The Baldwin Nomadic Adventures: Cairo, Part II

We returned to Cairo from Luxor. We called Hamid to pick us up from the airport to take us to our hotel. We stayed at the Movenpick Cairo Pyramids. We had an awesome view from our hotel room. We could see all three of the large pyramids from our room.

We checked into the Movenpick, rested for about an hour and then Hamid took us to the house one of the guys he met while he was at his meetings during the first part of our trip. He and his wife invited us to dinner along with another couple. It was really nice of them and they served pulled pork sandwiches, something we haven't had since leaving the U.S. and so nice to have something not Middle Eastern for a change. They had kids and didn't mind Jake coming along. They also had a cat, which Jake was fascinated by until the cat scratched him. The sad face and cry he let loose was priceless. He wasn't physically hurt bad enough to cry, but you'd think his best friend just stole his birthday cake. He couldn't believe that cat would scratch him and still talks about it anytime a cat is mentioned a full week later.

This is the view from their house in Cairo. I think I could handle having us posted in Cairo one day...

Hamid took us back to the hotel and we got a little rest before our last full day of touring Egypt.

This is Hanan, our Cairo guide (above), and Hamid, our Cairo driver (below)

Coptic Cairo

Hamid picked us up in the morning and we met Hanan in the Coptic Cairo neighborhood. First we visited the Hanging Church.

This is what remains of the original Fortress of Babylon (above). Below is a photo of the sign.

This is the entry way into the Hanging Church.

The restored Hanging Church, undergoing some additional restoration.

Inside the Hanging Church.

The pillars are supposed to represent Jesus and the 12 disciples.

It's hard to see from the photo above, but this is a place where you can look down and see how the church was suspended by pillars over the Nile. The Nile has receded and moved significantly since this church was built, so the Nile no longer floods this area, but when it was built, this was a necessary reason for a "hanging church"

Then we went down under some buildings into an interesting part of Coptic Cairo. This is the alleyway we walked through, no cars in this part of the city. These vendors had their wares for sale.

Chris standing in front of one of the old doorways in the alley.

Wrought iron gates with Coptic Crosses on it.

We visited this church, Abu Serga. Photos weren't allowed inside because they had some very old paintings on the walls and didn't want flash photography to degrade the colors. I have to be honest, by this point in the tour, I kind of stopped listening to our guide because my brain was full of all the other things we had learned the previous 8 days and I can't remember what significance this church had. Hanan did show us the crypt underneath. It was under renovation so they wouldn't let us go into it.

Then we visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue. For the same reason above, I can't remember much from this visit, other than it's one of the only Synagogues in Cairo and isn't used as one today.

Photos weren't allowed in the Synagogue, but I snapped this one with my phone on the sly.

This was a newer church in Coptic Cairo and I thought it was pretty and took a picture. We didn't visit it, but just walked by.

Mosque of Muhammad Ali or Alabaster Mosque

Then we headed to the Citadel to see the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

From Wikipedia: The great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque (Arabic: مسجد محمد علي, Turkish: Mehmet Ali Paşa Camii) is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848.

Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's oldest son, who died in 1816.

A photo of the Citadel buildings as we entered the complex.

An old well that is no longer in use.

Some of the outside windows of the mosque. It seems that if the building got a good high-pressure wash, the colors would stand out.

Walking to the entryway on the side of the building. They have one-way traffic for tourists.

The washing station before prayers.

Once Jake had his shoes off he took off running. He needed to let out a little energy.

Inside the center dome of the mosque.

Inside the mosque.

Jake found some flowers.

The mosque on the left is the one we visited on the first part of our trip to Cairo. We went so close between the buildings, I couldn't get a good picture. This is a little better.

The view of Cairo from the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

Once we were done at the mosque, we went to lunch on one of the old cruise ships that had been turned into a restaurant. It was an okay lunch of some traditional Egyptian food.

Jake playing with play-doh at the restaurant. Play-doh has been the only thing to get the Baldwins through all of our travels. It keeps Jake occupied and he never seems to get tired of playing with it.

Khan el-Khalili

Once we finished lunch, we headed to Khan el-Khalili, the large souk or market in Cairo. Chris wanted to get coffee at the oldest coffee shop in Cairo, so that's what we did. Jake fell asleep in the car on the way there so he was easy to handle during this part of the tour; we just carried him.

On the way into Khan el-Khalili, Hanan, pointed out the large mosque and gave us the name of it and the history, etc. She pointed out the sun shades in the photo above, which are used when the mosque gets so full during Friday prayers that people have to pray outside. They were collapsed when we walked by, but by the time we left the souk, they had opened the shades (see photo on right).

As I mentioned above, I was carrying Jake for most of our trip to Khan El Khalili, so my photos are all taken with my phone. They aren't great and many aren't in focus. I didn't want to have to pay for every photo I took, so I took them quickly and as discreetly as I could.

El Fishawy is the oldest coffee shop in Cairo and has been open for over 200 years or something along those lines. We stopped for some coffee and tea.

This is El Fishawy. It's also a Shisha or Hooka bar and we spent our time breathing in second hand, apple flavored smoke from the guy sitting next to us.

I love the scenes of the marketplace. This one was largely geared toward tourists, of which, there were very few.

This man as selling pears.

The architecture in this area is really neat too. Many of the windows had this style of covering. We saw some of this in Coptic Cairo as well. The window blinds are designed to let light in and let the person inside see out, but to not allow outsiders to see inside of the windows.

It was a pretty long day so when we were done at Khan el-Khalili, we headed back to the hotel. Chris took Jake swimming, then we got dinner at the pool-side restaurant, and then we got ready to head home the next day.

Odds and Ends....Around Egypt

And to wrap up this long blog post, here are some sights from the road in Egypt. I snapped these photos as we were driving to and from places. A few DOT violations and a few amusing or interesting things, you just don't see in America...

Everywhere in the Middle East seems to deliver from Burger King, Papa Johns, to higher-end restaurants...and apparently pharmacies. On the Zamalek Island, these little motorcycles or mopeds with boxes on them are used for deliveries. These ones in particular are for a pharmacy (photo below). It's easier to get around on motorcycle in Zamalek because the roads are narrow and crowded.

Pretty Greek Orthodox Church on the road to the airport.

On the way to the airport, another church and a mosque below.

One of my favorites...the camels. I can't help but continuing to find the camels in these trucks amusing. And this is a pretty frequent site.

Lots of horse and donkey carts in Cairo and all over Egypt. They are obviously used regularly for everyday life. The one above is carrying quite a few women and children.

Sheep and goats along the road. This is in the middle of the city...

Again, motorcycles or mopeds are used a lot in Egypt. This one is more of a moped, but women usually are found riding side-saddle on the back of the motorcycle. I didn't ever get a photo of it, but often, it would be a family of four on one of these motorcycles. One kid on the gas tank in front, dad driving, mom riding side-saddle on the back holding an infant in her arms. I never got used to that site, but saw it so many times while we were there.

The kid on this motorcycle is facing backwards.

Water buffalo.

Cows

There were a lot of these little "mini" vans around Cairo, the one on the right. The blue and white one on the left was about the size of a normal mini van, but the one on the right is tiny and cute.