Thread by @boardingsoon

It's Egypt Week in #PhotoTravelMemory. I have so many amazing memories of my three back-to-back years visiting Egypt that I will need a full week to share. Let's kick off with the first time I saw the pyramids of Giza. /1

I had planned only 3 days in Cairo before heading down to a Nile river cruise. Spent the first one at the Cairo Museum, the second one in the Citadel, and saved Giza for last. Amex concierge found me the guide, a young female Egyptologist, and the driver who spoke no English./2

Between the two of them, I had my first lesson of Arabic. The long drive to Giza went by quickly with much laughter and insightful commentary. And there we were, sharing a parking lot with a couple of tour buses and a bunch of souvenir vendors. We were going to get much closer /3

but before we did that, I had to sit down on a ledge and stare at the amazing sight. That was the moment when my presence in Egypt, a childhood dream, felt very real. The guide took this photo and I will always treasure it. After the pyramids and sphinx she took me to Giza /4

proper. Not the parts a tourist would visit, but the dirt streets, with the heartbreaking poverty and lively vendors selling huge piles of bread or fruit off the crumbling sidewalks to local residents. Our last stop was a jeweler, where I had my cartouche made. /5

I've been wearing it ever since. It's fun to watch locals try to guess my name based on the hieroglyphs. One adorable old taxi driver in Cairo couldn't pronounce my name so he decided to just called me Cinderella 😂 I taught him a bit of Portuguese in exchange for more Arabic. 6/

I left Cairo the day after my Giza visit, eager to see Upper Egypt. But that's a story for tomorrow. /7x