Day 5: Alexandria-Cairo-Luxor

Before we headed back to Cairo, we visited St. Mena Monastery. I had never seen a monastery before, so I was pretty surprised. The monks were self-sustaining, so they had olive trees to sell olives and olive oil. The first church that we went into had a service going on. Women were on one side and men were on the other. When we walked into the church there was a strong smell of incense. The priests were singing or chanting in Coptic. They were also performing a ceremony where they walked in three small circles and three large circles around the church, while holding a picture of Jesus. They must do this ceremony before the reading of the Gospel for forty days. We then went to a larger church with mosaics of different Bible stories like Noah's Ark and the parting of the Red Sea. There was also a mosaic of the Holy family's visit to Egypt. The large dome at the top of the church also had elaborate artwork. We also went to a smaller church where Pope Kyrillos's body was kept.

We arrived in Luxor at night. It is much smaller than Cairo and Alexandria. There is also no traffic and car horns like everywhere else. We went to a small bazaar where I purchased a few souvenirs.