Lou and Roger Go to Cairo -- 2019

Hassan was all grins when he brought my reworked sandals to the breakfast table.  The shoemaker did a marvelous job, and it felt great to wear them.  I saw a good Islamic district walk in my immediate future, and all for a £55 ($3.50) alteration.  This got a fellow breakfast diner and me chatting, and an invite to the one man show he’d be presenting in the evening.  Dawar theatre is just a hop across the street in an historic building.  It hosts lots of arts workshops, such as Emily’s writing class and across town, it runs a kitchen run by refugee women, preparing local farm produce.  Anyhow, Hector was from Colombia and we had a pleasant chat and I thought it would be fun to be at a local event so I happily agreed to go. Being mindful that my new foot ware, while comfortable, is open to the elements, I toke them for a test drive.  Groppi’s back entrance demonstrated the dangers of gravel but, treading softly, the rewards of good coffee.  Then it was off to........the tentmakers...

Ever so slightly down this morning what with the hindrance of this arthritis business, keeping me from uninhibited hiking.  So far, small periodic walks seem to be the answer.   Small walks however are for doing chores.  Longer continuous walks are for touristing.  At least the chores are helping rack up the daily miles so, hitting the ATM and the little bodega-like kiosk for water started the day.  A late morning break at the Roma was used to work on the PLD website which was pleasantly distracting.  Pushed myself to go out at noon for tea and the air and sun in the tea alley was stimulating and so began a walk.  There’s an historic 1911 downtown building that I’ve wanted to see so I set off.  Along the way, I discovered 3 previously unknown to me movie theaters and goodness knows how many tea and shisha joints.  And no matter how far I walk and wander, when it’s time to head on back to the Roma, it’s always just 2 blocks away.  Amazing.  After a pleasant foot up read on my balcony,

I will now offer the royal wave and you may bow in my presence as my coronation is complete, having been officially crowned.  Any celebration feast however, will have to wait for 3 hours per doctors orders.  The crown is installed and I’ve got to say, these doctors could not have been more attentive or thorough and I am feeling pleased and fortunate over the decision to have this work done by Dr Ayala Saad.  Now, if only my foot would stop acting up.  “Is there a podiatrist in the house”?  The situation with my left foot is almost ridiculous.  It’s as if the joint bone of my big toe has swollen.  It’s not like any foot issue I’ve ever had.  Sitting still in a concert can be as difficult as walking unless the shoe is removed.  End result, I take shorter, more frequent walks to keep my miles up.  In between, reading, texting, and last night, an attempt at a movie.  The walk to the theatre to check on showtimes found me back at the cafe for coffee and a quick look at reviews, which were

During the past week of Roma breakfasts, a little girl, her older brother, and their parents would gather in the dining room.  The little girl would scout out the room, sometimes playing hide and seek but none of them were ever disruptive.  Today, the mother came in alone, announcing with a smile that she’d been abandoned by her family, and so we chatted.  Turns out they’re from Tasmania and as her husband teaches high school, they’d been traveling since July.  She’s involved with experimental theatre and is giving a workshop at a nearby theatre.  Getting information on the web should be easier than it is so along with having a very pleasant conversation, it was instructive to learn about this theatre that is, as so many good things are around the Roma, 2 blocks away. Setting off early for the bookbinders made it only slightly easier to navigate the markets which I’m beginning to believe run 24/7.  Off of the main drag, the alleys leading to the bookbinder become an oasis in spite

A long walk through what turned out to be a district of auto parts and car repair was still compelling due to bits of wonderful downtown architecture.  And like so many of these walks, almost by chance, you’re back on familiar turf.  The day before I’d made an honest effort to find the iconic Lenhart & Landrock bookstore.  Today, I discovered it wholly by accident, thanks to a one square foot hand written sign nestled in the branches of a tree.  I’d walked past it how many times.  Granted, the address was different than what the website said and it was located on the first floor with no street level signage but other than that, why was it so hard to find?  Books weigh down ones luggage so unless they’re really compelling, my focus goes toward paper and to that end, some fun finds were bought.  Oh, and a very useful street map; great for orientation and fun discovering.  Who knew there was a botanical garden? Wanting to replenish my cash, I was shocked that the ATM kept saying

With our recently acquired custom duds, we made ready for the National Arabic Orchestra, and flanking the concert, two sets of cocktails at the Ritz: Ritzy Tiki drinks at lunch, and on the way home from the concert, Ritzy martini’s.  Luncheon Mai-Tais allowed us to wear our new tiki shirts made from great fabrics that Roger found in Atlanta.  The concert allowed us to wear our custom made jackets, which the ticket office pantomimed was needed along with a tie to get into the Opera.  To that end, we hit the Golden Man Store and we were in business.  The Ritz is just a few steps from the Egyptian Museum, and the walk there from the hotel is always pleasant.  Dressed in our Tiki shirts, we ordered Mai-Tais after convincing the bartender that we really did want to sit out on the terrace, in winter.  Overlooking the Nile, we luncheoned and drank.  Little did I know what was to follow the next day. On stage was the familiar orchestral and choral formation, presented ever so slightly mo

Previous Egypt excursions focused on ancient history visiting exciting places like the Pyramids or Valley of the Kings.  This Cairo only trip earned the moniker Valley of the Crowns as it was essentially paid for by the dentist visit it was planned around, and Roger's whitening sessions as well.  Scheduling as noted earlier has its challenges but we were off and running this morning once Roger's last dentist visit ended.   With the list of last appointments in hand, we planned which evenings ahead were free, then headed to the Opera ticket office to discover musical events that would catch our attention.  This sort of thing should be easy to do online but to sum up up the Cairene online experience: it is not.  Catching a subway to the Opera complex and pantomiming through selections and ticketing however, is.  There appears to be some sort of arts network, perhaps state run, where tickets to venues outside of the actual opera complex itself are only available, two o

Today was the first full day of what I call my white diet.  I’m not supposed to eat dark food for several days after the  teeth-whitening process, but that matches up reasonably well with the Roma’s typical breakfast.  The guys here were nice enough to substitute warm lemon water (ugh!) for the usual Nescafe and to add some Arab bread to the usual breakfast rolls.  But it’s gonna be a long three days. Lou covered some 10 walking miles yesterday while my teeth were getting whiter, so while his feet and legs recovered today, I headed down for my own visit to the Museum of Arabic Art.  I’d made it there briefly on another visit and wanted to go back.  It’s a one-floor collection with a very open display area that reminds me of the space in mosques or in the general public room in Middle Eastern homes.  In one half of the museum, you walk though art that’s historically organized from the earliest Islamic dynasties through the Ottomans, and probably because we’re in Cairo, the strongest

Looked as though I would burn through a bit of shoe leather today what with Roger strapped to the dentists chair most of the morning.  With a no appointment policy in the office, there is often some guesswork as to when treatments occur.  One stands by the door in the hallway at opening time (9 am) awaiting staff to arrive.  This particular morning, staff arrived closer to 10 ostensibly due to traffic.  Roger has had the whitening procedure here before and it lasted about an hour.  This new procedure included upgrades which unbeknonst to him became a sessional experience taking who knows how long so, with various appliances stretching his mouth to resemble The Joker, Roger gave me a heads up and I hit the road.   My goal was the Islamic Arts Museum, and the route looked easy enough.  Port Said Street is a major artery that should have been easily seen on my amble were it not for my attention diverted by sightseeing.  Suddenly the major artery in front of me was of the 12 traffic

We had another fairly errands-focused day.   We got up up early -- a blessed promise that we might finally be adjusting to the time here -- and after our Roma breakfast, went down two flights of stairs to the dentist.   After an expected wait, Lou went in to get some dentistry done by one of the partners while I talked to the other dentist about scheduling a procedure.   Then I adjourned to the room to wait for Lou. Lou came out with no visible signs of distress and thrilled with the cost two root canals and two new crowns.   As he likes to say, those crowns paid for his trip since the difference between the cost in the U.S. and in Egypt is more than enough for airfare, hotel and even shoe shopping.   And with that money more-or-less in his pocket, we set out to spend it.   We first stopped by a shop to order some of the French-looking, blue enameled signs we see everywhere here (and in France).   It’s always fun to customize them, and the option of Latin, Arabic or both alphab

If I’ve learned nothing else this trip, it’s the appeal of shopping tourism.   In the UAE, I didn’t understand why people would fly all the way to Dubai simply to shop, but here in Cairo now, it makes sense.   This ancient city is not only historic but also cosmopolitan and stylish, and the dollar generally goes a lot farther here than in the US.   So you can find cool things here that you can’t find in the US, and you can afford them.   That’s a big appeal.   And we dedicated yet another day to shopping.   I’m finally biting the bullet on eyeware here, but I feel like this might be the last time.   For the price of one pair of glasses now, I used to be able to get two.   Add to this situation the departure of the helpful, English-speaking, bi-cultural guy with good taste who used to work here, and I’m not feeling a lot of enthusiasm about getting glasses in my old-time favorite shop.   But I’m doing it this one last time because I’d counted on getting them and have no back-up

This being our 3rd Cairo trip, the pressure to see pyramids and sphinxes is off.  Certainly, we want to see more of the historic sights,they will come next week.  At this juncture however, we’re in pragmatic/pleasure mode where dentist/optometrist details, and tailer/shoemaker chores reign at the top of the to-do list.  With Roger departing a week before me, it’s imperative to get everything of that nature in the works now.  I, on the other hand, have the luxury of an extra week.   Luxury may well not be an accurate description of the Roma but, the word pleasant is certainly operative.  Btw, our shared room here at the Roma costs £440 ($27.50) a night, including breakfast.  Dinner here downtown can vary widely as in any city but we’ve had perfectly lovely meals for very little.  When we’d rather a nosh than a meal, a Stella beer comes with carrots, cucumbers, and bowl of spiced beans for £45 ($2.80).  Most entrees fall in a modest price range but the Koshary (a wildly popular comf

Fun day yesterday, and we decided to continue the "chores" part of the trip today.  Of course, things don't always go as planned.
 To motivate us to get out of bed at a decent time, we got up early and went for a walk in our Belle Epoque neighborhood to take some photos of movie theaters.  Cairo excels at quick innovation followed by slow decrepitude, and the movie theaters around our Roma hotel run the gamut from Deco dawn of theaters to the 80s.  In the cool morning, we beat the pedestrian crowds, the sidewalk vendors and most of the tea touts.  But most importantly, we beat the shadows that the sun quickly stretches across the buildings of this old downtown.  And it was clear that Cairenes treat these 20th century buildings exactly the way they do the 10th century Islamic structures of Old Cairo — they just keep using them like they were built yesterday.  This attitude might be the heart of why Lou and I keep coming back to this city. It was an easy walk around

There are those who prefer new travel destinations, and those who enjoy returning to familiar places.  I suffer from a kind of Reisenangst brought about by a sense of travel inauthenticity should I want to return to a favorite destination.  Apparently I’m succeeding at working my way out of this condition as here I am once again, back in Cairo, and guilt free no less.  Why I’m back is a long story and perhaps we’ll touch on it as we go further into the blog but for now, it’s safe to say that this incredible city pushes all my buttons and did so from the very first.  Of course, I’m back for the museums, the arts, sights and sounds, but alas, more pedantic things as well.  This trip is essentially being paid for by my tooth or, more to the point, my chipped crown (think dental cost in US then divide by 10) which will soon be replaced.  And lest I come across as shallow or depthless, I’ve already met with the tailor, bought replacement clothing for that which was deliberately unpacked,