Pallavi's parents arrived and we promptly sent them off to the pyramids. They planned only for 3 days in Cairo before we all head down towards Luxor, so we cannot waste anytime. However, I decided not to go to the pyramids. I stayed and finished our various bookings and internet errands before meeting them in the afternoon. They had a ball and came back wowed with the experience. We took them around Zamalek, had a lovely dinner, and called it a day.
The next day, we took them to the Citadel. Pallavi and I didn't go to the Citidel on our first visit, so we took a look around. The Citadel is basically a medieval fortress on top of a hill with lots of various mosques and museums that overlooks the entire city of Cairo. Wikipedia says medieval in a 11th century kind of way. It actually is quite interesting. At its pinnacle stands the Mosque of Mohammad Ali. Mohammad Ali was the ruler of 'modern Egypt,' which is roughly the late 19th century. This mosque is filled with lots of Ottoman baroque influences. Then, just around the corner, is a different mosque, belonging to a 14th century ruler, Al-Nasir Muhammad Qala'un Mosque, who decided to take various pillars from structures across Egypt to build his mosque, including Coptic Christian pillars and ancient Egyptian ones as well. It's interesting to see a cross on a pillar in a mosque. We then left the Citadel to see some 3rd mosque by Ibn Hussein, who had once been a Turkish slave - and that's all I know about that one.
The entire day, small children kept coming up to Pallavi and her sister to ask if they could have pictures with them. They LOVE Indians here too, and, although they love white folk, they just pushed me out of the picture. That's okay! I'll just get my pictures taken with strangers when I go to India next time (sniff, sniff... I don't need attention...)
We spent the other half of the day shopping in Islamic Cairo. Pallavi's Mom and Sister wanted to shop as soon as they saw the pyramids. Now, shopping in Cairo requires a lot of haggling. I swear we spent 50% of the time shopping, and 50% of the time haggling, and Pallavi did a majority of the haggling. We spent so much time that tea was served. We told this story later, and Nayeli told us that once, she was served a schwarma sandwich while haggling. I'd call that success!
We all piled into one cab (5 people!) and went to meet Heba, Nayeli, and Heba's Mom for dinner. On the way, the Cabbie asked for Hindi music from us as soon as he learned the family is from India. He enjoyed the music so much that he missed his turn. How did he go back? He just reversed on the highway!!!!!! I closed my eyes and said a small prayer, followed by a chant of "it's okay. I have insurance. They drive like this all of the time." When he passed the cop, he just simply explained the situation and the cop let him go by! I wish our cops were so understanding.
The next day, we took them to the Citadel. Pallavi and I didn't go to the Citidel on our first visit, so we took a look around. The Citadel is basically a medieval fortress on top of a hill with lots of various mosques and museums that overlooks the entire city of Cairo. Wikipedia says medieval in a 11th century kind of way. It actually is quite interesting. At its pinnacle stands the Mosque of Mohammad Ali. Mohammad Ali was the ruler of 'modern Egypt,' which is roughly the late 19th century. This mosque is filled with lots of Ottoman baroque influences. Then, just around the corner, is a different mosque, belonging to a 14th century ruler, Al-Nasir Muhammad Qala'un Mosque, who decided to take various pillars from structures across Egypt to build his mosque, including Coptic Christian pillars and ancient Egyptian ones as well. It's interesting to see a cross on a pillar in a mosque. We then left the Citadel to see some 3rd mosque by Ibn Hussein, who had once been a Turkish slave - and that's all I know about that one.
The entire day, small children kept coming up to Pallavi and her sister to ask if they could have pictures with them. They LOVE Indians here too, and, although they love white folk, they just pushed me out of the picture. That's okay! I'll just get my pictures taken with strangers when I go to India next time (sniff, sniff... I don't need attention...)
We spent the other half of the day shopping in Islamic Cairo. Pallavi's Mom and Sister wanted to shop as soon as they saw the pyramids. Now, shopping in Cairo requires a lot of haggling. I swear we spent 50% of the time shopping, and 50% of the time haggling, and Pallavi did a majority of the haggling. We spent so much time that tea was served. We told this story later, and Nayeli told us that once, she was served a schwarma sandwich while haggling. I'd call that success!
We all piled into one cab (5 people!) and went to meet Heba, Nayeli, and Heba's Mom for dinner. On the way, the Cabbie asked for Hindi music from us as soon as he learned the family is from India. He enjoyed the music so much that he missed his turn. How did he go back? He just reversed on the highway!!!!!! I closed my eyes and said a small prayer, followed by a chant of "it's okay. I have insurance. They drive like this all of the time." When he passed the cop, he just simply explained the situation and the cop let him go by! I wish our cops were so understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment