8:00 PM
hampton
After two great days with the Briers and Mohammed, I didn't know what we would do on Thursday when the Far Horizons group was traveling to Luxor. Luckily, Mohammed had a friend that was also a tour guide. Mohammed set everything up for Mother and me and almost jumped off of the bus on Wednesday afternoon without telling us his friend's name. "I made it easy for you. His name is Mohammed -- you're in Egypt, what did you expect?"
Mohammed (Mohammed I's friend) and Mohammed's friend, Moudi, picked us up at our hotel on Thursday morning. Both Mohammeds (okay, honestly, this is turning into an Abbott and Costello routine) arranged a half day of touring Islamic, Coptic, and Old Cairo. As Mother and I set off for the Citadel, we had no idea how much we would see on our last day in Egypt.
Our first stop was the Citadel to see the Mosque of Muhammad Ali sometimes referred to as the Alabaster Mosque.
This building has been the icon of the Cairo skyline since it was built in 1830.
Muhammad Ali was the self-proclaimed leader of Egypt during the nineteenth century. He built the mosque to honor himself and his accomplishments. Now, don't jump down Muhammad Ali's throat just yet. He's actually responsible for the birth of modern Egypt, a real reformer. Take his mosque for example. He built it at the Citadel on top of the ruins of Mamaluk palaces. The mosque became one of the most recognizable features of the Cairo skyline.
Let's talk architecture. The mosque may be the most recognizable feature on the skyline, but it is the least Egyptian. The courtyard's colors and architecture are decidedly more European than Arabian. Muhammad Ali departed from traditional Ottoman styling because he intended to break away from Istanbul and build a bigger, more modern city.
This clock tower was donated by France after Egypt gave Paris an obelisk from Luxor. Muhammad Ali got the short end of the stick-- the clock has never worked.
Our Mohammed took a page from Professor Brier, walking us out of the mosque and towards the Citadel gates. We had a full day still to come.
The Citadel has defended Cairo from its foreign enemies for hundreds of years.
We left the Citadel and drove a short distance to the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun. This mosque is significant because the original structure was built with mudbricks just like the mastabas. The Mosque of Ahmad ibin Tulun is one of Egypt's oldest that is still standing, and it is a popular destination for tourists.
The fountain of absolution from the Ibn Tulun mosque.
A Cairo street view from the top of the original minaret from the Ibn Tulun mosque.
Mohammed and Moudi then drove us through the "back" way to Coptic Cairo. At one point we entered a three-way intersection, stopped, reversed, and parked. I wasn't quite sure what was going on because I could tell that we hadn't reached Coptic Cairo.
"Falafel!" Mohammed had spotted a falafel shop as we were entering the intersection. He explained that falafel balls started in Egypt as a meat substitute for the Copts during Lent. Today falafels are a ubiquitous Middle Eastern street food. Mohammed order some of the fried fava bean balls, and we jumped back in the car for Coptic Cairo. As we drove, we snacked on the falafels. They were surprisingly light and quite tasty. I don't expect to find falafel that good on the streets of New York!
Our first stop in Coptic Cairo... wait, who are those people? Is that Bob Brier's shopping group?? Yes, it is. We ran into the Briers, Mohammed I, and the Far Horizons gang as they were leaving Coptic Cairo. Judy gave me a heads up that I would want to take pictures. (Thanks, Judy!)
Our first stop in Coptic Cairo was the Hanging Church, so called because it was built over an old Babylonian fortress. The church dates back to 690 AD and may have been the first church in Egypt to have been built in the Basilican style. In later times, travelers referred to it as the staircase church because of the 29 steps that lead up to the entrance.
The remains of the Babylonian fort that became the foundation for the Hanging Church.
The Hanging Church was an important stop for the Holy Family on their trip through Egypt.
After the Hanging Church, we visited the Church of Saint George (10th century) and the Ben Ezra Synagogue (9th century). "We have more falafel to fry." (Ok... Mohammed didn't actually say that, but I bet he thought it.)
We drove down to the Nile and had lunch on a (touristy) buffet barge. The lunch was so-so, but the view was spectacular.
When Mohammed I arranged the tour, he told us that we would finish by 3:30pm. As we left the buffet barge, I glanced at my phone; it was already 2:00pm. Our next stop was the Bazar in Old Cairo, and I knew that stop would take a while because Mother wanted to buy spices for people back home. I shrugged, put my phone away, and got back to the action.
Moudi was a great driver. We darted around the traffic with grace, not clumsily like the Cairo cab drivers. The traffic on the way out to the Bazar was starting to build, and I knew from the past three days that getting back to Giza in the afternoon can take forever.
Moudi dropped us off at the entrance to Khan el-Khalili aka The Khan or just the Bazar. We walked ahead while Moudi parked the car. Mohammed pointed out the giant gates that allowed ancient Cairo to tightly control immigration and to defend itself. Moudi approached with two glasses of a green-ish liquid. A wide grin appeared on Mohammed's face. "Drink this. It's an Egyptian favorite." Mother took the first sip and immediately gagged. Mohammed and Moudi laughed, and I decided to try it for myself. As I slowly drank from the glass, Mohammed explained that it was sugarcane juice or kasab. Moudi finished his in record time while Mohammed answered Mother's question about the ingredient list. "Sugarcane... that's it." Mother and I both drank our full glass of sugarcane.
Moudi delivers the super sweet kasab, a pure sugarcane juice.
We walked deeper into Old Cairo passing the House of as-Suhaymi. The house dates back to 1648, and it is a prime example of an affluent man's home in Ottoman Cairo. The rooms wrap around a central courtyard like a maze. Each room seems to be on a different level with stairs guiding you from place to place.
The streets of the Khan are always filled with children running and playing games.
A stained glass window inside the house of as-Suhaymi provided colorful light.
One of the many courtyards
Mother explored the market a bit, and then Mohammed guided us toward Fishawi's cafe in the heart of the bazar. The afternoon had definitely transformed from sightseeing to just hanging out with Mohammed and Moudi. We sat at the cafe watching the people bustle around the market and talking about life in general. I explained that I was visiting Cairo as a visa run while working in the UAE. As I talked more about the internship and Webb's winter work program, Mohammed and Moudi switched to Arabic for a moment. It turned out that Moudi was a industrial engineering student at Cairo University. His four year program also had internships or training periods. In contrast to the Webb (and American) system, Moudi had to pay his employers for the internship. Moudi told me that there is no charge for Egyptians to go to college. I explained that I was getting paid to work and live in Sharjah and that my college had a full-tuition scholarship for each student. "I love Egypt," he sarcastically declared.
Mother contemplates her next purchase while sipping tea in Fishawi's cafe.
We finished our tea, and Mohammed proposed that we go to Downtown Cairo and then to a real spice shop in Giza near our hotel. We skipped the market's spice stores and walked back towards the car.
Mother, Mohammed (black vest), and Moudi (brown jacket) explore the Bazar at Khan el-Khalili.
As the sun started to sink on the horizon, we time traveled (through a tunnel!!) back to modern Cairo. This time traveling marked the end of the sightseeing and the beginning of what could only be called the "Walk Like an Egyptian Tour." I really enjoyed the local perspective of walking the streets and seeing what the afternoon rush is like for people living in the greater Cairo area. Downtown Cairo is as big and crowded as any Western city. The streets are lined with shop after shop, with like goods generally grouped together. Moudi negotiated the car into a tight parallel parking spot. Mohammed got out and directed us towards a bakery.
Not just any bakery -- El Abd Bakery, Cairo's most well known and busiest. The aroma of fresh sweets and breads filled the air as we shoved our way into the crowded shop. We followed closely behind Mohammed as he searched for the perfect Egyptian pastry. He finally settled on some nuts and a "bird's nest" cake.
Moudi parted the crowd so that we could easily exit the bakery tightly clutching our tasty goods, and then we walked around the streets. Mother found Egyptian cotton towels (I wonder if Egyptians covet Sea Island cotton like we covet Egyptian cotton?) to take back to school. (Seriously. The people taking her college class are so lucky. They're getting bookmarks, postcards, food, and who knows what else.) I was impressed by the orderly chaos on the streets. Walking teaches Egyptians to be fearless. Pedestrians will walk anywhere and cross anywhere, particularly if there is an onslaught of cars approaching. The roads rarely have marked lanes, and local drivers -never- follow them if the roads are marked.
After walking around a bit, we loaded up in the car. Cairo has these neat parking meters that are connected with a steel bar on the ground that "locks in" your car until you pay. This is a great concept to avoid people cheating the meter and cut down on enforcement costs. Of course... the system only works with the steel bar actually retracts when you feed it money. Right. With some finagling, the meter started working and the bar went back into the ground. We were off for our next adventure.
Mohammed had promised to take Mother to a real spice store so that she could avoid paying the tourist price. We hopped out on a busy Giza intersection and ran to the spice store. Mohammed worked as interpreter for Mother and the Yemeni shopkeepers. I had never stopped to think that spice names weren't universal. As Mother looked around Mohammed sometimes had trouble translating the spices. We walked out with quarter kilos of cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, dried red chilies, and dukkah. Dukkah is an Egyptian meat spice that typically goes on chicken and similar meats. It can also be used for dipping breads with olive oil.
With that final acquisition, we crawled back to the hotel in the evening Giza traffic. Our time in Egypt was nearly finished, and today had been the best day of the trip. Mohammed and Moudi were fantastic guides and very generous. What was supposed to be a half-day tour turned into a full day adventure! If you're traveling to Cairo, consider using Mohammed's company, Egypt Fun Tours. (Ok... yes, the name needs work, but the service is spectacular and reasonably priced.)
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