This post was originally published on 25th March 2020, and updated and re-dated in April 2020 and again in May 2020
While you might think that Egyptian archaeology is a completed book this is a long way from the truth and discoveries are still being made.
During the course of 2019, a new tomb was discovered as Saqqara, and also at Saqqara the Bent Pyramid is now open to the public since 1965, similarly at Dashur a pyramid has been re-opened to the public.
The Valley of The Kings has also revealed new secrets, and there have been new discoveries at Aswan, and also out at Fayoum and Abydos to name but a few. And now more is being discovered about the finds that have already been made such as the fact that Hatshepsut died of cancer and had diabetes!
There is one tomb that would still be one of the greatest finds in Egyptian archaeology, and to the finder will go much fame, but probably little fortune... The whereabouts of the tomb of Cleopatra has yet to be discovered and while perhaps she is not the greatest of Egypt's rulers, she is certainly one of the most romantic!
In October a performance of Verdi's Aida was given in Luxor in front of The Temple Of Hatshepsut, I would dearly loved to have been there as performance of Verdi's greatest (for me anyway), opera in the country where the story was set would be amazing. Many years ago there was a performance done at Giza, maybe some day there will be another and I will be lucky enough to go this time!
The plan for spending my winters in Egypt depended a lot on being able to sell my winter house on Crete, which had in any case been up for sale for some time.
So getting back to Crete I find that the new petrol station next to my house is now complete and indeed open for business. Exactly why anybody in the day and age would even consider building a brand new gas station is beyond me, particularly as there is one about 700 metres along the road.
But this is Greece, and if you own a piece of land you can build on it. So much for town planning, or business planning come to that....
With the exception that this turns out to be the smelliest gas station ever built, mainly because they have leaking pipework and they do not seems to understand that it should not smell.....
Having put up with the steadily worsening fume for 6 months I end up writing to BP in the UK to ask them to do something about it as their sign is outside and as they have licensed the petrol station it is their responsibility, or so I feel....
As it is now impossible to sell my house, any future plans have now been shelved!!
In addition my 6 monthly check up at the hospital showed that the area of fibrosis on my left lung has got larger. My doctor tells me this is more than likely due to pollution or chemicals in the air. As there is only one thing that has changed in my environment.......
Thank you #BP #BPInternational !!!!!
By now we are in the throes of the coronavirus ''pandemic'' which has affected less people than the annual 'flu season but has involved people around the world being incarcerated in their homes, often against their wishes, for long periods of time.
Welcome to 1984! George Orwell would love it!
Up until March I was able to keep in touch with people I met in Egypt who told me that the situation was much as published on various web sites, and like other countries the measures were designed to prevent the spread so to avoid the fact that most countries have ''creaking'' healthcare systems, and there is quite a lot of political mileage in preventing healthcare systems from becoming overloaded.....
The coronavirus outbreak has also caused a further delay in the opening of the New Egyptian Museum in Cairo, I don't think many people were actually holding their breath waiting for it to be opened as there have been so many delays in its construction and opening that we are now used to it not being open!
Back in February WhatsApp announced that they would no longer be supporting my aged Samsung phone and in the process of upgrading to a newer version of Android I lost all my history and contacts on WhatsApp (in spite of having a back up, which like all back ups never actually works when you need it), as a result I am now no longer in contact with anybody for the latest news ''on the ground''.
But I am not finished yet... I still have my blog to complete of my journey to the US and Canada in late 2018, which has never been published as I did not have any photographs... Until last month when finally my hard drive was reclaimed!