Cairo - Le Meridien

We arrived at our hotel the first night only to find out that the entire hotel staff was on strike, so they sent us to the hotel next door, Le Meridien Pyramids.  It ended up a blessing in disguise as Le Meridien was a nice upgrade over our original hotel.

Security was tight as every car had to be checked out by a bomb sniffing dog prior to entering the grounds.

There was also a metal detector at the door but they never seemed to stop anyone who set the machine off.



Although security was somewhat tight, it never felt as it was needed.  We felt very safe throughout the trip and would recommend Egypt to anyone as a great vacation spot.



The entry way was grand and on multiple nights decorated for very loud and elaborate weddings.



Each morning we were treated to an excellent expansive buffet with local specialties mixed with American and European items.



Afternoons were spent pool side with a nice view of the pyramids.

With a little splashing around thrown in for good measure.



Due to the fear that still exists surrounding visiting Egypt there weren't a lot of tourists.

Evenings were spent staring at the pyramids with dinner and drinks

And a little dancing to the duo who sang the 80's all night long.

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Rome - Lodging

For our trip to Rome we decided to try something different.  We had read online that a great way to visit Rome was to stay at a convent.  We researched it and decided to give it a go, although we hedged our bets and booked the convent for 4 nights and a hotel for 2 nights.  One of the limitations of staying at a convent is that they usually will have a curfew.  A curfew didn't present a constraint for us as we obviously travel with a toddler.  The curfew for our convent was 11pm.

Our view of St. Peter's Basilica at night.

Another look during the day.

The convent was part of The Sisters of Charity of Saint Mary

While it didn't offer modern decor, it was very spacious and clean.  We tried to tell the sisters that they did not need to provide housekeeping each day but they always did.

While we didn't speak the same language (she spoke spanish and italian) we came to have a strong bond with this sister.  She was of great help in working with the airline to get our luggage found and delivered (it never made our flight and arrived 36 hours after we did.)

After checking out of the convent we moved over to our four star hotel.  While it was modern and clean, it was not spacious.

We could barely fit the pack 'n' play in the room.

The staff wasn't very friendly either.  If we had to do it over we would stay at the convent the whole time and wouldn't think twice about it.