Meet Mr. & Mrs. Hefny

2011-08-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Easter 2011

2008-10-09T13:37:00.001-07:00

Nymburk Fair

2008-07-13T11:19:00.001-07:00

Poděbrady

Poděbrady is a beautiful historical spa town on the river Elbe just 50 km east of Prague.

Sara is ready to take you on a trip for the Colonnade, which is the spa park, through the nice trees and the numerous artistic sculptures.

2008-02-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

Trip to Jičín

On the road to Hořice train station

The cute smallest passenger :)

Sara's first train trip

Don't get drunk then through yourself from the window!

In Jičín

Jičín has been declared a Municipal Reserve (městská památková rezervace) because of its well-preserved historical center, built around a rectangular square with a regular Gothic street layout, remnants of fortifications and arcade Renaissance and Baroque houses. The town is also connected with the popular fairy-tale character of Rumcajs. (Wikipedia)

2007-08-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

July was a really hot month. We had to escape for at least a long weekend to the north coast. We went to Princes of the Sea village. No need to describe how nice it was, the photos say it all!

The Beach

The Pool

Andrea Restaurant

2007-04-11T03:15:00.000-07:00

Easter at Fayoum

Only one hour from Cairo by road, Fayoum is renowned for its year-round warm climate, and lush agricultural scene. The name Fayoum originates from the hieroglyphic word Bayoum, which meant "the sea", a reference to the large inland lake, Karoun (said to be the oldest lake in the world) on which sits Helnan Auberge Hotel.

The Auberge was built as a hunting lodge by King Farouk in 1937, and has seen many famous personalities cross its threshold, mostly for hunting parties. It also became a favored retreat for political figures.

At the farm with the girls for horse riding!

I like this hanging puppet!

Night Riders

The girls of the Churchill Lounge!

On the lake
Zizi and longtime friend Wafeya

Sardinka applauding with her feet in joy with her new swimming suit!

Z and Ma relaxing :)

Room View

Can you see Katka pushing Sardinka far far away!

Who's enjoying swinging the most?

This Spanish kid is hitting on my daughter! I'm gonna kick his pampers all the way from Fayoum to Barcelona!!!

Waterfalls, not Niagara I guess!

2007-02-12T00:45:00.000-08:00

Sara Vs. Sara

Sara my cousin, met little Sarinka for the very first time!
Actually, the name Sara was picked by my late grandfather, as an international name since Sara is Swiss.

2007-02-12T00:40:00.000-08:00

Sarinka had a very special visit.

Her guests were Hatem (my best friend for more than 15 years now) and Reham (my second cousin and Hatem's wife).

2007-01-11T03:59:00.000-08:00

Guess who received her new health insurance card?

I wonder if it covers Pampers!!!

2007-01-08T00:50:00.000-08:00

Meet the new member of the Hefny family...

Meet Miss Sara Hefny : )

2006-06-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

Ismailia Trip

Ismailia was named after Khedive (Turkish title equivalent to King) Ismail of Egypt. Ismailia City is approximately 120 km from Cairo by the direct route "desert highway".

It is only one hour drive which made it our destination of choice for a nice long weekend.

We chose Mercure Forsan Island Hotel, overlooking Lake Timsah (it means Crocodile in Arabic), one of the Bitter Lakes linked by to Suez Canal.

Zizi at the entrance of our chalet

Ships passing the Suez Canal , you can see at distanceBrrrr... Water is cold!

In an outing at The Olympic Village (also known as the Sports Village), Katka put on her Dupatta, a rather large Pakistani scarf, ofcourse in her favorite color... Pink!

We have the fresh air, we have the lake, we have the green,
but most of all we like to have our shades on!

It was the day before Easter, a lovely Easter Bunny balloon is overlooking the swimming pool...

2006-04-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Katka!!!

Katka's birthday was a special occasion for the whole family, we gathered, celebrated and ofcourse had some nice tarts ; )

Left to write: Darreen (the Lebanese pregnant wife of my cousin), Walid (my cousin), Zizi (my dying sister after 18 hours of travel from Pakistan!), Katherina (I don't know her, she is a foreigner from some Eastern European country), Dad (smiling as usual), Mom (also smiling as usual) and Aunt Amoura (my auntie had her hand on my small Sprite, grrrr)...

2006-02-25T05:16:00.000-08:00

We had a nice day in Solimaneya resort, 35 kms on Cairo/Alexandria desert road.

Katka fulfilled her dream by finding elephants in the desert. I tried to convince her that desert is only for camels, but she proved me wrong after all!

The whitest couple in Egypt!!!

Don't you feel like spanking this handsom back neck!!!

Nice elephant ride, beautiful girl on cute baby elephant...

Who's that girl?

2006-02-20T03:06:00.000-08:00

We went to the final game of Cup of African Nations "CAN2006". It was Egypt vs. Ivory Coast "Cote D'Ivoire". We were already late, so I used my Organizing Committee Member card to pass through the Press and Media Centre and take the shuttle bus assigned for press people ; )
Outside the stadium, before entering, we were ready in RED, WHITE and Black, the colors of the Egyptian flag...

Three hours before the game, the Cairo Stadium was full with 100,000 people cheering!!!

People are following with interest, as Cote D'Ivoire is giving Egypt hardtime...

We are the champions my friend...
No time for losers...
As we are the champions...
Of Africa!!!

After the game, we went cheering and celebrating in streets...

2006-01-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

Prvni den Svatku obeti jsme vyrazili ze smradlaveho Caira nacerpat sily do 370 km vzdalene oazy Al-Baharya.

Cesta byla dlouha a tak jsme se vyuzili prilezitosti se nadychat opravdu sveziho saharskeho vzduchu, teplota cca 20 stupnu Celsia a nevim jak vy, ja bych na Sahare dest necekala, ale potkal nas a tak se objevila i tahle pekna duha.

Moje predstavy oazy byly hodne zkreslene (3 stromy v pousti a pod nim velbloud a vedle studna) takze tohle vzdalene misto mne mohlo prekvapit svou rozlehlosti a drive nepoznanou krasou. Pohled na oazu z dalky, slane jezero a palmovy haj.

Black Mountains and White Desert (ta hora je krida - jako ve skole :)

...dalsi z podob Sahary. Priroda je zde promenliva, rozhodne ne nudna, jak jsem si myslela v seste tride, kdyz jsme meli zemepis :) a piskove duny jsou stejne krasne jako more.

Tomuhle tady rikaji "masrums", to jako mysli houby, kterych je tady tolik asi jako cele Horice a v tyhle mesicni krajine je naprosty ticho a rec je najednou tlumena, stejne jako kdyz napadne snih :) Pri zapadu slunce a pak za svitu mesice mi pripadalo, ze jsem se ocitla ve snu a ne v realite. Proste zazitek !

Obyvatele oazy jsou velmi chytri "beduini" s vybornymi orientacnimi smysly a smyslem pro humor, akorat jejich cit pro vzdalenost neni moc vybrouseny, 500 km je pro ne neco jako pro nas 50 km a s casem si taky moc starosti nedelaji, ale tento zvyk je rozsirenej i mimo oazy ;). Jinak jsou vskutku vsestranni - kazdy z ridicu nasi expedice byl zaroven kuchar, hral na hudebni nastroj, zpival, tancil (poprve jsem videla muzke brisni tanecnice, i kdyz v jejich pripade to byly spis prdelni tanecnice), bavic a pruvodce. Tohle jsou zabery z "najt beduin", jen tak mimochodem - ze sve kultury si postavili dobre prosperujici business a pro mne predstavuji opravdovy ideal skloubeni zabavy a prace. Zivi je jejich vlastni zivotni styl - neni nic uzasnejsiho !

A posledni rozlouceni s palmami za nasim hotelem...

2005-12-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Khaled is not only my colleague, he is also a dear friend.
To be part of his delightful wedding occasion, was so special for Katka and I.

It was on the 17th of December, and at the very same night we traveled to Czech Republic for Christmas vacation...

2005-10-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Guess who am I? Going to Halloween party :o)

2005-10-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Visiting the El-Sakia (Water Wheel) cultural center in Zamalek was interesting for Katschenka. The river hall in which the Latin music concert we booked for, was overlooking the Nile! Fresh air, nice music, great view, you can imagine how beautiful of a night it was.

Performing artist was Gabi and the MAMAS! Actually Gabi and I are old friends and I was happy to see him artistically more mature than ever. Karim Waguih, the band’s guitarist is also a good friend of mine.

As I said, the night was superb but I enjoyed Katscenka’s company the most…

2005-10-23T02:03:00.000-07:00

This month, Katschenka and I had a very nice time together at many exotic places. During the month of Ramadan, Cairo has a different scent and appealing beauty.

We visited Naguib Mahfouz coffee shop, a very nice place at Khan El Khalilli (old Islamic Cairo). It is part of the Oberoi hotels and it was named after the famous Egyptian author who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1988.

The café has a live music band playing classical Egyptian and Arabic music. Traditional cuisine is served including the famous Um Ali dessert (made of pastry cooked in milk and cream with nuts) and Rice with Milk Pudding.

Guess who liked oriental sweets so much ; ) yam yam yam …mmmmm!!!

We also spent a nice night with my cousin's family at Cuba Cabana, a Cuban ambience café in the open air; with exotic food, Latin music, coffee and bakery. Cuba Cabana serves "Shisha", a traditional Middle Eastern device for smoking. It is also known as water pipe.

I am happy to announce that my beloved wife is now a professional smoker!!!!!!!

We went as well to Al-Azhar Park, on the site of an earlier garden made during the Fatimid era (969-1171). The park's design style is perhaps best understood as an Islamic version of the Mixed Style. Like a mid-nineteenth century German park it has a rectilinear core and curvilinear surroundings. The difference is that the core draws from a range of Islamic Paradise gardens, rather than from the Baroque Style. The park walkway is enlivened by a succession of varied water features, including fountain bowls, ground level fountains, rills and canals.

There are over 325 different plant species – many native to Egypt and grown in a special nursery. Now there is a very rare and unique ROSE from Czech added to the park, the beautiful flower’s name is Katschenka : )

2005-10-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

MEET MR. & MRS. HEFNY!

Mohamed and Katherina Hefny welcome you to their weblog that is frequently updated and intended to keep in touch with all family and friends …