Wyndham Garden Orange County Airport Costa Mesa

... and up-market shops and restaurants. Being on a budget of course, I couldn't splash out in Chanel and Dior, but I did get a skirt and some cool sunglasses in H&M (probably the cheapest shop there) and some cool Christmas gifts for Paul and Amanda. We met Paul after he finished work and we drove to the Korean Barbeque which is a restaurant where you select what meat you want and you cook it yourself at your table on a grill. Dad would love it there! As Paul was starving we ordered ...

... the window seat, even though I'm clearly more excited than he is, but I let him, simply for the fact that I'm clearly more excited than him, and maybe letting him sit by the seat will get him a little excited too. The bus ride was pretty uneventful, except at one stage while listening to the radio I hear someone calling from McKay Australia! I know, nothing really special, but I thought it was funny that I fly half way around ...

... saw Pluto & met the real Mickey in his house. Got a photo taken with him too. People were already setting down to see the parade at 20:00. So did we. After seeing the dancing colorful Disney Characters, filling our memories with all the day's event, we left to board the Lion King car train that was waiting for us. Our drive to Irvin from Anaheim lasted half an hour. We were on a road called "El Camino Real" (Spanish ...

... almost every other American today wanted to rush home for one of the biggest TV events in the US, the Super Bowl. Stopping on the way back for some essential fried chicken and hot dogs, all part of the Super Bowl experience I was told, we were soon in front of a suitably large TV eating some more junk food watching the game while I tried to refrain from mentioning the words 'big girls' and 'rugby'.

... paid. The stocked VIP bar was far too appealing and before too long we were stumbling back into the limo also packed with grog :0( and onto the next club. The night ended in a blur and I soon found myself up waaay too early and on my way to salsa lessons! I had been in South America for nearly 5 months and didn't manage 1 salsa lesson. Now I was tired, smelly hung over, in LA and strapping on my dancing boots. The idea behind the lesson was that we were heading to a Salsa bar ...

... Roman Museum, and the tri-level cata-combs in Kom el-Shoukafa. After lunch we tour the well-preserved ruin of the ancient Roman theater. Monday March 27, 2006: Alexandria/Cairo. Mid-day we depart for Cairo, stopping en route to visit the 4th-century monastery of Anba Bishoi. Tonight we celebrate our journey at a farewell dinner at our hotel. Tuesday March 28, 2006: Depart Cairo for U.S. We leave this morning on our return flight to the U.S. Wednesday March 29, 2006: Return to work...

... access if you joined their loyalty club (free). The Marriott next door was bigger and had more amenities. Rate there was $119 which was not an airline rate. Rooms were suites with a door to separate sleeping and sitting areas. Hotel parking costs $10 and internet access was another $15. The rate was higher than Wyndham but included ...

... were the left over hippies, druggies and homeless. Many sidewalk vendors were setting up to hawk sunglasses, T-shirts, jewelry and other merchandise. There also were Bicycle rentals and street musicians. A fellow rolled a stand up piano onto the boardwalk and played boogie woogie very well. As I continued my stroll, dodging the roller skaters and bicyclists, I heard the unusual sounds of talented acoustic guitarist, Marcus Jocis, who had an unusual style of playing. Rarely ...