Blogs from Cairo, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 2

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Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo January 22nd 2022

Shabbat - a real day of rest! I decided to skip shul and daven in the room. I really enjoyed "my time" while Don participated in the group service. At 10.30am I joined the rest of the group and we made kiddush and had brunch which was a special milky meal. Then Rabbi Berman gave a drasha and then it was sleep time! Some people went out for walks, but we just quietly read and rested. We all got together again at 4 pm when we had seudah shlishit with lots of singing. Again the table was set nicely with real crockery and cutlery. Then free time until after shabbat when Rabbi Berman gave an instructive PowerPoint presentation. He explained in further detail some of the scenes and hieroglyphics we had seen and would explore in ... read more

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo January 21st 2022

Up and out a bit later than usual and off to Fustat, the old quarter of Cairo. For me it was a bit disappointing that we were unable to visit the Genizah. The Genizah is being refurbished. The Genizah (literally meaning the treasury) is a treasury of old documents which contained Hebrew letters and which people didn’t want to throw away. So they were deposited in the Genizah. Holy books are buried but the fragments of the documents are an amazing pot pourri of social history. The documents were in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judea-Arabic. Fragments of ketubot (wedding contracts) are particularly interesting as they set out not only terms of the marriage – what each side will bring – but also what will happen in the event of divorce; they are a bit like prenuptial agreements. ... read more
Ben Ezra Synagogue holds the Genizah
Maimonides synagogue view from Women's gallery
Maimonides study in the synagogue

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo November 17th 2021

15 Nov J'ouvre la portière et sors enfin de la petite voiture noire, cirée et presque miroir de Yassine. Il est minuit. La musique Pop qui propulsait le taxi depuis l'aéroport se déverse sur la ruelle alors que j'apparaît au cœur du Caire. Yassine croyait me faire plaisir avec sa musique de discothèque, lui qui ne parle pas un mot d'anglais. Rock Music que je lui avait pourtant demandé au départ de l'aéroport alors qu'il actionnait la radio. Mais, tout sourire, il m'avait répondu Yassine en se pointant, lui qui croyait que je venais de me présenter. J'ai souri aussi, sans rien ajouter. J'ai laissé croire à Yassine que j'étais monsieur Rock Music from Canada. Devant moi, une devanture discrète annonce le Freedom Hostel, third floor. Le bâtiment est défraîchit et paraît plutôt lugubre dans la ... read more
Citadel
Musée 1
Mosque 2

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo September 11th 2020

Hello everyone, I hope this blog finds you and your loved ones well. I have started, stopped, and restarted this blog more times than I can count. At first I delayed out of normal procrastination habits; then every month since life-as-we-knew-it was interrupted, I've questioned if the timing and message of this post were right. I was holding out for some glorious day when this virus would be gone, this pandemic would be over, and travel would be able to safely resume. But it's becoming increasingly clear that I don't know when that day will be, and I don't know that the luxury of international travel will ever exist in the same capacity it did before. And so for that reason, I've realized that any day is a good day to share a blog with you, ... read more
Eye of Horus
Walk like an Egyptian
Steppe Pyramid of Djoser

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo April 10th 2020

Tutto sembra ancora normale quando arrivo in Egitto il 5 Marzo 2020 per una continuazione fuori programma del viaggio africano appena concluso, poi l'11 Marzo l'OMS dichiara la pandemia. Il 19 viene chiuso l'aeroporto internazionale; il giorno 24 viene annunciato un coprifuoco che inizierà il giorno seguente dalle ore 19.00 alle ore 6.00: tutti i negozi, ad eccezione di farmacie, alimentari e panetterie, dovranno chiudere alle ore 17 e rimanere chiusi per tutto il week-end (venerdì e sabato); i ristoranti potranno servire solamente cibo da asporto, i caffè lungo le strade dove bere un buon tè sono anch'essi desolatamente serrati. Vengono isolate alcune province e città; viaggiare è ancora possibile, sconsigliato o vietato del tutto: non riusciamo bene a capire. Rientriamo di corsa al Cairo, che sembra essere il posto più adatto nel quale poter rimanere ... read more
Nessuno per strada
Quasi nessuno
Qualcosa si muove

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo February 29th 2020

I did not have wifi on the train, and the wifi at our hotel in Aswan is terrible, so the photos will not be labeled because I'm using someone's hot spot. Today our leader Khaled (aka “Elvis”) brought us to the Egyptian Museum and gave us a whirlwind tour of the highlights of the museum. This museum houses a spectacular collection of Pharoanic antiquities. There are more than 120,000 pieces on display from statues to sarcophagus, to jewelry, to boats, to ancient papyrus, with the most spectacular the items from King Tut’s tomb. King Tut only served as King 7 or 8 years and died when he was 19 or 20. He was not the most significant king in Ancient Egypt, but his tomb was intact and not raided so all of the items were there ... read more
Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo February 28th 2020

Ahhh - the ocean (ahem - my tour guide said "Not ocean, the sea") Okay, the Mediterranean Sea. I love the ocean/sea because I live near the ocean/sea. From Wikipedia: Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt and a major economic center. With a population of 5,200,000, Alexandria is the largest city on the Mediterranean, the sixth-largest city in the Arab world and the ninth-largest in Africa. The city extends about 40 km (25 mi) at the url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_coast_of_Egyp... read more
The catacombs, they would lower the bodies down here.
At the catacombs.
At the catacombs.

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo February 27th 2020

After 22 hours flying from San Diego to San Francisco to Frankfurt to Cairo – I arrived on Wednesday, Feb. 25th. The flight to Frankfurt was not crowded so everyone found seats to stretch out on and sleep. Thankfully I arranged an airport pickup. Ali helped me with the customs steps and then we got into the van for a 1 hour ride to the hotel. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak died and there were street closures so it took longer to get to the hotel – plus the traffic is a nightmare. I arrived 2 days before the tour starts so I figured out what I wanted to see. Ali told me I could get in touch with the trip guide but for some reason I couldn’t get through to his phone. Transportation choices here ... read more
Cairo Tower
Cairo Tower
Smoggy & dusty air

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo October 6th 2019

Our last day in Egypt started with another early morning call, for another early morning flight. It was our last day in Egypt, and we were duly subdued at the thought. That day we were lucky in one respect. It was a holiday, so the traffic when we got to Cairo was much lighter than it would have been on a normal day. The lack of traffic either aided observing the different parts of town we drove through, or maybe impaired it since we moved quicker than we would have done otherwise. One thing we did not see as much in Cairo as when we were visiting Memphis and Saqqara was unfinished houses and buildings. In Egypt, they have the same situation I saw in Nepal. The housing taxes are sky high, so people do not ... read more
Around Cairo
Around Cairo
Around Cairo

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo September 30th 2019

I wasn't as enthusiastic about our visit to Coptic Cairo as other portions of our trip. Let's face it, I'm an ancient Egypt fanatic, but I'm not as knowledgeable about more "modern" times there, and I hold a huge grudge against early Christians and their depredations against those incredible ancient monuments. However, there are some very meaningful locations that are worth a visit. Coptic Cairo was the stronghold of Christianity in Egypt until the Islamic era and encompasses many Coptic churches and historical sites, and the drive there crosses many interesting parts of the city. Our first stop, walking past the Greek Church of St. George and the Babylon Fortress ruins was the Hanging Church, so called because it was built above a gatehouse of the Babylon Fortress. The land surface has risen since the Roman ... read more
Around Cairo
Around Cairo
Around Cairo




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