Cairo القاهرة‎

Few things I learned from traveling to Cairo

This place was everything I imagined it to be and so much more. The city is loud and the humming of cars and people is everywhere you go. This goes on day and night. Entire families are out and about late into the night with strollers and all. The fun never stops in a city like Cairo. Egyptians like their freedom and they like their diversity too. The city is growing and you can see entire city squares in the middle of development. For some reason or another, maybe the funding fell through or political changes caused plans to come to a halt, but many developments are waiting to commence work once again. Skeleton high-rises can be seen everywhere you look and in the middle of it all is Old Cairo where universities and bazaars date back to the early middle ages.

There are Christian Egyptians who get along perfectly with their Islamic friends

Our Egyptian guide was actually a Christian local and he had a lot to say about this western misconception. He grew up Tahrir Square where you can find the university and the Egyptian museum. He went to the university of Cairo and became an Egyptologist. He was also an amazing photographer and loved being able to visit all the sites as part of his profession since it allowed him to practice his photography. Of course he had to be a cannon guy so his lenses wouldn't fit my nikon. Bummer!

One of the oldest Christian churches is in Old Cairo.

It's called the Hanging Church but its not exactly hanging. It was built over a Roman edifice of some sort and so it feels like it is suspended above ground. This Coptic Christian church is thought to be seated in the very place where baby Jesus hid from king Herod! I was blown away by this as the interior of the church had a ladder to where they believe Jesus was hidden underneath the church. Amazing, right?! This is still an active church BTW. There were christian worshipers inside when we visited.

School girls will giggle if you wear a short dress within a short radius of a mosque.

This was unpleasant but I do respect other peoples religions. I had my maxi skirt with me and did not have a problem being allowed inside the mosque with it on. The atmosphere in this place was sacred, beautiful and reverant. If you don't know the meaning of that word, look it up.

The Egyptian museum is not air conditioned, there's no elevators, and it's not a one day trip.

We visited the museum after walking around the Giza plateau all day long. We were absolutely exhausted and my feet felt like jello. On the way over I was fantasizing about an air conditioned museum with elevators and seating areas. HA! There were windows and it was shaded but no AC. It was three stories tall but the beautiful 1800's building was not built for the 21st century tourist. Like a good tourists, I walked around anyway and probably ruined my feet but I got to see some amazing things. Wonderful things! Camera's were not allowed. Sorry guys.

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