*** Saturday, 15Apr06 ***
I had breakfast in the hotel consisting of a very good Edam cheese omlet and some butter-covered mini croissants and I was out the door by 9:30 on my way to an Islamic cemetery. It was indicated on the map near the edge of the page so I had some walking to do. I walked and walked and found a McDonalds on Talaat el Harb Street. It wasn't open (on the holy day most stores don't open before eleven A.M.) but I noted where it was for future reference.

A store window in Talaat Hart Street.

A lot more walking brought me to Azbalia Gardens, one of the Green oases in this city of high rises. Unfortunately there were no signs in English so I had to walk three fourths of the way around it to locate an overpass that showed me the way to El Geesh street which led to Baghala street which my map showed to edge the cemetery I wanted to visit. At the corner of Baghala street I asked two young men if this was Baghala street and they said Yes so I started walking down it but less than a block away I saw an English sign that said something completely different; still I walked on for want of a better idea.

To my amazement the wall of a medieval fortress appeared on my right complete with a moat at its base. I found a gate with a sign that said the wall part of Bab el Futuh built in 1087 by Badr el Gamaly as a wall fortification of the city during the Fatamid period of Egyptian history.

A view of the Bab al-Futuh gate from a building in the cemetery.

I crossed the street and looked for the Moslem cemetery indicated on the map. As I walked, I noticed small buildings on my left. The single story structures I was looking at seemed different from multi-story structure all around the city. (I swear that the AVERAGE height of a building in Cairo is at least five stories. Try to understand that: If my estimate is true, for every one story building in the city there has to be offset by a nine-story building somewhere else!). I walked around the edge of the cemetery and was surprised to find people strolling about. I spoke to two guys but they spoke very little English and I have one word of Arabic (shukran = thanks). After taking some pictures I walked back to the Medieval wall and went through an open portal.

On the other side I felt like Alice in Through the Looking Glass; here was a completely different world, an endless array of small shops hardly the size of an old one-car garage that sold everything imaginable: hub caps, smoking pipes, dolls, food. You name it and you could find it somewhere in this grand suq (market). As my (mostly useless) guidebook says: "a throbbing, endless parade of street life". I was in El Gamaleya, one of the great markets of medieval Islamic Cairo and basically unchanged in all that time. You won't find this in Europe! Cars are not allowed here for the streets are too narrow. The occasional donkey-drawn cart passes you by but this is a pedestrian paradise. No honking, no rushing and endless sights to be processed at your own pace.

Walking further on I came across a huge mosque that was clearly an important one -- if only judged by the expense of the materials used in its construction. It turned out to be the mosque al-Rifa'i. It contains the burial places of the last two kings of Egypt and of Shah Riza Pahlevi, the last royal ruler of Iran.

I continued walking south past other impressive until I exited the old city and found myself on a wide modern street with an idea of which direction to head. So for the first time, I held my hand up for a cab instead of a cab beeping at me, one pulled over. We negotiated a fair but, not knowing where I was, I wasn't interested in driving a hard bargain. And so I was back at the hotel for 15 Egyptian pounds. It must have been quite a rip off because, when he didn't have change for a fifty-pound note, he gladly settled for fourteen pounds in small bills.

Once back at the hotel, I spent several hours at the pool; my skin thanked me for it.
That evening with a desperate need for beef patties, I went searching for the McDs I had seen in the morning. It doesn't pay to appear like you are not sure where you want to go in Cairo and a man asked me where I was from. I said America and he made small talk. Does this sound familiar? He asked what I was looking for and I told him and he told me what I had already guessed and then launched into a story about the poor children at the orphanage he donated his time to. It cost me ten pounds to get away from this creep and increased my resolve not to talk to people on the street.

*** Monday, 17Apr06 ***
Gezira is the name of the island directly across from the Semiramis hotel and containing the neighborhood of Zemalek on its northern half. It is connected to the east side of the Nile by the three Nile bridges. Zemalek is considered a nice place to live.

Roda is the island south of Gezira and has the El Manial neighborhood and some big hotels. At its southern end it also contains the Nilometer which, from the ninth century to the construction of the Aswam High Dam (about thirty years ago), measured the rise and fall of the annual Nile flood.

*** Tuesday, 18Apr06 ***
I get a creamy coffee every morning delivered to me in a glass which is so hot I have to wait to be able to hold it. Then I sometimes forget it until it is cold. If I were better organized I could deal with this but then I would not be me.

*** Wednesday, 19Apr06 ***
Everyone in Cairo Knows Where the Tulip Hotel Is

One of the things I remember from my other trip to Egypt 28 years ago is that I stayed in the Tulip Hotel so I asked at the desk of the Semiramis if they knew where it was. They told me it was at 3 Talaat Harb Street which I knew to be just around the corner from the KFC on Taarhir Square. (Do forgive my choice of landmarks.) So, after work, I walked over there and looked for it.

I found a building at number three but no sign for the hotel. I went in and asked a guy in the Internet Cafe if he knew where the hotel was and he directed me around the corner.

Off I went and I was so obviously seeking something that a group of three Egyptian men asked me what I was looking for. I told them and they asked someone who worked on the street and he said it was back on Talaat Harb so back I went. I looked at every sign but couldn't find it so I just gave up and had dinner at KFC. Like American fast food the world over, it was just the same as home but not as nice.

A week later I decided to walk to the McDonalds on Talaat Harb Street and I decided on my way back that I would walk into 3 Talaat Harb and see if I could find some evidence of the Tulip. I did and walked up to the second floor (the first floor here) and saw some kind of travel office and went in and asked for the Tulip Hotel. The guy behind the desk evidently felt uncomfortable with his English and called someone in from the next room. This guy was young and fairly articulate and when I asked him he told me the Tulip was "not working". I told him I had been there 28 years ago and he was deeply impressed given that he was about 18 years old. I asked where it had been and he confidently told me that it was in 5 Talaat Harb. So off I went.

Five Talaat Harb contains the Canadian Hostel so I was hopeful. Once again the guy at the front desk called someone in and he told me the Tulip was closed. I explained why I wanted to find it, closed or not, and he told me it was up the street. So off I went.

The entrance to the Tulip Hotel.

Up the street I could see no sign for the Tulip and grew frustrated. A sidewalk vendor tried to sell me something and I asked for the Tulip Hotel. All he understood was the "hotel" so he ordered his son, who was about twelve to take me somewhere and he brought me to 15 Talaat Harb Street, to a nearly concealed entrance to the building. The elevator operator eventually showed up after someone rattled the cage and shouted up. He took me to the third floor where I found the Paris Hotel. The second guy I asked told me the Tulip was closed and I explained why I still wanted to find it so he told me it was on Talaat Harb SQUARE just around the corner. So off I went.

This time I found it -- closed as described but at least I knew where it was. A kid outside the door confirmed that it was closed. All in all I was tired of looking for it so I was glad I found it. Thanks to everyone who provided me with directions.

I decided to write a final note to the email address that still could be read above the street entrance. To my surprise I got a response:

"Hi Joe

"It is our pleasure that you still remember Tulip.
Unfortunately we could not receive you after 28 years
as we are under renovation since February 2006 and
hope to re open next month [May].
"Sorry for any inconvenience
"Hope to see you soon

"Tulip Hotel"

So the Tulip will blossom again. Good news.