Oct 13-14, 2022

We have our friend Tony to thank for getting us to the airport on time! However, this first flight gets delayed 1.5 hours. Sad news because we only have a 2 hour layover in NYC that is scheduled. Sure enough, we arrive in NYC in time to rush out of the plane and scurry to our connection, luckily it’s only 2 Gates away. But the plane is boarded and they print us new Boarding Passes as they have already cancelled our existing ones.

We get on the next plane bound for Amman, Jordan and it backs away from the Gate on time. But then worry sets back in because we seem to sit on the Tarmac near the Terminal for a very long time. It is raining hard. Or so it seems. Finally we find ourselves on the runway with that familiar Whoosh of the engines and we are away into the skies! This flight is scheduled for 9.5 hours in the air. I settle in and watch a 2 hour movie. By now, Royal Jordanian Airlines is serving us a hot meal. Yes, A HOT MEAL!!! When have we last seen that on an airplane? Not for over a decade!

Okay, now there is still a good 7 hours plus to fly and my doctor, bless his heart, wrote me a prescription for sleeping pills and I take one and settle back. Being in the aisle seat, I offered my seatmates the opportunity to get up and use the facilities which they took me up on. I then got a good undisturbed 6 hours sleep and woke refreshed just in time for Royal Jordanian to serve a Hot Breakfast! Yay!

We land on time in Amman and the flight to Cairo is uneventful. Hanging around the Baggage Claim, it eventually becomes apparent that our luggage isn’t arriving. We find the Lost Baggage Window and try to report the missing luggage. The inform us that we need to wait a while as it might show up. But it never does. So finally they allow us to file a claim and now we can only hope it shows up in a day or so. We suspect the problem is our connection in NYC where we ran to our plane. The baggage handlers were likely not as quick in the pouring rain.

Also lucky for us, our hotel ride waited for us at the airport and took us to our hotel, a good one hour plus ride in totally crazy traffic! Reminded us of Peru where lane demarcations meant nothing and horns were the most important notification system for drivers! The buildings and neighborhoods we passed reminded us of Cuba, a lot of partially demolished and unfinished facades. This is totally a Third World Country!

But we eventually get to our hotel, accessing it in a run down alley, similar to our description of our Havana BnB. There is an elevator that takes us up to the 10th Floor and the Maitre De accompanies us. Then we walk up stairs to the 11th Floor and into our room. It is clean yet tiny, but as the promised description had, the view is spectacular overlooking the Pyramids!