Cairo

Another day that we are up early; our flight was at 8.50am so we had to get up at 6.15 for our 7am transport. Unfortunately, check-out was a hassle (late and then took our suitcases and then couldn’t figure out how to check us out for our first late night of room service) but our driver made up some time weaving through the streets of Hurghada (and we were all happy we hadn’t eaten anything before). After a rush to check our luggage, we got to relax for some coffee and croissants before our short flight to Cairo. After getting our luggage, we got two separate Ubers to our Airbnb on Zamalek Island. We also got a taste of Cairo traffic - lanes don’t mean anything and it makes Manhattan traffic look tame. Somehow we managed not to get sick for our second drive of the day and finally arrived almost an hour later at the Albanian Embassy with our flat on the 11th floor overlooking the Nile. (We took a 1 hour Uber from the airport and the total cost was $4. Crazy. And the thrill of making it here alive was free!). We chose a place in Zamalek as it’s supposed to be the safest area… and where all the embassies are located. Armed police right outside made us feel safer… I think (at least they seem nice!). Our flat is beautiful and has a wonderful view of the city. None of us realized how big Cairo is; 10M people in the city proper and over 23M in the metro area. Reminiscent of Istanbul but not as walkable. Jocelyn found a delicious tiny Greek place around the corner before we walked to a nearby grocery store - our favourite travel past time. 1.5L of water a total of 9 Egyptian pounds - the equivalent of 12 pence back home (we only brush and drink with bottled water here so we bought a lot). After heading back to the flat with breakfast items and a fortuitous find of one of the top 100 coffee shops in the world (fresh roasted V60 grind), we had a very long chill session with reading and sitting by the window for a few hours. Jocelyn found a nearby highly rated restaurant so we did takeaway after we decided to eat in (though the restaurant was beautiful and right by the Nile). Dad wandered back to the grocery store to look for coffee filters (having left them at home) before stopping back at the coffee to beg for some while Mom took dinner back. We all ate together while catching up on Celebrity Traitors before a couple rounds of Liverpool before bed. Tomorrow is a big tour day.Read more