Cosmopolitan Cairo

Sight seeing and beach time. With some Nairobi cosmopolitan life thrown in as well.

... love their humor. Tonight, after days of not having a functional shower (low water pressure, cold water) I again felt like leaving Cairo and its 80-degree temperatures, sleepless nights, bad food, etc. It wasn't fun anymore. Then I was invited to ...

... solve them. The creature is known in Arabic as Abu al-Hol (Father of terror). They say the Sphinx, like everything else in Cairo is suffering from a lack of maintenance, that it has the equivalent of cancer because it is being eaten away from the inside. ...

... seen yet. At 4am, everyone was going to another place, but I declined because I was exhausted and thought I had to prepare for class. But, I had a great time learning more about Cairo and hanging with locals, soaking in the moment and doing what they ...

... side by side. The city is teaming with nearly 18 million people, and while Egypt is a Muslim country, it is also quite cosmopolitan.  You can see people (both men and women) wearing casual clothes as well as traditional clothes.  However, you do ...

... to see the Catacombs, Pompeii’s Pillar and the Greco-Roman Museum.  Alexandria is a very attractive city, quite cosmopolitan in character and with great Italian/French architecture.  It would have been interesting to spend a couple days ...

... Egyptians go. The place felt a world away from the city outside and the people there were very westernized. We had a very cosmopolitan experience, feeling like normal people (as opposed to walking wallets) for the first time in a long time, eating amazing ...

... for a tour bus to take a tour somewhere. By the time it was my turn at the reservation desk, I was already homesick for Cairo! I missed the craziness. I missed my twelve block walk to school in the mornings, soaking in the hustle and bustle of the city, ...

Today I went to the Cemetery of the Dead, which oddly enough has become home to thousands of very much alive locals. They are a mix of low income families and the homeless who first took up residency here more than five centuries ago. It is also a place ...

Driving today was crazy. I learned that the signs for the exit off-ramps are positioned after the exit, so unless you're familiar with the streets you're inevitably going to miss your exit, perhaps several times. I was told that one of the most famous ...

I have been here for two full days now at the hotel Hameed originally recommended. It is not much better than The President, but at least it's closer to my school. Hameed called me the morning after my arrival and wondered where I had been at the ...

No one celebrates Halloween here but I decided in honor of the occasion to wear a hegeb and abeyya yesterday and today. It was an interesting experiment. I got strange looks from newly arrived tourists, along with a few giggles and rude comments. One ...

Every time I go on a trip something seems to go wrong, and it's interesting to see how creative I can be in solving a problem that would be easy back at home. Below is the drama of the day: Every morning at the same time I walk to my Arabic class and ...

... got into Cairo at 6:30 A.M. on Sunday, we still woke up at 6:00 before the sun, and our driver took us to our hotel, the Cosmopolitan Hotel, it is only a 3 star but it is cute, clean, and has a lot of character.  our guide from when we were in Cairo ...

... first and oldest quarter, was built on the site where the Arabs camped during the siege. I stayed in the Cosmopolitan Hotel near Talat Harb square in downtown Cairo. The hotel has seen better days, but the room prices are not too bad. If you want to stay ...

... The heat here is phenomenal at a staggering 40 degrees, thankfully its a dry heat though. The following day we headed to the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which would be where our Middle Eastern tour for the next 17 days started. The first day of the tour consisted ...

... in Istanbul, which of course I recognised! The columned walkways and lights and courtyard outside were beautiful, but like everything in Cairo, in neutral sandy shades! The clocktower Mikel had told us about in Luxor was there, and it still doesn't work, ...

(the pilot dropped down really low a long way before we touched down) Ben: I can't see anything. Except sand! Amanda: Cairo's huge. It's probably just ahead. Ben: It's not. All that's here is sand! Amanda: No look, there's a few buildings... Ben: That's ...

Finally a day to sleep in...learned how to play backgammon, played the guitar, super chill day.  Left for the Cosmopolitan hotel, checked into my room, and wow, what a change from hostels.  I had a balcony, my own room, and most importantly A/C. ...

... street crossings and an escape for harsh winter conditions. - Although extremely modern, Moscow seemed like an Eastern Paris (cosmopolitan & snobby with expensive cafes by the river) however, with pockets of influence held over from ...