8:36 PM
hampton
At 1:00am on Monday, Mother and I met the driver in the lobby to make the trek back to Dubai International. Surprisingly, there wasn't any traffic; we zipped to the airport in less than 15 minutes. After going through "security" and checking our luggage, we had a short three hours before our flight boarded. Mother explored Duty Free Dubai while I opted to search for free wireless internet.
I remember very little of the flight to Cairo because I slept through most of it. I do remember being served breakfast, a small tray with a slightly runny omelet with vegetables, a cup of cut fruit, and (chicken?) sausages. The best items on the tray were two rolls. I enjoyed one with strawberry jam and the other with a cheese-like spread.
Before entering passport control, we exchanged American dollars for Egyptian pounds. Although the dollar is weak, there are about 5.50 LE for $1.00. Passport control was a fun three-step experience.
Step 1: Attempt to enter passport control
Result: Oops! Haven't purchased an entry visa. Return to exchange for visa.
Step 2: Renter passport control with two visas
Result: "No, you cannot use one entry form for two people" even though the form has a line for 'accompanied by.'
Step 3: Renter passport control with two visas and two entry forms
Result: Continue to Egypt
Who's an international traveler? Right.
We picked up our baggage and the driver to take us to the airport. The driver came with an escort/guide. I'll call him "Escort," because he definitely was not a guide. At best, he was a salesman for the travel company that arranged the car.
By 8:00am, we had settled in the hotel, and I was ready to explore Egypt. Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This required the first of several Cairo cab calamities (CCC). (Ok.. you got me, I liked the alliteration and triplet. Not all of the experiences were calamities, but the ones that were made up for the others.)
The Egyptian Museum was closed to photography. Now, don't believe the names given to places to be descriptions of said places. I would call the Egyptian Museum more of a "chronological warehouse of pharonic artifacts." Tomato. Tomato. (That doesn't work quite as well in print.) The museum is solid proof that you don't need flashy exhibits and special lighting to have a great museum. Highlights of the collection include the Narmer palette, a copy of the Rosetta stone, an extensive Amarna period collection, the non-traveling components of the Tutankhamen exhibit, and the Royal Mummies.
The gardens at the Egyptian Museum are open to the public without charge and you CAN take pictures.
We spent most of Monday morning in the Egyptian warehouse. By 1:00pm, starvation had set, and I convinced Mother to walk (3 km) to Zamalek for pizza at Maison Thomas. The Maison Thomas has served pizza, salads, and hot sandwiches since 1929 in the heart of Cairo's posh Zamalek. For 60 LE, we enjoyed a large pie with gouda, mozzarella, goat, and bleu cheeses. This may have been the best dinner we had all week, and I highly recommend a trip to Maison Thomas if you ever find yourself in Cairo and Zamalek.
Photograph of Maison Thomas from Google Images.
After pizza and checking in on the Briers at the Cairo Marriott, we taxied back to Giza to the hotel. This was, in fact, a CCC. In Arabic, fifty is pronounced as khamseen. It's the -seen ending that caused trouble. Imagine the confusion at the end of our cab ride when I gave the cabbie 15 LE instead of 50 LE. After a short discussion in front of the hotel, we ended up paying 35 LE.
The Escort had arranged for us to see the Light and Sound Show out on the Giza Plateau. He picked us up early (his trademark, we would learn) and rushed us to the pyramids.
The Light and Sound Show pictures weren't spectacular (read: the Light and Sound Show wasn't spectacular), but I enjoyed this one.
Our first day in Cairo had ended, but I knew the week was only going to get better.
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