Egypt Antiquities Museum and the Citadel

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After a very long bus ride back from Dahab, (9 hours!!) I arrived back in Cairo last night.
Today was my exploration of the Egypt Antiquities museum and the Citadel.
Moustafa was my driver again for the day, he picked me up and dropped me off at the museum. What an experience. Egyptians aren't very good at labeling anything, so I was very glad to have my guide book to tell me a little about what I was looking at! The museum is huge and is dedicated to Pharonic antiquites. It was filled with anything you can think of related to the pharohs! Mummified animals, sarcophagi, statues, ancient papyrus, mummies, and the highlight was the treasures of Tutunkhamun. I saved Tut's stuff for last. So I wandered around the main floor looking at artifacts, and then moved up to the mummified animals. I didn't know that you could mumify a crocodile... but they did! Then I paid a little extra to go into the mummy room and saw Ramses II amongs other great pharaohs. Finally I allowed myself to see the great treasure of Tutunkhamun... WOW! There were many artifacts I had seen in pictures and read about, but here they were infront of me! I made my way through the treasures into the crown jewel of this museum, Tuts gold. I was a bit nervous that the infamous iconic death mask was on tour in the us... but fortunately for me it wasnt! It was there... and it took my breath away. This icon holds so much power, its hard to describe. I totally understand why it has become the icon it has.... there is nothing like it! In addition to the mask, there were various jewelry found on his mummy, and the innermost golden coffins he was buried in. It's almost unreal seeing these things in person!
Moustafa picked me up and took me through old cairo, stopping to pick up Koshery for lunch. Its a typical egyptian dish made from Macaroni, pasta, rice, lentils, garbanzo beans, onions and a tomato sauce. Not for those on a low carb diet! But very good!
After lunch we went to the Citadel and I was able to wander around the Mohammed Ali Mosque, take in all of Cario, and meet some of the local school children. The mosque was beautiful, it's like a great cathedral without any chairs, which makes it feel that much bigger on the inside!
Just outside the Mosque I was stopped by a few school girls who wanted to take a picture of me and practice their english. I guess they don't see too many blonds in Egypt! They were very sweet and it was nice to interact with these people that didn't want anything from me but to practice their english! The girls asked me what my name was, and if I spoke Arabic. When i said I didn't speak Arabic, they asked me "why not?" Too cute!
It was another great day in Egypt!

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Photos

Outside the Egypt Antiquies Museum
They won't allow cameras inside, so I had to settle for one of the outside!

Muhammed Ali Mosque
Taken from the large courtyard just outside the mosque.

Me and the locals
Some of the school girls I met at the Mosque.