Mixing the Old with the New in Historic Cities

On May 14, 2021May 14, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge5 Comments

In almost every historic city that you visit, there will be an old town area where the buildings have been preserved. There is often another part of the city that is new and modern and they are usually in different parts of the city so that the traffic associated to tourists and that of the businesses can be kept separate from one another. Every now and then, though, you will find a historic building right in the middle of the modern skyscrapers. It is often a church, but not always as it could just be a historic landmark. The juxtaposition of the two can sometimes be visually interesting.

Church in Chicago with a Skyscraper Rising next to the Bell Tower

Old and New Side-by-Side in Cologne, Germany

Modern Paris as Seen from the Eiffel Tower

We have seen several examples throughout our travels, especially in Germany where so much of the cities were rebuilt after WWII, but it certainly isn’t limited to European cities. We have seen many interesting examples here in the United States, especially in Chicago, which is a city with a rich history of its own. We find the contrasts to be so striking that we often pause to take a variety of photographs to capture the differences and similarities between the old and the new.

Another Bell Tower and Skyscraper Image, but in Denver

Apparently We Really Like Building Towers Transitioning to Skyscrapers

Wonderful Highlights of a River Cruise from Luxor to Aswan in Egypt

On May 11, 2021May 11, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Egypt4 Comments

One of our favorite things that we did during our trip to Egypt was to take a cruise down the Nile River from Luxor in the north to Aswan in the southern portion of the country. It is definitely not just one of our favorite memories of Egypt, but is probably one of our best travel memories overall. Even though the overall cruise is only a few days, the sights that you’re able to see are simply amazing. You have the choice of every type of cruise from luxury to economy, but we went with a mid-range cruise, which was still wonderful. We also had a private Egyptologist that took us to the various places where we stopped, which is a must in our opinion since there is so much to learn about the history and culture.

King and Queen Together in the Luxor Temple

Obelisk Reaching Toward the Sky in the Karnak Temple Complex

We spent two days in Luxor, first visiting the east bank of the Nile to see the Karnak Temple Complex. Karnak Temple is considered the second most visited site in Egypt behind the Great Pyramids of Giza and is certainly a perfect place to start the cruise down the Nile River. We even went back to Karnak that first night to see a light show that took you through the temple after hours with an audio narrative describing more of the history. In addition to Karnak Temple, we also visited Luxor Temple, which is also very interesting and Egypt is in the process of restoring the water feature between Karnak and Luxor Temples that is lined with sphynx statues. That night the cruise ship makes its way across the Nile to the west coast where a full day was ahead of us. We visited the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple and the Colossi of Memnon, and also went to an alabaster factory where we purchased a couple of items.

From there we enjoyed an afternoon cruise where we were able to see beautiful sunsets over the Nile River. At night we arrived in Edfu, which would start our third day of the tour. From our cruise ship, we were taken by horse-drawn carriage to see the Temple of Horus. It was certainly a great start to the day. We then returned to the ship where we continued down the river to our next stop of the day, which was at the Temple of Kom Ombo. This would be our last night on the cruise ship as the following day we would tour sites in Aswan before flying back to Cairo.

People in the Background Provide Scale to the Obelisk in the Quarry

Walking Down to the Tomb Chamber in the Valley of the Kings

Taking a Cruise Ship Down the Nile River in Egypt

On the final day, we focused on the sites within the city of Aswan, which is most known for its historic High Dam. As with the rest of our time in Egypt, the real highlight were the historic sites that we visited including seeing the ancient granite quarry that still has a partial obelisk carved into the stone. We took a small boat out to see the island of Philae where the Temple of Isis was relocated in order to save it from flooding. Although it was hot wherever we were in Egypt, the temperatures in Aswan were the highest, reaching as high as 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 to 45 degrees Celsius).

Standing Inside the Karnak Temple Complex

View of the Temple of Isis from the Boat

Riding in the Carriage Through Edfu, Egypt

It was definitely an incredible, if not overwhelming, experience to see all of those wonderful places. It is possible to extend the tour or to spend more time in Luxor, but we found the full four days to be quite enough as there was so much to see and absorb as it was. Just sitting on the upper deck of the cruise ship and seeing the shoreline of the Nile or even watching the local children swimming and playing in the water gave us time to absorb what we had seen. We would highly recommend anyone visiting Egypt consider taking one of the Nile River cruises between Luxor and Aswan.

Some of Our Favorite Trip Ideas and Itineraries

On May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Blogging, Travel Tips1 Comment

We have had several trips where we have spent several weeks in a location and others where we simply did so much while we were there that it seemed like a couple of weeks. Because we often have to spend the better part of a day just traveling to a destination, we definitely try to maximize our stay as much as possible. We tend to make sure that we have something planned for every day, but we also make sure that we aren’t on a rigid schedule for the entire trip. After all, we want to enjoy our time in a location, not just run from tourist spot to tourist spot. Here are some of our favorite trip ideas and itineraries in no particular order.

Seven Day Itinerary for Egypt – Egypt is a destination that is on almost everyone’s wish list to visit at least once in their lifetimes. With so many incredible sights to see across many different cities, you will want to plan as many days as you can to make the most of your time in Egypt. We found our trip to be ideal in many different ways, but with any destination, if we had more time, we would have seen even more. What we have here are the locations and sites that we chose to make our priority during a full seven days in Egypt. Due to the length of air travel, the total trip was twelve days, but much of that time was spent in transit. Although we landed in Cairo, we left early in the morning to fly to Luxor and begin a cruise down the Nile River to Aswan and then flew back to Cairo where we spent the remainder of our time in Egypt. It would be easy enough to flip the trip around and start in Cairo, but we found that it worked out well to finish in Cairo.

View of the Quilotoa Caldera and Lagoon in Ecuador

Top Things to Do in Ecuador – Ecuador is such a wonderful country in South America with so many different places to see and explore. It is a country made up of three distinct ecosystems from the coast, the peaks of the Andes Mountains, and the dense Amazon Rainforest. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is centrally located, making it the perfect location to start any adventure. Ideally, any visit to Ecuador would last for at least two weeks, but if you don’t have that much time, you’re going to have make some difficult decisions. During our trip, we made sure to make the most of our time there, but we had to decide whether we wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands or spend time in the Amazon Rainforest as we didn’t have time to do both.

The Perfect Itinerary for a Trip to Southern Spain – There are so many wonderful places to see in Southern Spain, so we have put together what we considered to be an ideal itinerary for visiting the region. We rented a car for the two weeks that we spent there, which is ideal as it is easy to get around and the highways are not very busy. Although we stayed at one central location so that we didn’t have to continuously pack and unpack, it could easily be done by going to each place individually. With such a rich history and wonderful culture, it is a great location to spend time relaxing and exploring.

Making the Most of a Trip to Hanoi, Vietnam – Visiting Hanoi in northern Vietnam is truly an amazing experience. We spent a little over a week exploring Hanoi and taking excursions into the countryside. We also did an overnight cruise in Halong Bay, which was certainly one of the highlights of our trip. We stayed in Hanoi’s old quarter, which has a variety of restaurants, street food, and many different boutique hotels. With so many options of things to do when visiting Hanoi, these are some of our favorite memories of our trip. We took advantage of our time there to fly to Vientiane in Laos for a couple of days as well.

View from Piazzale de Michelangelo in Florence

Top Things to Do When Visiting Florence, Italy – Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with a rich history that includes architecture, art, and politics. There are so many wonderful sights to see when spending time in Florence, but if you have limited time in the city there are a few things that should certainly be on your itinerary. We would certainly recommend spending at least three days in Florence if at all possible as there so much to see and do. Depending on the time of year that you visit, you can expect plenty of crowds in Florence, so going during the off-season is advisable. Here are our top things to do in what we would consider to be the order of priority depending on the amount of time that you have to spend in Florence. If you have the time, we would definitely recommend adding a few days in Rome to your trip to Tuscany.

Maximizing Your Time in Chennai, India – Visiting the city of Chennai in India is a trip that we will always remember. We have mentioned previously that it was a trip that not only had a profound impact on us personally, but also changed the way that we have traveled since that visit. Although we only had a limited amount of time to spend in Chennai, we certainly made the most of the time that we had. We tried to see as much of the city as possible, but also made sure to take a couple of day trips to see the surrounding area. It can certainly be overwhelming to visit a city with as many people as live in Chennai and it takes a little getting used to as you visit the various sites.

Traditional Dance and Music in the Embera Village

Top Things to See and Do When Visiting Panama City, Panama – Panama is such a beautiful country with many wonderful sites to visit and growing ecotourism opportunities. It is a narrow country with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Pacific on the other, making it a strategic location that has been sought over by various countries throughout history. Today, it has its own independence and the people are very proud of their heritage and mindful of their history. Panama City is surrounded by jungles and mountains with strict restrictions on where populations can reside, so it is a city that is growing higher rather than growing wider. It is the perfect location to stay and to take advantage of all of the opportunities to take day trips to see the amazing locations that the country has to offer.

Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as trips and itineraries. We have also enjoyed many other locations in Europe such as Prague, Budapest, and Athens just to name a few. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to plan our next expedition.