Out of Africa... really

Trip Start Sep 12, 2006
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Trip End Dec 23, 2007


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Flag of Egypt  ,
Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Our last day in Cairo was spent mostly at in the small streets in and around Islamic Cairo. We walked along the north end of the city and through the 1000 year old Bab al Futuh, the old gates to the city. From there it was a mixture of tiny narrow streets with locals running around, doing their errands and taking care of business. In this area of town, there are hundreds of historical buildings, including many mosques. We checked out a couple of these and were impressed the by the beauty and detail of the carvings marble layout. Because of the huge open space, and immaculate cleanliness, a mosque really does give a serene environment and place to get in touch with god.

From here is was off to more of the small narrow streets, most teaming with shops and ahwa and locals going about their business. As you get further south you get to the more touristy parts of the Islamic Cairo, and here the shops are full of souvenirs and other tourist targeted things, and you are surrounded by bus loads of tourists. We spent a bit of time here and stopped in for a tea at El FIshawy, a tea house that has been open, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 200 years! We picked out some souvenirs, did some last minute hard core bargaining and headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags and headed to the airport where we exhaustedly waited for our 2 am departure flight to Berlin. Dad and Magda came with us. They had a 4:30 flight to Milan. Why the strange departure times is a mystery to me.

But it was time to say good bye to Africa for good, and start the journey home.
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