Saturday, 7/18 Flew to NYC.

Took long enough getting bags, getting to hotel, etc, by the time we got to Manhattan, we had just enough time to walk to FAO Schwartz before they closed and make our Muppets. They are so cute! Mom made a baseball themed guy with hair like dads and named him Herman. I was pretty sure I was going to make a boy, but ended up making a girl with red curly hair and glasses, and named her Georgina. We had them shipped home so we wouldnt be carrying them around Egypt with us, but that would have been fun! Took forever getting back to the hotel, and shuttle driver took forever to come get us. Ordered Chinese delivery at about midnight Sunday, 7/19 Slept in, headed up to the Bronx to the Yankees game. It was time consuming, but really easy to get to. Our seats were great, but in the blazing sun for about an hour, so it was really hot there for a bit. The new stadium was beautiful, the food was great (Nathans hot dogs and onion rings!), and the fans much calmer than I expected. There was even a Detroit fan a few seats down from us and he didnt get heckled once (that I heard). Left the game a little early to head back down to FAO Schwartz before they closed. Got to run across the piano from BIG, and mom & I each got a new Ugly Doll, both as cute friends and as good pillows for the plane rides. Then, we went to walk through Central Park. It was a beautiful sunny day, and there were LOTS of people out. We didnt see too much of the park because it really is huge, but we saw the pond, some of the arch ways, the main boulevard, the fountain, and Tavern on the Green. I may have walked mom a bit too much she was pretty tired when we got back to the hotel. Monday, 7/20 Had to check out of the hotel at 2, so we got up for an early breakfast (because everything was gone by the time we got down at 9:30 on Sunday), then went back to bed for a bit. Got up, packed up, headed to airport, only to learn we couldnt check in for our 10 PM flight until 4 PM. So we sat out in the check-in area for 2 hours, reading and people-watching. Finally got to check in, and the kiosk wouldnt scan moms passport, so we got sent to the help line (which was long). Luckily, when we were nearing the front of the line, one of the Delta people went through and pulled us out early for some reason, and we got through check-in & security right as the Carrolls were landing. Once we met up, we had (a bad) dinner at Chilis in the airport, waiting the 4 more hours for our flight to leave. Tuesday, 7/21 Flight was pretty good, other than tiny seats, no leg room, indifferent flight attendants, one bathroom out-of-order the whole flight (because it was dirty), and screaming baby behind us. But at least they shaved an hour off the fly time because of the tail wind! So we ended up in the air for 10.5 hours instead of 11.5. When we landed, we met up with our Insight rep, Amir. Thank God for Amir, because my bag never arrived, and it really helped having him there to smooth the process of filing a lost bag claim, and arranging for my bag to be send to the hotel when it arrived. Luckily, they were able to locate it in Berlin. Why it went there? Who knows. Our hotel is like a palace in fact, it WAS a palace, built in the late1800s. It is really gorgeous! We were all pretty exhausted, so after we all settled our bags in, we headed to grab some dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. I had four-cheese pasta and it was really good! After that, we all headed to bed. I was going to read, but the second my head hit the pillow, I was out. (by 8:45 PM)

Wednesday, 7/22 Woke up a few times during the night, and ended up getting up around 8. Met up for breakfast at the buffet so delicious! I had a waffle and bread and cheese and a muffin & donut and coffee, but there was pretty much anything you could think of French toast, pancakes, omlettes, eggs of all kinds, sausage, bacon, meat, potatoes, breads of all kinds, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, pastries, cold-cuts, cheese, hot dishes. After our long breakfast, we walked around the hotel property for a bit, looked in the stores. When we got back to the rooms, the Carrolls was being cleaned, so we all hung out in our room for a bit, flipping channels on the TV and laughing at the shows on, finally settling on an old American Gladiators episode. Marj & Ken went to take naps while mom, Nathan, Christine & I walked through the streets around the hotel and went to the gas station market to buy cheaper water (although the first time we went, we got Evian like Nathan suggested, which was 16.50LE ($3+), and the second time, we got Dasani, which was 2.5LE (50 cents) oops!). We also walked down to this little store mentioned in Moms guidebook, and it had lots of cute stuff I got a orange striped camel doorstop. I couldnt resist! Once we got back from our walk (which we curtailed because Nathan didnt want us to try crossing any major streets dangerous!), I read & Mom, Nathan & Christine took naps, while Marj & Ken walked a bit more around the hotel. After that, we headed to dinner on the patio at the hotel, which was delicious (Grilled chicken wraps! Fries! Stir-fried veggies), despite the grey & black crows flying overhead, hoping to snag some food. This was actually the first time all trip we were able to all 6 sit together! After that, we walked back to the gas station so Marj & Ken could get water. When we got back to the hotel, mom & I went over to the business center to get a wireless internet card so everyone could write some emails. When we were there, the guy asked my name (I thought for the receipt or something), and then said in Arabic, it was suxa, which means sugar. Uh ok Hitting on me, or a joke? Hello, my mom is right beside me! Anyways, he said I would have to bring my laptop back to the business center to use the wireless, but I tried it in my room anyways, and it worked. Marj & Ken got to email Brianna (which Marj was worried about), Christine got to email a prospective employer, Mom & I were able to email dad & everyone else, and I uploaded some pictures to flickr. All the sites were taking forever to load, so I didnt get to upload anything to facebook, but hopefully everyone at least sees my message on there. I couldnt get my Verizon email to load quickly enough, and I was running out of time. Going to bed now. Tour starts in the morning, so have to get up around 6:30 or so.