Egypt Day 9: New(er) Cairo

That's right, we're going back to Egypt! We left off on the day we saw the great pyramids live and in person and they were absolutely everything I hoped they'd be. I read some travel blog posts before we left and a lot of them were pretty down on Egypt, finding it dirty or unimpressive in person. Everyone gets to have their own opinions of their travels, but I can say conclusively that we absolutely loved it and have hyped it up so much that my parents are now going next year. So I'm glad I stopped reading the blogs and just dove into the experience with optimism and the knowledge that the five of us always have fun together, even if plans don't work out like we hoped (like when Cora and my flight got canceled to Aswan on Day 2 and we rolled with it and had great days anyway).

So, Day 9! This was our last day in Cairo and our final day of "learning things" on this trip.

It began with a leisurely breakfast (pretty sure this meant it was after 6 am, but probably still before 7?) at our hotel breakfast buffet, which is one of the best I’ve ever seen. We stayed at the Hotel Conrad in Cairo and it was absolutely fantastic. Great rooms, great facilities, GREAT food with a giant buffet breakfast and multiple on site restaurants for dinner (we loved adventuring each day but also loved the option to just stay at the hotel by the time dinner rolled around), and great service.

We met our guide and driver in our lobby and drove off to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities! It hadn't opened yet, but there was already a LONG line to get in. Built in 1897 by an Italian architect (the kids noted it looked like the museums we saw in Italy), the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is home to over 100,000 Egyptian artifacts over two floors, including the very famous Tutankhamun exhibit.

Even though King Tut was actually a pretty inconsequential pharaoh who died young, I feel like every school child knows his name and it was AMAZING to see his headdress, 450 lb solid gold coffin, incredible jewelry and accessories, and more in person. You aren’t allowed to take pictures so you just have to soak it in, which I loved, though does seem funny when going back through pictures and realizing one of the coolest things we saw isn't in the folder. It was every bit as ornate and gold-crusted as I imagined it would be. We are so lucky his tomb was found undisturbed in the Valley of the Kings- seeing its contents gives such a jaw-dropping view into what they all must have been like.

What was most interesting to us about the museum was how underwhelming it was? The King Tut room was amazing and the museum is crammed with treasures (also people; the most crowded experience of everything we’ve done in Egypt besides maybe Valley of the Kings), but even the King Tut room itself is very small, dark, and dusty. The rest of the museum is pretty spread out, but it's like walking around in a forgotten old attic.

Things are dusty, unlabeled, and piled together in hallways and on top of random pieces of furniture. There’s little lighting or no fanfare. James loved the treasure-hunting nature of it all, but I’m glad many of the items are being moved to the new GEM we saw on our first day. These precious treasures deserve context and lighting and space! Or maybe I just love an informational plaque? But still, our 2 hours there flew by.

Next up was Coptic Cairo! As our guide explained, the Coptic Orthodox (Christian) Church was established by the apostle Mark in Egypt in the 1st Century.

The Hanging Church, built in the 3rd Century, is particularly famous and believed to be where the Holy Family took refuge during their flight into Egypt.

It was fascinating to:
(1) not be at all impressed by dates that would have blown our minds prior to the trip (42 AD! Before the Roman Colosseum! But thousands of years after my pyramids so meh?); and
(2) to see the combination of ancient Egyptian and Islamic influences in the architecture and decor of the ancient Christian church.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant.

We really enjoyed the food in Egypt! Lots of yummy rice, grilled meats or falafel (I was OBSESSED with the falafel; I never liked it much because I don't like chickpeas, but in Egypt they make it with fava beans and it is SO much better and fluffier), grilled veggies, pita, and lots of dips. Oh and always a bowl of chicken soup. It was great and we always felt very satisfied but never heavy.

After lunch we stopped at the Citadel of Salah El Din (built in the 12th century, which is like SO recent) and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali (built in 1830, which might as well be yesterday).

It was our first time in a mosque and we found it incredibly beautiful.

You need to remove your shoes or cover your feet to enter and there are shoe covers provided. Covers that James and Landon's toes broke through a few minutes in due to the big athletic shoes on their giant size 13 feet, so they heel-walked back to the doorway.

All the places were visited were beautiful and rich in history and I’m glad we got to see this more “modern” side of Cairo. Also, you can see the pyramids from the top of the Citadel, which is such a trip.

Will never get over seeing those guys pop up in my view/camera lens.

The mix of old, new, sacred, and crowded was one of my favorite things about the city. We really, really enjoyed our time there.

Finally, we went to the Grand Bazaar of Khan El Khalili, one of the oldest markets in the world.

It is a maze of shops, scents, and merchandise. I’m SO glad we had our guide because I’m not sure we would have ever found our way out by the end.

Claire got a little lantern for her bedroom at the store in the above picture and it's beautiful. Our guide had a code with us - if we were interested in buying something and got the price from a merchant, if it was a bad price or product he'd say, "it's up to you." If it was a good price and something unique or well made he'd say "sure, yes, I like it." The lantern is the only thing we bought, but it was fun to look!

One other note on everywhere we went in Egypt- there were often loose dogs and cats running around, but we found them all to be pretty healthy and well-fed. Our guide told us cats are indoor "family pets" and dogs are "for outside." The cats did seem to be particularly well cared for, but even the "outside" dogs seemed to have food and water and care. Many had number tags which meant they were fixed and had their vaccinations. All were friendly and seemed to dodge the crazy traffic with ease and were generally received in good humor from the drivers and pedestrians alike.

At some of the temples we had to say things like "you have to listen to the guide for 5 more minutes and then you can go pet all the cats" or "you can pet one dog but then you need to come listen." It was an interesting negotiating point.

Once back at the hotel after our adventures in the non-ancient part of Egypt, the girls chilled outside, I sat on our balcony to read, and Landon and James went to work out. This fit all of our presonalities really. I snapped a picture of Landon swimming from our room.That's the Nile river you can see on the right.

James and I ate dinner at our favorite Egyptian restaurant on-site while the kids ate at the American restaurant one floor down (also on-site), as had become our tradition. I still miss the little bowl of veggies and olives and chewy cheese they brought when you first sat down and I will craze grilled haloumi cheese every day forever (I actually just had some at a Dallas mediterranean restuarant the other day and it was so good).

We went to bed early because the next morning we had to be up at 3 am to fly to the beach at Sharm el Sheikh where we would have absolutely nothing to do for our last 3 days!

Thanks for coming along with me!