Alternatives to the usual sightseeing in Cairo (reposted)
Here is an old post that was erased, and that we found in a dark corner of the internet:
While it may be true that we have not yet ridden donkeys past the pyramids or visited the Egyptian Antiquities Museum to see King Tut’s treasures, we have not just been sitting in our apartment twiddling our thumbs and wondering what to do. (Although we do make sure to get back home for “Inside Edition”. News of Mel Gibson’s drunken shenanigans is hard to come by on the streets here).
Cairo is a splendid city. Sure, it is polluted, oppresively hot (when will it get a little cooler?!? – Oh yeah, it’s Africa), full of drivers who have one hand on the horn at all times, and ridiculously dangerous to cross the street, it’s also amazingly full of fantastic opportunities for relaxing each night. We’ve spent the past week taking in the local nightlife, and everything we’ve done has turned out better than we’d expected.
Here’s just a quick run-down of what we’ve been up to in the past week:
1. Tonight we went to the Contemporary Image Collective to watch a screening of Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” under the stars (well, the stars are up there, but invisible to us due to the thick cloud of ubiquitous pollution). The screen was set up on the rooftop and about twenty of us sat on wooden chairs in a semicircle to watch the surprisingly humourous film about death. The roof was surrounded on three sides by apartment buildings, shielding us from the traffic noises below, but allowing a cool breeze in from the fourth side. Afterwards, we walked through the neon-soaked streets of downtown to the Odeon Palace Hotel and had coffee and ice cream on their rooftop while playing cribbage for three hours.
2. On Monday night we attended an art opening at The Townhouse Gallery (Caution: The Townhouse Gallery’s website is immensly frustrating). Artists on display included Qini Feng and his large calligraphic landscapes and Jason Khan’s sound installations.
3. On Sunday, I sat at an outdoor cafe overlooking the Nile with D and Ang, sipping fresh lemon juice for hours. We vowed to each write a short story by next Saturday which begins with the sentence, “Knowledge is nothing by itself.” I have started my story, however, at this time it hasn’t gone much further than the first sentence. Your help in conquering my writer’s block is probably against the rules of our game, but would be much appreciated.
4. On Saturday, we charted a ride on the Nile in a felucca. The two hours lounging in the boat, eating watermelon and egg salad sandwiches while watching the sun set and the neon lights fill the city went by remarkably quickly.
5. Last Friday, we sat in the grass all afternoon and evening at a music festival which highlighted the contemporary Egyptian alternative music scene in suburban Nasr City. Sounded rather similar to smooth jazz to me, but it seemed to appeal to the twenty-something audience. I chose to enjoy the cool evening and fresh air of the suburbs with my shoes kicked off.
6. Last Thursday, I went to Harry’s Pub at the Cairo Marriott for karaoke night and chose to serenade the crowd with a little “Bad Moon Rising.” My good friend Ang and I were also invited to the Gezira Club, a once-upon-a-time influential British social club, with an older gentleman who had had a little bit too much to drink and didn’t seem to care that I was married or that Ang was 25 years younger than him.
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