I decided to go to Egypt again..I am leaving Nov 2 have a bit of a flight -leaving late night on Nov 2 not arriving until early morning on Nov 4 but I found a great deal like i did before and couldnt pass it up. I am so excited to see my SO - will be bittersweet w/tears again as I leave but for now I wil concentrate on being reunited even for a little time...

Just wanted to share...okay so its 1130 and I am too wired to sleep!!!!!!!! Hope everyone is doing well and that we hear of some more reunions soon!!!

Congratulations Melinda!

That's the days that I travelled here last year! (one day less or more but who's counting?) It is so exciting!

I think several people are travelling to Egypt this year!

Good luck and have a happy reunion.

well that sounds good, I hope you have a great time

Great News! LOL Who cares what time it is? It's great that you can go visit your SO. Hope the reunion is more sweet than bitter, it's soooo hard to come back home.

Great news What airline are you traveling with? I will be going to Egypt in November too! And im looking for a great deal. I will leave Nov 25 thru Dec 23.

Take Care

I actually found a great deal through Northwest through Cheap Tickets. I always do a 30 day search for the length of trip and assess the best deal..I am flying to Amsterdam....have a long layover....and early am arrival and departure but like another said, who cares I will see my SO....

I am so excited thanks everyone for the support!!!!

I'm happy for you that you are going to get to see your love. Of the four times that I've been over, I swore each time that I couldn't take saying goodbye again, but the need to see him made me forget all of that. You just have to keep your chin up when your leaving and know that you guys won't be apart for much longer.

I've done the vicious layover in Amsterdam before. That is a beeeyaaatchhhh!!!! There is a nice hotel attached to the Frankfurt airport if anyone is ever stuck there. The last time I went, I took our 8 month old son with us. We had a 13 hour layover. Getting a room saved my life. We were both able to sleep for a few hours and I was able to let our son crawl around on the floor without worry. It was also nice to be able to "freshen" up for my hubbie.

It really isn't to terribly long till November. I'm sure that the time will fly!

hey thanks for the tips - I think I have a 10 hr layover- - oh my - - that is great to know re:the airport - - Yes I agree I am sure the time will fly by and November will be here...Funny you say about swearing you couldn't take saying goodbye again...my SO and I had resigned to waiting until this process is over to see each other..but ur so right...the need to see ur SO overweighs any pain in leaving again...and one day we wont have to leave again...I can only stay about 8 days..however that is 8 days w/him...so I am trying to focus on the positive of it all...thanks for ur supportive words I really appreciate it!!!!!

Hope you have a great time! Bring me some koshary!!!

Have fun Melinda! My first trip to Egypt, we flew Northwest->KLM and we had a long layover as well. I believe from 10-9pm. Anyway, what we did is we went out into Amsterdam and came back at about 2 hours before flight time. I assume you are flying into Schipol? If so, it is a very user-friendly airport. We NEVER ride public transportation anywhere when we travel,but we did at Schipol and it was super easy to do. Just follow the yellow arrows to customs and on the floor you will find the booths to buy tickets for the train. Simply purchase your ticket and take the elevator down to the metro. You will want the main train station stop and from there, if you want to take a boat ride, you go to a tourism office and buy a ticket for a boat leaving "Lover's dock" and take a boat ride. Also, you can buy a ticket for the central tram and go visit the Anne Frank Museum and walk around the city as we did. Too, we had lunch at a place called the Pancake House , http://www.pancake.nl/ that
was near to the Anne Frank museum. The tram drivers are very nice and just ask them to tell you when it is your stop and they will. Too, Schipol has things for you to do as well. There is a mini-museum, lots of good stores, and lots of lockers to leave your carry-on as we did and plenty of cafés. Now this was almost two years ago,but I think most of this info should still be current.


Have fun!

YEAH!! That is great news!! I hope you have a great time Mel! I know you will. I know that your love it so excited you both will have a great time!! I wish you a safe trip and a sweet! reunion!


AJ1

That's great Melinda! Each minute there will be unforgettable, so enjoy!



Brought back memories of my trip. As my return trip date was approaching, i was in a blue funk, but i made believe in my head that maybe the airline would delay the trip LOL, and that kept me going (cause i kept telling myself, as long as i'm not on the plane, it won't be goodbye)...as i got on the plane i was still trying to play the "mind trick" on myself, but when that plane door closed, i lost it completely! I couldn't stop crying, and when the plane started to move, what began as a soft cry, turned into a gasping for breath, falling apart cry , that even the passenger beside me LOL was trying to tell me everything was going to be fine. And the flight attendant came over (he was egyptian) and kept talking to me in arabic. My sobbing didn't allow me to let him know i didn't understand what he was saying LOL. Apparently they thought i was afraid of the flight . My seat was right next to the door, and the flight attendant was sitting in front of me so he was watching me (what a scene!). After a while, he came up and started saying things in arabic, and i told him i didn't understand and he was surprised because he thought i was egyptian LOL. He then asked why i had cried that way? and i told him, i didn't want to leave.

If i had to go through this again, would I? The answer is: DEFINITELY YES! The time spent with our SO is priceless, and there's nothing like being able to go back home to Egypt!

So enjoy every minute you spend there and make each minute (as i'm sure you will) an unforgettable one!

Don't forget to bring back some 'bas boussa' for me

Take care,

Ayesha

Wow! I am getting deja vu reading about your guys' plans. Melinda, I had almost the exact same flight with the long layover in Amsterdam and I arrived at 1am (after customs, etc. I was the last one out of the airport at 3am and hubby thought I had missed my flight!!!).

Jodo , you were braver than I was. I wanted to venture out and see something in Amsterdam because it was such an opportunity. But, I was sooooooooo scared to miss my flight. And, I was terrified of getting hurt or lost and noone would be able to help me. So I wound up just cruising all of the stores (I wound up just buying some postcards for my nieces ), taking a nap, and walking a loooooooot! I think I got on the internet for about 15 minutes, but it was EXPENSIVE. ($8 or $12 I think)

And..........the airport (schipol or something like that) is one of the nicest I have ever seen! I haven't seen many, mind you. But it was beautiful and I enjoyed the 7-8 hours I was stuck there!

Aymerlu Okay koshary coming your way!!!!!!!!!!!

JODO,
thanks so much for the information I will do that I have 10 hours so plenty of time!!! Yes I am flying into Schipol....great I can keep myself busy - - -

AJ1 thanks so much

ayesha4akram - ur story is heart warming I am sure I will be balling my eyes out myself - - and ur so right - the time tog is precious and so worth the hard break after leaving....and one day none of us will have to say those long goodbyes anymore....thanks so much for sharing...

monik - ty for the info - i have heard about many things to do there so that is good so i wont be biting my nails in anticipation of seeing my SO again and I have 10 hrs so plenty of time...good to know about the internet because my cell phone wont work so i can communicate w/my SO - last time I flew to Egypt well the only time right now - I was late as well, the last one out of customs I think and I thought they lost my bag - found both bags and my SO thought I had missed my plane or didnt come....i can laugh at that now - - i cant wait to my SO smile and hear his voice again - precious indeed

That is so wonderful you get to see your guy!! I am leaving out December 26th if my OB/GYN says it's safe to travel because of my pregnancy. I flew NWA and KLM the last time I went in June. My flight into Schiphol was 5.5 hours late coming from Detroit Michigan so that long layover saved me from missing my Cairo flight. When I left in June I cried almost the entire way to Amersterdam. It was ok because the man beside was Egyptian and cried for leaving his family as well, so I had a buddy system going on. It is bittersweet but so worth it. I miss so much about my SO that it is taking my life over. I am unlike a lot of you and just started my process the beginning of July but want so much to hear anything as to a clue when he will be here. I hope you have the time of your life and enjoy your trip and absorb every second with your SO. Congratulations and bring me back some of that egyptian food I have been craving!! Stuffed rolled grape leaves are my fav!!! I have craved them for weeks!!!

I had this flight last nov. I spent the whole day in Amsterdam it was great and easy. I am so happy your going to see your love , Im planning a nov. trip soon to , just have not but my ticket yet.

That's wonderful that you're going and that you might get to see Amsterdam too! I'd love to go there! (Amsterdam that is )

I went from July 22 (left the 21st) to July 29 so I basically was only there for 6 full days but it was sooooo worth it! We were in a total funk...not doing bad but just blah like you get when you haven't been with each other for a while. Even though we had quite the experience healthwise it was priceless to spend that time with each other. I didn't cry on my way back though he did. I think I had it in my head that the next time we see each other would be only about 4 months and that it would be in the US so I already had something to look forward to. HA. The way things are going I'll be eating those words I think.

Anyway basbousa YEAH BABY!!! I need a recipe for that stuff 'cause it's da bomb!!!!


Have a great trip!!!!

Hey there, thanks a lot and yes I am excited to see Amsterdam and to know that I can entertain myself for the 10 hrs I will be hanging out!! I am going until Nov 12 so not as long as my last trip and yes I feel the same our time will be priceless..and I think it will help to break up the waiting and we should know some more about the visa process...atleast I should have recieved my NOA2 by Nov..lol...hope ur AP is quick and painless....nice to have the support of others through this for sure...I dont know what I would do w/o it really...my other friends just have NO IDEA what this is like...anywho...I will be thinking of u and getting some of that basbousa and give a shout out to all the SOs when I arrive in Cairo..hahaa....

Have a great time and be sure to share some pix!