Hello, cats and kittens! Check out this chef de cuisine mastering his kebab skills. We went to this restaurant and waited forever to get our food out. And those who got food were not very adamant about it. Shwarma turned out to be nasty meat with mayonnaise on a hot dog bun. I only got half of my order - foul - which is pretty much refried beans. Meh... I liked the first three spoonfuls, but it was too salty and lacked kick, so I just sat staring at people's mouths.
The rest of this post will not be random!
On the nth day we visited Bab Zwayla and its vicinity. It was fascinating to see Bab Zwayla -one of the ancient gates that surrounded area where royals lived. I shamelessly quote Wiki, since my brain refuses to absorb enormous amount of info it gets on a daily basis. "The city of Cairo was founded in 969 as the royal city of the Fatimid's Dynasty. In 1092, Badr al-Jamali built a second wall around Cairo. Bab Zuweila was the southern gate in this wall. It has twin towers (minarets) which can be accessed via a steep climb. In earlier times they were used to scout for enemy troops in the surrounding countryside, and in modern times, they are hailed for providing one of the best views of Old Cairo."
Nowadays the area is populated with the poorest people of Cairo. Esh baladay (~ pita bread) is sold on the street, just scattered on a weaved papyrus platforms. Here is a guy riding with empty containers on his bike.
Did I say that Cairo is extremely polluted? All the landscape pictures I am taking come out dusty blue color because of the constant smog blanketing the city. I say it just adds to its mystery, like Cairo is hiding its secrets from strangers on this fog.
The views from the Bab Zwayla gates were beautiful. You have to be right there to really appreciate the glory of the opening view. Or I should be taking better pictures.
Cairo is called A city of thousand mosques (I am probably totally misquoting), but you can see how thin towers of minarets pierce the skyline.
Here is the view from another side. It is touching to see rubble and deep poverty right next to glorious ancient buildings. Regarding garbage. Apparently there is little regulation of municipal services on garbage pickup in this and other impoverished areas, that people just throw their garbage on the roof. They don't take their chances with hoping that garbage will be picked up if left on the street. Also I spotted goats roaming on the piles of garbage. They can be barely seen on the bottom of the pic. Get your looking glasses ready!
A picture of a person simultaneously taking a picture of a person writing this very blog. Yay!
Adjacent to the ancient gates is one of the most beautiful mosques I have seen ever. Also this is my first time visiting a mosque.
Ma salama!
1 comment:
I did not know that everything directs towards Mecca! This is actually one of many things I did not know...Enjoying your blog A LOT!
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