Sunday 2nd January 2011

This morning I decided to worship at the Anglican Cathedral, an unusual but strangely attractive twentieth century building with a magnificent “Crown of Thorns” chandelier overhead. The service was in English but the liturgy was poorly constructed, if not simplistic. Loosely based on CW Order 1, many parts were missing, including the Absolution, Gloria, Epiclesis and Blessing. Perhaps more shocking was the complete omission of any prayers during the service for our Coptic and Muslim brothers and sisters who were killed or injured last night in Alexandria at the hands of terrorists.

• All Saints' Anglican Cathedral, Cairo
• The interior of All Saints' Anglican Cathedral, Cairo
• The Archbishop's Morris Minor, parked outside All Saints' Anglican Cathedral

A lazy afternoon ensued, rounded off by a short but slow taxi ride Downtown for the Egyptian Museum with Jennifer. Unfortunately, by we arrived, there was insufficient time to even start to look around, so decided to wander over to the Opera House and modern art galleries which Jennifer had not seen, and the latter of which I had not fully perused. We braved the traffic and footpaths of the city centre and arrived at the rather serene grounds of the Opera House. I was glad to spend some more time in the gallery as there were some really worthwhile works (though, as with all modern art exhibitions, there was some complete dross).

It was decided to walk back to the house, which was another somewhat intrepid mixture of crossing busy roads, walking along busy roads, and avoiding busy roads. Eventually the destination was reached, and after a short time Seif joined us and we walked to Sam’s house for beer and pizza.

• A glancing view of the front of the Egypt Museum, taken from the Cairo Tower (unfortunately this is the best photo I currently have of it)
• Cairo Opera House

Sam’s apartment is in a rather grand appartment block, complete with huge rooms, marble bar and ten-metre-long glass-fronted wardrobe. And, thanks to rent control, he pays about $15 per month for the place. Incredible. Whilst it is sparsely furnished (due to lack of resources at present), the items he does have are all of some novelty and exceptionally tasteful. However, this was all let down when the lift refused to spit us out anywhere below the second floor…

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Cairo Diary: New Year's Day
Saturday 1st January 2011

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Cairo Diary: Dining at the Hilton
Monday 3rd January 2011