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Checking out
Here is my log for the third day:
Rise early for breakfast and departure to Hurghada. Event-free journey.
Orientation at Oberoi and arrived at our lovely villa in time for a snack lunch of calamari and kibbehs very nice.
We have a dish of biscuits etc. including some coconut macaroons was Ged doesn’t like. Daisy phones asks for future dishes to leave out coconut as Ged is allergic. Why?
We cannot book tennis court any earlier than 1900, so arranged late dinner in Saffron Indian restaurant.
Daisy does not enjoy floodlit tennis but we do both enjoy Indian meal of Bengal fish curry (nice perch) and chicken Tikka quite spicy but very tasty.
Light breakfast and a good news – Protest low-key in morning so no problem.
Have some more Hossam Ramzy music to accompany your read:
We see all the main highlights of museum and more – Tutankhamen moon and Akhenaten stuff highlights for us.
We were in a way very fortunate to be visiting the museum at this time. While there were evident signs of the afternoon/evening protests, our driver and guide were able to ferry us to and from the museum without any difficulty and the place was practically deserted, giving us untrammelled access to the wonders of that museum. Janie had been before and had been dreading the crowds a bit. She claims to have seen so much more on our visit as a result.
Comedy mislaying of Muhammad [our driver] (Ged’s fault). Delayed departure slightly but back nice and early for turkey/smoked beef toastie and some Casper/Jardan Du Nil white outside at Alfredos. Bit more atmosphere with a few people.
Time for R&R and amazing dinner at Moghul of Tandoori prawns, chicken Tikka in tomato gravy, yellow daal, pilao with peas and mushrooms and Nan – gift of kulfi and fond farewells to restaurant.
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Here is my log for the first day:
We rose at eight to realise that someone has built a huge stone monstrosity right in front of our window in the hotel.
Ged was going to complain, as he had paid for a pyramid view, until Daisy explained that the “big eyesore”, as Ged put it, was the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Simple breakfast and then off touring with her guide Mohammed who shows us that Great Pyramid (Khuru) the other big fella (Khafre)…
…and the baby one (Mankaura) “de-de-durrrrr”…
…plus the Khafre temple and also the Sphinx.
Back to hotel sharpish – nice tip cheered driver and guide up.
Got bearings and took a snack lunch of chicken foccaccia and beer at Alfredos by the pool. Hotel almost empty.
Had a good afternoon nap and took dinner at the Moghul restaurant – tried prawns in rich ginger and garlic and coconut gravy, Lamb Rogan Josh, black lentils, pulao Kashmiri style and carrot halwa to finish – so good, we booked again for tomorrow. Tried Ayam white and then switched to Zaman/Jardin Du Nil.
Rose at a civilised hour on Thursday – Ged [i.e. me] feeling a little worse for wear ahead of the journey.
Got through check-in and security at Heathrow terminal three in record time – our flight to Cairo is said to be half full and that middle of the day slot is quiet generally.
In the absence of business class, we sought a classy place to get some refreshment – especially as Egypt Air’s hospitality’s reputation is far from good.
We found Oriel & were nicely looked after there for a couple of hours. Daisy [Janie] had a couple of “glasses of” and a Caesar salad. Ged, feeling a bit ropey still, stuck with water, Diet Coke and eventually some smoked salmon and wine.
Event free flight – We did well to avoid the dreadful smelling food – apart from “Abu Fsai” in front of us and the big unit to our side.
Now’s the time to add some Egyptian music to enhance your reading experience – the great Hossam Ramzy:
We arrived on time, met by Ahmed who whizzed us through the Visa, immigration, baggage collection and customs processes.
Delighted to learn that we’ve been upgraded to a presidential suite on arrival – the King Gustav VI Adolf Suite.
After showering and sorting, took a late dinner of lentil soup followed by chicken kebab (Daisy) and lamb kofte (Ged) with local wine. Daisy like Zaman, Ged liked Jardin Du Nil. Read after trying Zaman first time round.
It was clear after just a few hours in Cairo that the place is “baksheesh central”, so Ged thought he should change some money after dinner at the Mena House’s 24 hours a day bank.
Strangely, the bank seem to be staffed solely by a security guard with very little English. He tried to explain that they had little English money until Ged emphasised with hand and cash waving that we sought small Egyptian money, not small English money.
At a painfully slow pace, our boy counted out our money, until, seemingly complete having counted it twice, he handed it downwards. A tip-toed lean across the counter revealed the actual cashier, who had been sleeping on the floor.
He rose slowly, bleary eyed. He asked in surly tones if we were absolutely sure we wanted all that small money and then counted it all again.
A little offering to the guard and cashier seem to cheer them both up.
Nephew Paul and his partner Mish came up from Bristol and joined us for this evening.
We thought the subject matter of the play would interest them, as they both teach teenagers and thus come across lots of these media issues in the real world…
…it did interest them, giving us all lots to talk about afterwards.
It was also a very entertaining evening at the theatre.
We had a very pleasant meal together and discussed the play at Colbert, virtually next door to the Royal Court, in the quieter room at the end where you can hear yourself think and can hear the other people at your table when they talk.
This was the start of Joshua Redman’s tenure as curator of Wigmore Hall’s jazz.
I recall that we were very excited about seeing this one and yet a little disappointed with the concert in the end. We love the sound of sax, but there was something about four saxophones and nothing else that lacked colour for this jazz, to us anyway.
