December 9 -- More Fun with Errands (Roger)

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 alphabets makes for fun souvenirs and gifts.  And of course, we browsed some shoes afterwards.  Cairo must be one of the shoe capitals of the world with its ready availability of leather and the creativity of the shoe designs.

Those errands only lasted so long, though, and we soon landed in our favorite tea shop for a rest: Umm Kulthum.  This shop is named for Egypt’s premier vocalist, a stylish woman whose voice was honey and who owned the airways here from the 40s through the 60s.  Two gigantic gold busts of her decorate the outside of the tea place and on the inside, there is a small shrine to her along with mosaic portraits.

Tea only made us hungry though, so we walked less that half a block before settling into the terrace of a nice little restaurant.  We chowed down on stuffed grape leaves, lentil soup and hummus and enjoyed watching the crowds mill by.  

It was getting time to head back to the hotel by then, so Lou stopped for a shoe shine, and we went home.  The zipper on Lou’s backpack had broken, and we had arranged to meet one of the hotel guys to take us to a repair place.  Ah, Cairo!  The repair place was on the third floor of a classic but ruined building very near us.  We went up two flights of stairs looking above at the open sky, and then we went into an area where the rooms were intact. There, we came to a small, dark atelier with a craftsman working away on leather bags and suitcases.  We arranged Lou’s repair with him and relished every step out of the building on our way back.  We both love the functioning ruins that are never far away in this historical city.

A short nap afterwards, Lou and I headed out to secure some beer and fried food (fries and falafel) from GAD, our favorite fast food franchise.  What falafel!  We had our little fest back in the room, talking about what we love about this city and why.  And while we were doing that, Lou pulled out the prescriptions he’d gotten from the dentist earlier in the day.  When Lou picked the medicine up at the pharmacy, the people there had helpfully written the dosages out in English lest Lou’s command of Arabic be less than perfect.  

That’s one of the things we love about this place.