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musings from where I sit

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A bit about me

pinningmywords

Hello and welcome to pinningmywords! My name is Virginia, but for my whole life I’ve been called Pin. I’m an Australian living in Tangier, via Paris (it was a mistake that I ended up in Tangier, but a jolly good one), and the purpose of this blog is to provide you with a snapshot of musings from wherever I sit. At this stage, it’s North Africa. I hope you’ll enjoy, and thank you for following.

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Archives

April 2019 (1)
March 2019 (1)
February 2019 (1)
January 2019 (2)
December 2018 (2)
November 2018 (2)
October 2018 (2)
July 2018 (2)
May 2018 (4)
April 2018 (4)
March 2018 (8)
February 2018 (2)
December 2017 (5)
November 2017 (4)
October 2017 (8)
September 2017 (8)
August 2017 (10)
July 2017 (9)
June 2017 (6)
March 2017 (1)
February 2017 (3)
January 2017 (18)

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•Friday flashback• Back in Cairo, and the noon call to prayer sounds as people bustle through the streets to the mosque in time for the most important prayers of the week. This photo of a lone man wandering through the Colossi of Memnon was taken last Friday, just moments from the glorious Marsam Hotel, my dreamy base during eight fabulous days in Upper Egypt. With it being Good Friday today, where Christians celebrate Christ dying and then rising again on Monday, it seems only fitting that these huge pieces seemingly rising out of the earth, appeared as I planned this post. So beautiful and their sheer scale just breathtaking. Wishing everyone a very happy and safe Easter weekend♥️ • • • • #easter #happy #egypt #love #family #memnon #visions #luxoregypt #pinningmywords

•Leaving Luxor• Situated 20 minutes from the town of Luxor on the community bus or a simple tuk tuk, is the wonderful Marsam Hotel, formerly known as Chicago House or Sheik Ali. This place is paradise and has been home to Egyptologists, archeologists, writers, travellers and everyone in between, since 1920. Simple, special, utterly romantic and quite possibly my new favourite place in the world, I was lucky enough to call the Marsam home for the past 8 days and was so sad to leave this morning! I’m thrilled to have discovered this part of the world and it’s utterly gorgeous people. The smiles were as wide as the Nile and kindness unlike anything I’ve seen for ages. There is something in the water in the Valley of the Kings and tonight, back in Cairo, I feel replenished and inspired- ready to take on the world! It’s amazing what a dive down a few tombs and a dip in the Nile can do, all in fabulous company in a precious place 🧡 • • • • #nile #nileriver #happy #travel #egypt #luxor

•A new day• This morning I woke early, feeling sprightly and excited for a day of exploration in the tombs and temples in the surrounding valley. An incredible day followed, more about that later. Racing out the door in my ultra chic white nighty, I captured this short ‘5.30am/pre breakfast’ snippet which absolutely sums up how I feel on the eve of leaving Upper Egypt for Cairo tomorrow afternoon 🧡 Sound on 🦆 • • • • #egypt #love #luxor #happy #travel #ballooning

•70• This wonderful person is not on Instagram, so unless @mrs__________a shows him, he’ll never see this! Pictured is my Dad, who turned 70 on Saturday and this photo is of him not blowing out 70 candles, rather, laughing because ‘they’ stuck a sparkler in his birthday cake which had to burn to the end in un-blow-out-able fashion. He’s been spitting on birthday cakes since he was born in 1949, and this year the two of us celebrate a collective 110 years, just two weeks apart. I sent a brief telegram (which was actually a long speech) to be read at his tiny gathering of a few on Saturday, due to the fact that I’m currently in upper Egypt which is actually Southern Egypt, and only Dad would be able to ever help me figure that one out. The greatest gift of all is that he is here to see 70. Here’s to many, many more beloved Bim Pop💙 • • • • #father #love #dad #70 #yearsandyears

•O Captain, My Captain• This afternoon was possibly one of the most peaceful and happy moments I’ve experienced in a very long time. Mohamed (pictured) sailed us along the Nile in his fabulous boat, promising a happy time ‘I don’t want you to be sadly’ he kept saying. I was anything but sadly following a glorious, long Nile swim. As we drifted back at dusk, Mohamed looking a treat in his galabeya while modelling Jono’s hat, everything came together - I felt utterly peaceful and contemplative. I’m most definitely going back for seconds of ‘not sadly’ tomorrow 🙌🏽♥️ • • • • #happy #egypt #luxor #writing #rivernile #dusk #pinningmywords

•Where to next?• Waiting for the local bus with no windows and no doors this morning, I had a quick study of this fabulous old map at the bus stop which has no need for updating, as not much has changed here over thousands of years. Archeological digs take place along the roadside and children shout ‘hello woman’ before racing under fences through ancient sites. Imagine this being their playground? Rattling along in the bus, I observed an ancient man wobbling along on his bicycle, before taking a shortcut through the site of the enormous fallen head of Ramesses II which cast huge shadows over him. All in a days work ♥️ • • • • #writing #happy #luxor #egypt #valleyofthekings #map #ancient

•From my bedroom window, Luxor• Two men sharing a post sunrise cigarette and a chat under the tree outside my bedroom window this morning. Prayers had just finished and soon after I took this photo, the house dog rushed by, barking them back to work. The Valley of the Kings stood proudly in the distance, and the air was already warm and dusty as we headed into a beautiful, hot, mid April day. It is both beautiful and utterly peaceful here ♥️ • • • • #pinningmywords #writing #writingcommunity #instadaily #instablog #happy #luxor #change #egypt #valleyofthekings

•The Valley of the Kings• ‘May your spirit live, may you spend millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your eyes beholding happiness.’ Text from the ‘wishing cup’ found with Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings (pictured, at dusk tonight from outside my bedroom door). There is magic here and in a further miracle, I’ve just posted a piece (link to pinningmywords.com in my bio) titled ‘Reflections.’ In Egypt, I’m in a constant reflective state ♥️ • • • • #egypt #luxor #pinningmywords #happy #valleyofthekings #tutankhamun #writing #writingcommunity #instablog

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