First Day in Cairo

The first day in a new country is always a little disconcerting.  Jet lag, new foods, new sights, new sounds.  Instead of using this condition as an excuse to hang out at the hotel to recover from jet lag, we decided to get a little preview of Cairo on our own.  Tomorrow we begin our tour of Egypt with Road Scholar.

With the help of the doorman at our hotel, we hired a taxi to take us to downtown Cairo.  It is about an hour drive through hair raising traffic.  The driver let us off at the Egyptian Museum.  We all agreed to meet in four hours for the drive back to the hotel.  Before he would leave us, our driver made us promise not to talk to strangers, be careful in the traffic and do not agree to "go shopping" with anyone.  We followed all that advice, although we spoke to a few strangers.  Interestingly enough, these strangers wanted to take us "shopping."  We didn't do it though.

We walked through Tahrir Square and nearby neighborhoods.  It was stirring to contrast this area crammed with cars and busy people with the revolutionary fervor and subsequent blood bath of just a few years ago.

Tahrir Square

Exploring the neighborhood hear to Tahrir Square

The Museum was a throwback to the 1930's style of museums, a bit of the Field Museum when we first lived in Chicago.  Acres of dusty cabinets with treasures from thousands of years ago, some things obviously mislabeled and untouched by any curator's hands for decades.

The Egyptian Museum

Finally, returning to our room and flinging open the curtains, we realized that we actually have a view of the pyramids.  Over the swimming pool, across the busy road with the crazy traffic are three pyramids in a row. Wow.

The star of the show.