New Yorkers may claim theirs as the city that never sleeps, but they've got nothing on the Cairenes. maybe it's the intense heat that makes a person just want to sleep away the daytime hours, but this place comes alive at night. i routinely look up from whatever i'm doing to find that it's reached 2am without my noticing. the streets start filling up at about 10, and don't empty till the wee hours. and it's completely understandable - Cairo is beautiful by night. and the cool Nile breezes add immeasurably to the atmosphere.
my friend Meghan and i joined the Cairo Walking Group for a walking tour from Tahrir Square downtown to Khan El Khalili, the famed bazaar in the middle of Islamic Cairo. after hibiscus juice at a cafe in the Khan we did some more wandering through the narrow streets of the walled section of Fatimid Cairo. this area is a quiet haven smack in the middle of a hectic city, and boasts architecture from the Fatimid and Mamluk eras. narrow cobblestone streets, intricately carved wooden mashrabiya windows, and egypt's only mosque where men and women are allowed to pray side by side.
and the ubiquitous streetside backgammon game, accompanied by shisha and copious glasses of sugary tea...
2 comments:
It is all SO familiar! Makes me a bit teary.
Me too. More so for you Sis than I because you were older, but it still tugs -- hard.
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