Monday, January 16, 2023
Up this morning about 7 am and up to breakfast about an hour later. As it turns out, when I put this trip together, I had thought today would be covered by visits to Saqqara and the Step Pyramid. However, because we had such a pyramid-full day with Aton earlier in the week, we found ourselves looking for something to do today … other than take the day off, which somehow didn’t feel exactly right. The problem is, we’ve covered the principal ruins as well as the principal museums in Cairo. (Truly, many more monuments in both Aswan and Luxor!). The first time we visited, we had a thorough visits to the majority of the landmark mosques in Cairo, and, (hoping this doesn’t sound awful!) we didn’t really need to do it again! So … back to what to do with a free day! (Note: There are many “Cairos” – Coptic, Islamic, “Old” – each with their own museums and things to see – except, as I say, our interests are really archaeological!). R came up with the idea of a boat trip on the Nile, which sounded interesting. We had sailed on a felucca several times in Aswan on our last trip to Egypt, and we both remember it as a lovely, peaceful journey. So … talked to our Concierge, who recommended we go to DokDok Boats, a bit down the Nile from our hotel. As we started out, though, we walked into sprinkles! I thought it never rained in Cairo! Wow! And no, of course I hadn’t brought umbrellas! When space is at a premium, one considers everything – and umbrellas didn’t make the cut. So, headed back inside for half an hour or so until the sun came out and it looked lovely with blue sky above.
Into an Uber, which followed the Nile for a mile or two, and out to DokDok. Second problem: They have both felluca and motor boats – and we wanted to sail. Unfortunately, according to Mohammed (the chief at DokDok), there wasn’t enough wind to sail! It felt fine to me, but R agreed with Mohammed and said that while we might be able to go in one direction, it was very possible that we wouldn’t be able to get back … so, onto a motor boat (which we had all to ourselves) for our ride on the Nile. We were out about an hour, and it was at least a great deal quieter than it is constantly in busy Cairo proper! Honestly, these folks drive with one hand on the horn at all times. I’m sure that if one drives here, they know the ins and outs of driving here – remember, no street lights or stop signs, and everybody just charges in and attempts to get ahead of everybody else. Truly, one of my better moves this trip was to decide NOT to drive here! We would probably have been paint smears by this time! As R pointed out, I don’t think we’ve seen a dent-free car since our arrival!
R took some fun photos along the Nile. There were quite a few restaurant “boats” – some of which obviously haven’t been moved in many a year! I also like both the Starbucks on the river, as well as the Nile Bowling we found – but no, we didn’t try it.
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| Boat yard |
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| "Waiting area" |
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| On our motor boat heading out |
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| Nile restaurant boat |
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| Bowling?? |
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| Interesting building under renovation |
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| Cairo tower! |
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| And yes, there are Starbucks everywhere! |
After the boat, we headed (carefully and with some assistance) across the street and made our way into the Intercontinental Hotel for a sit-down. We enjoyed lovely glasses of Marquise, a really lovely Egyptian white wine, with snacks. Fun to sit in the lobby and watch all the different people!
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| Lovely lobby of the Hotel InterContinental |
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| Sometimes wine is a very good thing! |
From there, Robert asked me what I wanted to do for lunch! And of course, I replied: McDonald’s! (Yes, foodie fans, I will confess to this awful habit!). We got an Uber behind the hotel and in just a few minutes we arrived in Tahir Square, the main square in town. To say the McD’s was crowded was to put it mildly – even though it was after 1 pm! However, I venture to say that while we did see a few folks who I am assuming were a bit younger than we, we were definitely the grandparents in the crowd! SOOOO many young people – although not altogether surprising, as we were right next door to the American University of Cairo! A very nice young lady at a kiosk at the entry had us order from there – and with her help we were actually able to get what we wanted! (We can NEVER make the kiosks work in the U.S. so I considered this a significant achievement!). Also, surprisingly, we were able to find places to sit, which was no small accomplishment! Note: Had I known all that, I’d have ordered through McDelivery, which does work here, as we’ve seen the motorcycles!
From there, we again Ubered back to the Conrad and are now in for the afternoon! Tomorrow is our transfer day to Alexandria, which means packing up everything and heading out of our lovely Hilton! Oh well! Heading to the Hilton Alexandria Corniche, so hopefully that will be lovely too!
Obilisk in Tahir Square 
In the corner of our room, pointing to Mecca
More later! Oh! One other thing! I just noticed the posted symbol on the ceiling in our room! It is a pointer to the Kabah, in Mecca toward which Muslims orient themselves during the five daily prayers, as set out in the Quran.
Love,
m
xxx
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