I returned home from work passing the Algerian Embassy protests and brought to a Thursday night surprise finding of email contaminated with a virus. My address totally wiped out, I’ve spent hours replacing and securing my information. It definitely didn’t hamper my weekend in Cairo even tho tried!

Friday morning meant a visit to the Cairo Museum. Talk about tourist heaven! As I remembered in the past, the museum feels like a smorgasbord of Egyptian artifacts plentiful haphazardly placed. Coffins here. Statues there. Mummies lined up as if the norm; even one with a pet baboon. Large. Small. Stone. Wood. Profusion of gold. Coordinated chaos between the locals and the foreigners.

Then we hit Khan El Kalili market, the major open air market hit with a bomb weeks before. The police heavily monitored a small section frequented by tourists checking men’s IDs and their possessions. Once out of that section, people are on their own. Narrow walkways meant people close together…many times. Sections had different stores; teddy bear, souvenirs, sheesha, appliance …you name it and it was there! All while the Friday noon prayers followed out footsteps.

Saturday meant exploring Cairo alone and prepared for the unexpected. The Cairo Tower led me to see why millions live in Cairo with its skyrises and the Nile as its lifeline slicing through all in its path. Even with the wind, I could see the Pyramids far off with its sandfilled essence meeting today’s technology.

Then to the Ibn Tubn mosque but not before an unscrupulous taxi ride. My taxi driver pretended to know its location but then took me to the Khalili market and I pointed it out to him to be ignored. I immediately left the taxi without paying once we stopped and he came after me with a police officer close by coming to inquire. I pointed to a note written with Arabic to my location and he concurred that the taxi driver took me to the wrong location. Of course, the taxi driver apologized in front of the officer while not admitting he lied which I knew to be. He took me towards the location and didn’t know where it was and asked people how to get there. I refused to talk to him and paid him no more than the agreed amount! The mosque and the beautiful house next door made it worth it viewing a world where women saw but were not seen behind intricate wood screen. Difficult to imagine the constraints yesteryear yet seeing fully covered women today. Of course, I saw my “throne” amongst marble designed flooring. Quite impressive.

Then the Coptic Christian area. I entered a taxi with another passenger but the vehicle turned away from my intended destination and noted it to the driver only to be told the passenger would leave soon. He didn’t and I opened the door when we paused surprising them by immediately leaving, without paying, and walk away passing a long line of cars going to the only gas station in the area and the horns blaring their unhappiness. My next taxi driver took me through daily life with the markets, butchers, and bakeries while passing through the old city wall. The churches brought history to life with the inlaid art and sincere ornamentation. Saints’ remnants lined the walls while their pictures looked over us. The intense security ensured only those who wanted to come did so.

That night meant visiting Khali market at night and seeing so much more than during the day. I simply had to have pancake with meat at the Egyptian Pancake House for pastry filled pizza on a razor thin crust; not sorry to consume all because Pizza Hut could nowhere match it. Then a visit to the famous Fishawy Tea House with Mint Tea only wonderful Egyptian hands could produce with live, lovely local musicians serenading us in the background. A staff member took me on a tour of the place and I met the owner. Later on, though, an argument between merchants involving jostling and shoving ensued. Just a normal day. I go to Tunisia on vacation at the end of the week!