Day 4 - Cairo

We sleep in a little and have a repeat of breakfast on the rooftop deck.  Franco isn't around so Mister gets a taxi on the street and arranges our trip to the Coptic (Christian) area of Cairo. We pack up our stuff and leave the bags for the day while we go off to explore our way -- without a chaperone.  We head into Cairo and our nice Coptic cabbie chats the whole way in.


We have discovered that people like to talk about the revolution and what they want to see happen in the upcoming elections. They are enjoying the ability to speak their minds without fear of being hauled off somewhere by the very corrupt police.  We have met several Coptic Christians and they are all really proud to let us know who they are and that they are oppressed by Muslims.  Many have a cross tattoo on their wrist to show us.  We are dropped off in Coptic Cairo and Mister settles up with Michael, the cabbie.  We start down the road that goes to several churches - the Convent of St. George, which was closed, and the Church of St. Sergius, which was under construction. So we wandered the cemetery and grounds.
 

We are able to go into a small alcove of  the church and discover that Saint George is depicted as a dragon-slayer in many images of this church.  Interesting.  From there we walk to the Coptic Museum, passing ancient Roman Tower ruins along the way.  The Museum is wonderful in that it is very clean, the artifacts well protected and labeled, and climate controlled (they take our camera again).

We spend about 1 1/2 hours wandering and reading all about the origination of the Coptic Church and the role that it played in Egyptian history.  Next door to the museum is The Hanging Church (it is built on top of old Roman fort, so it "hangs" above the ground. There are children running everywhere in the courtyard and the place is very active.  There is a little store off to the side of the main Chapel and so we stop in there and grab some sodas and sit outside and drink as it is already getting hot out.  We go in and explore the church.

There is a marble pulpit that is really beautiful and amazing carved screens with mother of pearl in them.  We are surprised at the noise level inside - unusual compared to the many churches we stop in during our travels.  Outside the church is the station for the Metro, so we decide to give it a try instead of hailing a cab. For 1.5 LE each (about 25 cents), we buy our tickets and head to the platform.


We find that there are "women-only" cars and we move down to a car that we can both travel in.  We zoom into downtown Cairo and come up onto a very busy street corner lined with vendors of all types selling everything imaginable. We also run into a herd of sheep...

We laugh and then are shocked at a stall selling bras as it is such a contradiction in our minds.  The women here all dress so conservatively and yet on the street corner they buy bras from a young man, odd.  We head off in what we think is the right direction of  the Windsor hotel, our destination.  As we cross the street, I spot a pastry shop called Etoile Pastry, and call for Mister to check it out -- we go in and are delighted with the offerings.

I select a yummy treat from the case, and the man carries it upstairs to their little cafe. We order a soda and bottle of water and take a nice little break from the heat. Even though I am grumpy (waited too long to eat again) we enjoy the atmosphere and our treat is very delicious.  Once we are rested, we venture out onto the street again in our quest for the Windsor Hotel.  It is easier said than done and we get turned around and confused many times.  We ask locals repeatedly for directions and even though they all know where it is, they send us in different directions. I want to give up, but Mister has determined that we are not going to let this beat us and plows ahead.  Another 1/2 an hour and voila -- it is finally located.  We enter and are immediately directed upstairs to the bar by Phillip, the man behind the check-in desk We take the stairs although there is this great open air elevator which remarkably still operates.  We settle in to comfortable seats at a table near the window and order baba ghanoush, bread, and a beer made in Egypt called Sakara.

As we are eating, a woman comes in and starts pointing out a crooked shelf  behind the bar with the bartender.  We put in our 2 cents and continue drinking. The woman returns a short while later with several other people and has a meal at the table next to us.  She introduces them and we discover her husband is Wasfi Doss, the owner of the hotel.  They are from Chicago and have returned to Egypt to run the hotel. We visit with her for quite awhile and then we realize that we have stayed a bit too long and need to get back to the hotel to get our bags and get to the train station.  We say our good-byes and go downstairs and ask Phillip to get us a cab.

We make a deal with him, but it takes forever for the hotel's van to arrive and I am concerned.  I have to give the driver credit -- he zooms to our hotel and Mister goes up to get the luggage and I snap a few local photos, causing a camel owner to yell and get upset with me because I did not give him baksheesh to take his picture.  Funny.  We get to the train station about an hour before our scheduled train and sit down to watch.  It is all fascinating and after awhile a family sits down beside us.  Mister starts talking with the children and soon we are visiting with the whole family for about an hour (a few trains come and go, but not our train yet).


We have a great conversation, take some pictures, and give the kids some American coins as souvenirs.  They are all smiles.  Our train arrives at 8:30 p.m.(an hour late) and we find our quarters and settle in.  It is actually quite nice for Egypt.

Dinner of chicken, tahini, rice, potatoes, and an orange is served shortly after we leave and we are so hungry that we eat quickly.  We are told drinks are extra (and an exorbitant amount) and we say no.  The porter leaves and we remember that we were told by the ticket agent that we were to spend "no money" on the train.  Mister goes out to find the porter and lets him know that.  It doesn't change anything, but the porter asks for us to write a note explaining what happened so that it doesn't happen again.

Mister calls the hotel in Aswan (cell coverage on the train is good) to make reservations and arranges for us to be picked up at the train station the next morning.  The porter sets up the bunks and Mister climbs into the top bunk and is snoring within seconds. I am still sitting on my bunk -- too funny -- oh well, I just lay down without undressing and am also asleep instantly.  We are beat.