An early 7:30am start to our final day of touring in Egypt!
Date Night with Grammy & Gramps
Before I get into how the day went, I want to give a quick shout-out of thanks to Grammy & Gramps! Last night they offered to take the girls so that me & Doug could get some 1:1 time. Yes please!
The girls showered up & dressed for their date with Grammy & Gramps :) They stayed and ate dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. Paige ordered the Atlantic grilled salmon plate (Ha! Love that girl & her awesome food tastes. She's going to be an expensive date in the years ahead!). The Manager of the restaurant was apparently so impressed with the girls and their behavior throughout dinner, that he came over to tell my parents as much at the end & give them all free dessert :) The girls were delighted.
Under normal circumstances Doug & I would have jumped at the opportunity to go out deeper into Cairo & explore more over dinner. Sadly, Doug's close encounter with a horse earlier in the day (explained in this post), meant that we decided it best to stay put in the hotel and instead catch up on blog writing & South East travel planning. Doug iced his foot while I walked out to a nearby takeaway restaurant to grab us some food. Thankfully there was an English menu version. Neither of us were terribly hungry but I went ahead and ordered a few things. Neither of the cashiers were helpful in the least; thank goodness the man working the food behind the counter, took pity on me & explained how the ordering process worked. About 10 minutes later I was walking back to the hotel with our order.
I ordered us 6 items: 2 falafel sandwiches, 1 eggplant sandwich, 1 tahini, 1 fava bean sandwich and 1 extra side of pita. For a grand total of?? Less than $2 USD!!! Goes to show how much further your money goes once you get out of the tourist places. My parents were floored when we told them, especially given Paige's salmon dish alone cost $17!
All in all, it was a super night. Win 1: the girls got quality time with their awesome grandparents. Win 2: Doug & I were able to be super productive with trip planning & blog post writing. Thanks for offering to take the girls, Grammy & Gramps!
Salah Al Din Citadel
Back to today . . . our first stop of the whirlwind day was to visit Salah Al Din Citadel. This Citadel of Cairo is an Islamic-era fortress built by Salah ad-Din and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th-19th centuries. We explored the grounds & checked out the views of Cairo, but spent most of our time seated on the ground inside the Mohamed Ali mosque. Sherif talked us through extensively the history of the various people and faiths in Egypt, up to current day. The girls were getting super antsy, so they found a spot away from us (but within sight) to do their own thing quietly.
Market & Coffee Break
Next we went to Cairo's old bazaar, Khan El Khalili. This major souk is a big tourist attraction. Sherif had warned us that a good amount of items being sold are actually from China, not Egypt. We weren't in the market for anything, but told Sherif that it would be great to get a cup of coffee. A few turns later we were at El Fishawy, cramped back in an alleyway & feeling like we'd been transported to Egypt of centuries past. We enjoyed the Egyptian (actually Turkish) coffee with its cardamom flavors. The girls were hungry so we asked Sherif if they had any small food items. He said, "One moment please." We assumed he had gone to speak to a waiter on our behalf, but when he returned 5 minutes later with falafel sandwiches for each girl, we learned he had actually ventured back into the market alleys to get them for the girls. Incredibly kind of Sherif! We chatted & relaxed, and I wrote a few postcards. It was a nice little break before we charged ahead with the rest of the day.
Egyptian Museum
Seem like we've already squeezed alot in for the day?? We're just getting going! Third stop of the day was the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. There's much excitement about the new Grand Egyptian Museum that is in construction & due to open in late 2020. We saw it from afar and it is massive & beautiful. The GEM promises to be impressive by all accounts, inside & out. We were a year shy, so instead we made due in the current museum facilities from the late 1800s :)
The Egyptian Museum's current collection is vast and impressive. Sarcophagi, statues of pharaohs and countless original artifacts . . . All from a time period so long ago that it's hard to even fathom at times, and more items than you could ever hope to cover in a few hours' visit. Sherif was motivated to make sure we hit the highlights, plus showcase a few of his personal favorites ;)
Especially impressive were the famous Thuya & Yuya mummies (from 1390BC!!). The girls were as mesmerized as they were a creeped out :) Hard to fathom that these bodies have been preserved so well, for so darn long.
Equally impressive was the exhibit on child king Tutankhamen. We were reminded that in spite of his young age/short reign as a pharaoh, King Tut is famous because his tomb is one of the few discovered in tact (1922), inclusive of his mask and mummy in the original sarcophagus. WOW!! Again, the hoard of artifacts and treasures that were compiled to accompany the king into the afterlife, were kind of a mind blow.
At this point (almost 2:30pm), thought, I have to admit that we were all half awe struck, half comatose from sheer hunger & exhaustion. It had been a loooong, full day and we were all - adults & kiddos alike - losing the will to listen, even when what Sherif was telling us was interesting. At one point after the King Tut treasures room, Sherif asked us if we wanted to see XYZ (see, I can't even remember what it was because my mind was such mush at this point), and we all blurted out no! (in the nicest way possible) We told Sherif that we just needed to call it quits on the museum and head to lunch. Part of me feels bad because I know there was so much more he could teach us, but at that point, food & a place to sit down won out.
Kushari Lunch
Thankfully, Sherif understood our need to wrap things up at the museum & head to lunch. We had previously alerted him to our desire to try a traditional Egyptian dish called kushari. At 3:00pm we sat down for a kushari lunch. Kushari is a dish made of rice, chickpeas, lentils and macaroni, all mixed together & topped with tomato sauce, crispy fried onions and garlic vinegar (hot sauce optional). We're glad we tried it, but none of us will be rushing out to eat it again :)
Pool & Chill
We originally had several other stops in our itinerary for the day, but we told Sherif & our driver, Ayman, that we were OK to skip them & preferred to just head back to the hotel and relax for a little bit. We arrived back to the hotel by 4:30pm with just enough time to get in a quick swim (the girls) and hot tub/steam room session (S&D). My parents went back to their room to get a head start on packing and relax.
We all showered up and met back in the lobby for our 6:30pm pick-up for the Pyramid Sound & Light Show. More on that in this post. We ended up going straight back to the hotel to chow on bad room service dinner & soak up a few last minutes of togetherness before bed.
Sherif & Ayman
A heartfelt thank you to our fearless leaders through Egypt: Sherif & Ayman. Sherif was incredibly knowledgeable on all things Egypt. His detailed storytelling and tolerant, kind demeanor made for an informative, enjoyable & memorable few days in & around Cairo. Ayman was the "pilot" (as Sherif referred to him) of our trip. He managed the chaotic roads of Cairo with ease. We're incredibly grateful he kept us safe in those hairy roads!
Egypt is the first time in our travels that we (Bohaboys) have tapped into a tour agent for all the nuts & bolts. Major pros:
We whizzed through any & all lines in the airport and attractions - tour guides get legit special access
We didn't have to think about a thing, we just showed up & it was all arranged for us - that can be a brilliant thing
We gained so much more historical & cultural knowledge through our guide than we would have if left to our own devices
No material negatives to speak of. For this particular destination, we got what we signed up for . . . hand-held to assure peace of mind on safety and maximum knowledge transfer of Egypt. It's not for every destination, but for Egypt it was the right choice for us six. In large part our positive experience was down to the local people on the ground that had our back every step of the way . . . Both Sherif & Ayman made our time in Egypt special, and we are so grateful we had them by our side! Egypt will hold a very special spot in our hearts, as the six of us experienced this new place together.
G&G Goodbye
After the Pyramid Sound & Light show we returned to the hotel and ordered up a batch of (quite gross) room service for dinner. My parents freshened up and finished up packing. They had a 12:30am pick-up for the airport for their 3:55am flight back to the US! We all hung out in our hotel room, and then it was time to say goodnight/goodbye.
Hard to say goodbye because the next time we see each other is likely not until we're back stateside after our travels. We're used to seeing each other every couple months (max), so this is definitely a long stretch. Focusing on the positive, it was incredibly special to experience so many new-to-all-of-us countries together: Croatia, Greece & Egypt. As well, to experience iconic world spots like the Pyramids and Acropolis. Many times we were stretched out of our comfort zones, and (especially in Egypt) saw things that sit well afar from what we normally see. I know we're all grateful to expand our hearts & minds to different cultures, and grateful for the chance to create these new, lasting, magical memories together. We traveled well all together, and we'll miss you guys, Grammy & Gramps!
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