Hostmark Grand Seas Resort Hurghada

... we were able to go inside the 6th century Church of Transfiguration. This church is an ornately decorated chapel with a nave flanked by massive marble columns and walls covered in richly gilded icons and paintings. St. Catherine’s remains also are interred here. High above the altar, there is a beautiful mosaic depicting the Biblical account of the transfiguration of Christ – an absolutely stunning artistic work. I thought the church was very ...

... and Egyptian landing – which, of course, is as soft as its cotton! Fortunately, we got our Egyptian landing. As we got to the ground, the extensive ground crew was there to hold down our basket and help us disembark. As soon as the balloon was deflated and folded by the crew, the tambourines and drums came out and the singing and dancing began! We had a huge party in the middle of some random farmer’s field, with two shepherds and ...

... the nest and I got a couple of
photos which hopefully hsve come out ok.

Well that's it really for the Egypt blog, we travel tomorrow back home
starting from here at 10am and getting home around 10pm. We are both
sad to leave but looking forward to seeing the kids again and everyone
else. I hope it won't be too long before we return.

Our 20th wedding anniversary today which started with some shopping
and then the hotel offered us a free meal tonight mainly because of
the problems at dinner last night but also because of our anniversary.

Rest of the day is quiet with a relax by the pool this afternoon
because it is has been really hot today and it helped us cool off.

Dinner tonight was excellent in the hotels al la carte restaurant
which was all the better because it was free!

Meryl's Birthday and we spent the day on the dive clubs boat going out
to Dolphin Point to do snorkelling. It was pretty good to see the fish
again like yesterday plus we got to see a few dolphins as well.

Got back to the hotel around 5pm and guess what? Another cake has
arrived! Woo hoo!

Going for dinner tonight on the side of the marina with a show as well.

Wow and wow again, that diving lark was spectacular. I saw all sorts
of tropical fish including scorpian and lion, rays and moray eels, BIG
moray eels. Plus I got to swim with Nemo, a couple of clown fish came
up and said 'hi' it was truly amazing.

Had a Dutch instructor called Zietza who was just as crazy as his name
suggests but he was good ...

... it wasn’t really working for me. The bus did have a TV and DVD player, so I sort of watched the movies that were put on but they didn’t really interest me.
I did get an antihistamine pill from one of the Canadian nurses on the trip (they were very well prepared) and it definitely helped to knock me out. I did manage to get a bit of sleep that way (as well as you can sleep on a moving bus). But then we stopped for a dinner break around 7pm and I woke up. I wasn’ ...

... 4 speeds, will fly across the water when opened up, carries 2 people and is only $45,000. Len couldn't believe the price, but I guess when the big boats outside are several million dollars who would think twice about paying that much for the little run-about! We go past the fresh fish market, we were going to stop and have a look, but the smell was quite fresh so we just continued on. Finally found we are suppose to go to the hotel across the street ...

... reading The DaVinci Code in the sun. Bry, Mr. Daredevil, decided to go snorkeling and when he came back he told me how scared he had been. He had made it to the reef, but apparently the waves were crashing onto him, almost slamming him into the coral. But he did manage to swim back against the current and return in one piece! The bus ride was not as bad as everyone had anticipated. We had our own row to ...