In college, I thought about becoming an archaeologist and
got as far as a course on Egyptian civilization. Always had a fascination with
the pyramids, artwork and historical intrigue of that early empire. Career and
life took me in other directions, but I finally got to take a vacation there
last year. The highlight of the trip was getting up before dawn and taking a
fifteen minute cab ride from Cairo to Giza, the home of the sphinx and a
grouping of three pyramids. Got there just in time to see the sunrise on the
eastward facing sphinx. Nothing can prepare you for this experience. There they
stand in the middle of the endless desert, seemingly rising out of nowhere, with
Cairo a mirage in the distance. I remember placing my hands on the cool
limestone of the Pyramid of Cheops, imagining myself in the court of a great
pharaoh. Before heading back to my hotel, I stopped at one of the little shops
that sell an endless array of perfumes and spices for tourists. I bought small
handfuls of licorice, cinnamon and orange peel, which I still have today. At
home, in the quiet of early dawn, I sit with my cup of Egyptian Licorice Tea™
and its familiar scents from that little shop, and I am royalty in the land of
the great pyramids.