Heliopolis Cairo

29/09/2012 - Ahlen ya Cairo

Touched down on a 30'C late september afternoon clutching a handful of baffling currency for a visa, and a violin case. Was soon scooped up from the crowd by the amazing Lois Nageib, one of my very few contacts here in Egypt and a very welcome alternative lift to taxi driver-battling over a fee and destination …

Merry Boxing Day everyone J

Catching up week starting 11^th November

With our Egyptian dialect course finished, the fusHa standard Arabic begins. After our insane cramathon first year at Oxford followed by a 4 month break, sitting down to try and read a newspaper article comes as a shock to the system.

We'll …

... us up at 5.30pm but this turned into 7pm.  He took us all the back streets to avoid the traffic to get to his home at Heliopolis.  It was quite an interesting ride (too fast) but we felt safe.  As it was, we didn't get to his home until ...

... saw in the Egyptian movies and soap operas that graced television sets all over the Middle East. From Heliopolis, I left Cairo for Greece, leaving Egypt behind, with its superlatives of history and problems and its contrasts of desert and river, life ...

... has been fantastic here, usually in the upper 80's almost no humidity (it's a dry heat). I was expecting the worst in Cairo - 100 degree heat riding a camel across the desert.....but it really has been comfortable. We decided to scrap some of the ...

... where we explored the many tiny alleyways and passed hundreds of shops selling souvenirs, food, copper and brass, among many other things.     Egypt  was a fantastic place to visit and we felt very welcome, safe and comfortable here. ...

To all of you who have followed me through my journey into the magical kingdom of Jordan, a special "Thank you" for all of your words of encouragements, best wishes and comments along the way.  Hoping that my blog has opened in you a little taste ...

... by a young Egyptian man. Seems we were the only pick up so we loaded ourselves into the bus and got taken to the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel. After a guard and canine sniffing the bus for bombs at the hotel driveway, we were taken to the desk to check in. ...

... check out if you have a day extra and want to catch some local scenery. It's located right next to Nassr City and close to Heliopolis. We head back to the apartment around 5 to meet up with Peter, who has invited his friend / mechanic, Dave, over for ...

... -Sheikh to Cairo, we were warmly greeted by Thelma and her driver! We drove to their home and then toured their neighborhood (Heliopolis) on foot with Thelma as she ran daily errands. Thelma and her husband Gary treated us to an Albertan home cooked meal ...

... found the place ok and was installed in my fridgeless, running waterless, air con-less flat by the afternoon. I'm based in Heliopolis, a formerly posh suburb built by a Belgian (I think) billionaire to house Cairo's growing middle class. Theres a lot of ...

... ; It reminded me of an Arab New York City with its seemingly endless streets filled with mid-rise apartments.  The taxis of Cairo have a reputation for wild rides and they didn't disappoint.  I never felt that I was in any danger while in the ...