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.