Tuesday 28th December 2010

Today was another busy day which left me glad for my bed. It started with a taxi ride from Zamalek (where I’m staying with Seif and his mother Nevine) to the Citadel, a twelfth century fortification built by Saladin as protection from the crusaders. It contains, amongst other things, three mosques: al-Nasir Muhammad (thirteenth century), Suleyman Pasha (sixteenth century) and Mohamed Ali (nineteenth century). The finest of these was the Suleyman Pasha mosque, with beautiful decorations and ornamentation, though the pulpit was falling over and so was propped up with scaffolding. The Mohamed Ali mosque is has a rather grand external appearance but is less attractive from the inside, due in no small part to the lighting gantry suspended from an otherwise quite pleasant ceiling; it was also the busiest of the three.

• The Mohamed Ali mosque and Citadel grounds
• The tiny Suleyman Pasha mosque
• The beautiful domed roof of the Suleyman Pasha mosque
• The collapsing pulpit in the Suleyman Pasha mosque
• The ablutions fountain in the Mohamed Ali mosque
• Ceiling in the Mohamed Ali mosque
• The Victorian lighting gantry in the Mohamed Ali mosque rather spoils the effect of the cavenous space
• A niche pointing towards Mecca in one of the Citadel's three mosques
• Enjoying Luxor Weißbeir at the British Club in Maadi

After a short – and rather rapid – taxi ride, Ahmad picked us up and took us for lunch with Jan and Isabel at a pleasant Italian restaurant, followed by drinks at the BCA [British Club] Clubhouse in Maadi. The principal delight to be found here was Luxor Weißbeir, a surprisingly delicious variant on the German theme. After a long drive (due in no small part to terrible traffic), Seif’s friend Dalia showed me around some art galleries and the Opera House, the first example of truly serene architecture that I’ve seen since arrival. Even the newest of buildings in Cairo look dilapidated, incomplete, unclean, or just plain broken – except the Opera House and its tranquil surroundings.

On entry to one of the galleries (all of which showed contemporary art of one variety or another), Dalia noticed her friend’s name on the sign-in sheet, so we met up with Yasmine who guided us around some of the lesser-spotted installations, including one she was reviewing for an article in the magazine she owns and edits.

• Cairo Opera House
• A modern sculpture of Christ on the cross, in the grounds of the Cairo Opera House
• Cairo Opera House

After a short drive (it seems people don’t walk anywhere in this city) we dived into a bar of the neo-French style called La Bodega, indulged in some wine and food, and met several of Dalia’s other friends. It seems that Cairo, despite its population of twenty million, is quite a small place, if you know where to hang out!

Today was the first time that I really noticed the pollution. It hangs in the air like thick pea soup and clogs the lungs and the nostrils. Blowing one’s nose produces a rather vile mixture of snot and dirt. Some say it is equivalent of smoking sixty-a-day.

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Cairo Diary: A Late Lunch
Monday 27th December 2010

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Cairo Diary: Pyramids
Wednesday 29th December 2010