Monday 3rd January 2011

Seif’s friend Gigi – a lecturer at the American University in Cairo – took Jennifer, Seif and myself to the Museum of Islamic Art. Recently reopened, it houses a striking array of fine Islamic art from the city and beyond. Gigi and Seif proved excellent guides, as their encyclopaedic knowledge added to the limited English captions available, and in some cases even corrected them.

Upon my return to the house, Jennifer and I decided to have a walkabout in Zamalek, with the aims of photographing the Anglican Cathedral, finding a well-recommended ice cream parlour, and to get lost and learn the streets. Our trip was only partially successful. In getting lost, we managed to completely avoid the ice cream. And we were prevented from photographing the Cathedral for security reasons. Fortunately a few shots were snaffled before the guards reprimanded us.

The evening saw us all eating in style at the Ramases Hilton, with Mamdouh and his friend May, the former fiancée of an Egyptian prince. Before the meal, an elevator was taken to the top floor, in which diners ate with the most spectacular panoramic view of the city from thirty floors up. Alas, we weren’t to eat there, so took the elevator down and enjoyed an Indian on the ground floor. It was my first experience of my namesake hotel, and the best Indian meal I have had.

• All Saints' Anglican Cathedral, Cairo
• The Archbishop's Morris Minor, parked outside All Saints' Anglican Cathedral
• The Rameses Hilton, just off the northern end of Tahrir Square

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Cairo Diary: Anglicanism, Art and Another Party
Sunday 2nd January 2011

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Cairo Diary: Mummies and Medieval Cairo
Tuesday 4th January 2011