and also took a roll. I told my friends knowing the russians to save money the whole group will pass by and take our rolls. I just finished my sentence that a third one appeared. This time Ilona who has hungarian blood running in her veins got up took the basked with the rolls and shouted :"now it's enough "! the third one who had waited already quickly disappeard !

Today we almost sat on our bread basket, too much is to much, if at least they had asked for it !
The fish of the red sea tastes wonderful and is so fresh that it nearly still swims on your plate.

Tonight we attend a supper with an Egyptian show.

Haggling is part of every shopping except in the Hotel of course. My friends are so amazed of the cheap prices of silver or gold jewelry, that every evening I had to go with them in jewelry shops and haggle, because this is part of the folklore and you should never pay the price they ask for. Usually they double the price so you have to offer under half of the price and then with tears and tissues and complaints that I would ruin their lifes, their wives and children would die of hunger, I finally obtain then half of the asked price. And then it's the big laughter, you are offered a cup of tea and a long chat follows and everybody is happy. For a wonderful bracelet in silver with turquoises we only payed 30 Euros instead of 75 !