Armchair Adventuring

Andrea here, As the first day of Spring creeps closer, I’m also musing on a far more sobering mark on the calendar. For me, this week marks the one year anniversary of start of the pandemic lockdown in my local area. And though there are now some glimmers of light—there’s limited indoor dining, schools have re-opened for hybrid learning—most of us still feel restricted in the things we can do.

One of the things I miss most is traveling, especially as the days grow longer and weather warms up, inviting one to get up and go explore! But as hopping on a plane to some faraway place doesn’t yet feel like a good plan, I’ve been doing some fun armchair adventuring instead, traveling to exotic destinations. So, I thought I’d invite to take trip with me down the Nile!

I’m lucky enough to have some wonderful scrapbooks that my mother put together of old family photographs. Great and Great-Great Grandfathers and Grandmothers . . .who apparently enjoyed exploring the world. (I guess I come by my curiosity naturally!) One of my favorites is of a trip my forbearers made to Egypt in 1910. (All the photos shown here are from the family trip, except for the Rosetta Stone) What strikes me is how alone they were at the famous sites, which really emphasizes the grandeur of the Pyramid and vastness of the desert.



The photos are particularly enjoyable to me because I’m a huge fangirl of Elizabeth Peters and her delightful Amelia Peabody mystery series, which is set in Egypt in the late 1800s-early 1900s. I keep expecting to see Peabody and Emerson peeking out from behind a camel or pyramid in my family photos (Amelia, of course, would be shaking her parasol at the tourists and telling them to stay clear of her husband’s excavation trenches!)

Amelia and her sexy husband are archeologists, as is their precocious son, Ramses and their beautiful ward Nefret. (Though I confess, I have a tendre for the Master Criminal—aka Sethos.) The series, which runs for 20 books, provides not only wonderful characters and twisty mysteries but also give a fascinating travelogue of the upper Nile. Peters takes you through the souks of Cairo, the splendor of luxury landmarks like Shepheards Hotel and Mena House, and the stark beauty of the great Pyramid and the Valley of the Kings.

If you’re a fan of the series, you probably know that Peters—her real name was Barbara Mertz—was not just a novelist. She had a PhD in Egyptology, and wrote serious scholarly articles on the subject. So she knew her stuff, and worked it in to her books!

Peabody and Emerson are British, and I think Mertz tipping her pith helmet at the fact that the British played a key role in sparking a fascination with ancient Egypt. When Napoleon invaded Egypt in the late 1700’s—part of the global chess game with Britain for who would be the top world power—he brought with him a cadre of scientist who discovered the Rosetta Stone 1799. British forces came to stop the French sweep through the Middle east and ended capturing the Stone in 1801 and taking it back to the London.

In 1822, the Rosetta Stone was finally decoded, allowing scholars to begin to read hieroglyphs— and that’s considered the birth Egyptology. With their magnificent art, massive sculptures and awe-inspiring pyramids, painted murals and mysterious mummies, the ancient civilizations of Egypt fascinated the West, drawing scholars, adventurers . . . and hordes of tourists. Umm, like my family!

The most prominent archeologist of Amelia’s era was Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (who is often mentioned in the novels.) Known as Flinders Petrie, he is credited with innovating professional techniques of field preservation, excavation methods, and recording data. His wife Hilda Petrie worked with at the sites . . . and I can’t help but think they may serve as inspiration for Peters!

A trip down the Nile is high on my World Travel List, and I would love to follow in my forbearers’ footsteps and visit the Sphinx, the Great Pyramid, the Valley of Kings and Luxor . . . with a lunch at Mena House, What about you? Would you like to visit historical treasures of Egypt? Or do you have another Dream Trip? Please share!

Comments

[Donna H.]

I am with you down the Nile all the way!! It is something I have always wanted to do. And I am fascinated with anything Egyptian. I missed it when the King Tut exhibition came to Toronto Canada. I love the books with Peabody and Emerson and when Poirot went down the Nile to solve a murder, I was thrilled. Thank you for a wonderful post and those photos are amazing!

[Mary Jo Putney]

What a wonderful trove of family pictures, Andrea! My mother's family were also great travelers, but they were more East Asia than Middle East. I've actually been to Egypt and cruised down the Nile, seeing many of the great sites! Enough years have passed that if I made that trip again, I'd have a whole new appreciation of the history and grandeur.

[Alison Y]

I first became fascinated with Egypt when I was elementary school age and we studied Akhenaten in Sunday school. I remember we made large plaster casts with symbols of Egypt carved and painted into them. I wanted to travel there, but alas, never made it.

I love the photographs. It is how I pictured it would be. However, with all the tourism now, I fear I might be disappointed. I remember my first trip to Europe, in the mid 1960s, when there was little traffic and very few tourists. Going there now, or anywhere really, is like night and day.

[Andrea Penrose]

So glad you enjoyed the photos and post, Donna. The Nile really is one of those magical places in history. I SO want to visit and see the ancient sites, and experience the desert. Fingers crossed!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Mary Jo! Lucky you for having done the Nile trip. My mother did it too, so I feel I have to uphold the family traditions!

How cool that your mother's family traveled to East Asia. Any chance of a picture blog on that?

[Andrea Penrose]

Egypt really does have a special allure, Alison. I was fascinated by it too as a child.

I fear you're right in that today there would be hordes of hawkers and tourists mobbing the Sphinx. What I love about the family photos is how they had those treasures all to themselves!

[Kareni]

Thank you for a fascinating post, Andrea, and for sharing your family memorabilia. I see that the menu is dated February 1914 so not long before the start of world war one and all the changes that wrought.

[Misti]

Crocodile on the Sandbank started my love for Egypt when I was a kid. Going to Egypt had been on my bucket list for years. It was probably the very first country I even put on my list. Last February I finally got to go. I got home on March 8 and consider myself very lucky that I made it home before all the travel problems really happened and things shut down.

It truly was an amazing experience, but I have to say that the great pyramids and the Sphinx were my least favorite part, even though they are the most iconic. I really loved the Valley of the Kings and the temples at Abydos and Dendera. I think it's amazing that they are still finding incredible things buried in the desert.

[Andrea Penrose]

Glad you enjoyed the pics, Kareni.

Yes, the menu was from a second trip they took there. WWI really changed the whole the world. Sigh.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, lucky you, Misti! Sounds like you had an amazing trip—and what lucky timing.

I've heard the Sphinx/Great pyramid are not a great experience theses days because of the awful crowding. But Valley of the Kings and the other sites must have been spectacular. I really hope to go!

[Patricia Franzino]

I loved the Pyramids and the boat museum they have of an ancient Egyptian vessel found in a pyramid, and put together from bits of wood.

I am going to stay in the US and take a tour of National Parks.

When it is safer after so many of us receive the vaccine, it will be easier to see the way more clearly to schedule this vacation.

[Janice Jacobson]

When I was in school I ran across the book Mara Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, and later her book Pharaoh - I read them both many times. When I got to university I signed up for Egyptian history and archaeology courses, even though I knew I didn't have a prayer of ever getting to see Egypt in person. But it has been a lifelong interest for me, albeit an armchair one. They were a fascinating people, not least because in their culture women had property rights and priestesses wielded as much power as priests did.

I suspect that Elizabeth Peters started off another generation of wannabe archaeologists. Novels are good for that :)

[Mary M.]

I'm having a little lol at myself. I saw the photo of the women next to the sphinx and thought, "Wait, Is the sphinx really that small? Have I missed something?" I of course hopped over to Google, which told me it's 240 ft long. So, was it a matter of perspective? I came back to the photograph and went, "Doh! THIS sphinx has a nose. THE Sphinx does NOT have a nose." Small copy! Problem solved! Haha on me.

I passed up a chance to go to Egypt around 2009, probably because I have a sun allergy and am not very physical. Also, like Mary Jo, it's east Asia that calls to me. But if I'd read the wonderful Amelia Peabidy adventures back then, I might have chosen differently. Too late now. I traveled till it wore me down and out. I should start younger in my next incarnation.

[Andrea Penrose]

The tour of the national parks sounds wonderfil, Patricia. And a perfect time to do it as spring rolls in. Have fun!

And, yes, I'm hoping foreign travel is hovering on the horizon!

[Andrea Penrose]

Janice, it's really interesting how many of us were captivated by ancient Egypt when young. The pyramids and mummies appeal to youthful imagination, but it's also very interesting that you point out how women had power. Maybe that appealed to us as we grew older.

I totally agree that Elizabeth Peters got many readers interested in archeology. It's like Queen's Gambit—I bet a lot of young people have taken up chess!

[Andrea Penrose]

Ha, ha, Mary. Yes, the little sphinx is quite little! The real one is pretty majestic.

I can see skipping Egypt if you have a sun allergy. It's not for the faint of heart. There are SO many amazing places to see—Asia is a whole other realm of Wish List visits.

We all will need to do a lot of running around in our next incarnation!

[Robin]

Inexplicably, our local historical society in Cleveland had a mummy on display for generations. He was relocated to another museum as not fitting into the mission of the museum (and being a bit grim), but I miss him.

I have some fascinating photos from my grandmother's favorite uncle who was in the Navy during the Spanish-American War era. I was told they were in China, but I do wonder they are from the Philippines. Now I am feeling motivated to try to figure out more about them. One is rather gruesome - not sure if it was an official execution or a murder victim.

A lady would never have taken that shot (but apparently one preserved it since many of the other shots in the album are cute pictures of my grandmother as an infant and little girl.) Perhaps keeping that photo was related to the historic fascination with mummies.

[Annette N]

First, I must thank you for the wonderful post and the marvelous family photos. Y'all must have had wonderful family discussions about all the history.

If I could have traveled with Amelia, Emerson and their family, I probably would have loved to travel to Egypt.

When Ms Metz died, I sent a note to her family. I happened to have some hippo stationery. I told them that I used it because I knew Amelia and Ms Metz would have loved it.

I got a charming response saying that yes, they would have loved it.

I had a job which gave me the opportunity to travel a lot within the States. I saw areas which were devastated by disasters. But, I also got to meet people. Lots and lots of people. Those were the most wonderful experiences and reminded me how terrific human beings are.

Thanks again for the post and photos.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

[Christina Courtenay]

What a wonderful post, Andrea - I adore those old photos! Your ancestors must have been so hot though, they are wearing so many layers of clothes. I am lucky enough to have visited Egypt and it was definitely a lot more crowded (too much so) and unbearably hot. The pyramids and the sphinx are still awesome though, and the Valley of the Kings as well. I hope you get to follow in your great-grandparents' footsteps soon!

[Andrea Penrose]

Wow, sounds like you have some really fascinating family photos, too. Your guess about the Philippines is a good one, as the U.S. Navy attacked Manila. And really interesting that the gruesome photos was kept in the scrapbooks. As you say, someone felt it was important to keep the record of history. These sorts of pictures do spark a curiosity to know more about family history.

I hope the mummy found a good home!

[Andrea Penrose]

What a lovely story about your hippo stationery. I'm sure Barbara Mertz/Amelia would have gotten a real kick out of it!

What wonderful travel memories you have. Discovering that there is so much good in humanity is comforting, isn't it?

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Christina! Yes, Thought about the brutal and those men and women dressed in their formal Western garb. They must have been horribly uncomfortable. (Though I guess the ladies had to wear those dusters to protect themselves from the blowing sand!)

How lucky that you visited Egypt. I really do hope to make it sometime.

[Pat Dupuy]

You just described my dream trip! I've wanted to visit Egypt since I was in elementary school. A Nile cruise, a stay at Mena House, visiting the archeological sites, all of it!

[Andrea Penrose]

Sound like we can put together a group trip from everyone here, Pat. Oh, if only Amelia and Emerson could be our guides!

[Karin]

I would love to visit Egypt, and especially to sail down the Nile. It's wonderful that you have such a great piece of family memorabilia. I am amazed at the sophisticated menu at the Mena House in 1914.
For this year though, my traveling will probably be in the U.S., and maybe Canada if they ever open up the borders to Americans again, lol!

[Teresa Broderick]

I think I must be an anomaly!! Egypt does not appeal to me at all. I'm not a sun person anyway. I do love history but somehow Egypt wouldn't do it for me.
One of my daughters LOVES the idea and would love to visit someday.
Great post Andrea.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Karin. I really do consider them a treasure.

Actually, I'm not too surprised at the Mena House menu. By the early 1900's, Egypt was a popular destination for well-heeled Europeans, and the hi-end hotels were very fancy and catered to their tastes.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Teresa!

Egypt is VERY hot, with brutal sun, so you would definitely not be comfortable there. There are plenty of other marvelous places to visit that would be far more fun for you.

[Jeanne Behnke]

Well, I loved this post & all the pictures. I also love books about Egypt. It always seems so royal and mysterious. It would be so neat to see it in real life. My parents & some close friends have been there. I'll have to enjoy it in books & pictures for the time being though because I really have no desire to travel these days!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Jeanne! Yes, Egypt really does have a mysterious allure. How fun that some of your family has visited.

Travel to faraway places does seem daunting right now, but hopefully soon!