One of the best things about living here and homeschooling is that we are able to take trips to visit some of the countries we are learning about. Ancient civilizations are always an important and popular part of our history program. And since we’ve lived here we’ve been fortunate to be able to visit Egypt twice.
The first time we went, in March of 2018, we spent several days in Cairo and several more in Luxor. That was a history extravaganza: we got to see first hand sites from all the different eras of Ancient Egypt. We toured the Temple of Karnak one day and then went back that evening for a sound and light show that brought to life everything we had learned. The hotel we booked in Karnak brought us to a whole other period of Egyptian history, the time when European archeologists re-discovered Ancient Egyptian artifacts and escavated tombs. You could practically see the ghosts of the explorers and their accompanying retinue of journalists and wealthy sponsors.
Light & sound show at Karnak Temple 
The spooky hotel in Luxor
We definitely felt like we hadn’t seen enough–I don’t think you can experience all of Egypt unless you have several months to spend there. And the scuba divers among us mourned not getting to Sharm-el-Sheikh. So we went again in December, this time accompanied by our dear friends. We went to Sharm first and had several glorious days of beach and sun. We took a diving trip, then went on a glass-bottom boat so the non-divers among us could see the under-water world we had experienced. Also, SOMEONE forgot they were over 40 and thought they could re-live their teens and 20s by going water skiing (OK, that was me.) I pulled a muscle in my thigh when I wiped out.
Once we got back to Cairo, we re-visited the pyramids at Giza and the Egyptian museum. We had planned to see Coptic and Islamic sites and go to the recently-opened pyramids at Saqqara, but a bomb went off on the road to Giza and we decided it was safer to call it a day and head to the airport.
Both trips really left us with a desire to go back again, though. Along with Athens and Rome, this was one of our most beloved trips.