Sigonella, Sicily (Italy)

Got up early and checked out of the Royal Sun Hotel (Chania).  The local weather much improved and our crew was assembled early for our (bus) ride back to Souda Bay Air Base.  The efficient coordination allowed us to leave Crete by 1000L. During our flight to the east, we got an unbelievable view of Egypt - the best I have ever seen. From the moment we crossed the coast west of Alexandria, we could see features on the ground: oil wells, desert trails, oasis patterns. The view was even more tremendous when we reached the Nile River. Spring was in full force and the flooded plains were very evident. Patterns of green and light brown were interesting and there was no haze at all. We followed the river until we passed over Luxor. Could see the entire area, but never spotted Karnak (too bad)... We could see everything until just after crossing the Red Sea - then it got cloudy. Didn't see land again until we were south of Bahrain and approaching Doha (which we could see). Very hazy. On deck by 1500L and got out of the aircraft into 40 degrees C weather! Glad we didn't have to stay long... We departed Qatar by 1630 but had to deal with lots of clearances difficulties. Our trip home was much the same as the way over, except that we were chasing the sun all the way - actually, the sunset lasted about two hours!  Crossed into Egypt with some daylight and clear ground again. Can't be certain, but I think we saw the Pyramids and Sphinx near the brightly lit Cairo... Later, we got awesome night views of all of Crete.  The stop at Souda Bay Air Base was quick (barely had time to get a couple of pizzas) and we arrived (after our next leg) at NAS Sigonella by 2230L. What a great day of flying!  We checked into the Bachelor Housing ("Mount View") for the night and then met up again to plan for tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I found out that we'll need the help from our buddies (here on detachment) to get our airport repaired.  Crossing fingers!