A Short Visit To Egypt, Day Two, The Egyptian Museum & Stuff, 24 November 2012



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Here is my log for the second day:

Rose early but Ged suspects will have to cancel trip to museum due to ongoing protests in Tahrir Square.

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.

A Short Visit To Egypt, Day One, Pyramids & Stuff, 23 November 2012


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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.

A Short Visit To Egypt, Day Zero, The Journey And Arrival, 22 November 2012

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Egypt, Audley Travel, 22 November to 2 December 2012, placeholder and links

Here is my log for the journey and arrival day:

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.

Loves Comedy by Henrik Ibsen, Orange Tree Theatre, 17 November 2012

Sometimes there is a reason why a great playwright’s early works don’t see the light of day.

This early Ibsen is a cautionary tale.

Worse, in the hands of the old-style Orange Tree orthodoxy, text that doesn’t deserve such respect is given the full length treatment…

…I don’t think we stuck the two hours and forty minutes of this one.

Here is a link to the Orange Tree resource on this one.

Not all that many reviews but surprisingly good ones – this search term finds the reviews for you.

I never thought I’d see the day that Janie and I couldn’t stick an Ibsen.

The Effect by Lucy Prebble, Cottesloe Theatre, 10 November 2012

Our last ever visit to the Cottesloe Theatre – we had no idea at the time – but what a good one to have in our memories as our last visit there.

A fascinating play by Lucy Prebble, very well acted, directed and produced. the design was stunning.

Click here for a link to a Tumblr resource on this play/production, i think from Headlong.

Here is a promotional video – basically an interview with Billie piper:

Janie and I were really taken with this play/production. It was entertaining and kept us talking for much of the weekend.

It was pretty much universally well received – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.

A fine piece for me and Janie to say goodbye to the Cottesloe…except we didn’t say goodbye because no-one really told us it was going!

NSFW by Lucy Kirkwood, Royal Court Theatre, 3 November 2012

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.

Here is a link to the Royal Court resource on this play/production.

Below is the vid trailer:

This play/production was pretty well received by the critics – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.

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.

It was a very enjoyable evening.

Axis Saxophone Quartet, Wigmore Hall, 2 November 2012

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.

Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall stub for this one.

Masterful playing of course and we enjoyed our evening; just not as much as we’d hoped.

 

The White House Murder Case by Jules Feiffer, Orange Tree Theatre, 20 October 2012

My weekend pages are a blank at this time, but by a process of elimination Janie and I must have seen this play on 13 October or 20 October 2012. Janie’s diaries (currently in the attic) might help solve that tiny element of the case.

At the time, in 2012, this cartoon-like 1970s play about some bizarre future White House regime, set about 40 years hence…i.e. about now…seemed crazy beyond belief.

Writing in 2018, I realise that the playwright, Jules Feiffer, merely lacked the imagination to envisage a Trump-like character in all his grotesqueness.

Here is a link to the Orange Tree resource on this play/production.

I don’t think Janie and I were overly smitten with this piece. It had its moments and some good acting – Bruce Alexander as the President I recall was a bit of a standout – but on the whole it seemed a bit silly and superficial to us.

I think the critics quite liked it on the whole – here is a link to a search on the reviews.

This House by James Graham, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 September 2012

This was a bit unfortunate for us, as we were there for a preview and Phil Daniels had just been forced to pull out of the leading role, so we saw the understudy (Andrew Frame I think, although we might have had a temporary understudy our night) reading from the script.

Even so, I don’t think this was really our type of play.

The Cottesloe had been laid out like the House of Commons, with the audience on both sides forming the back benches.

The play is basically about the chaotic era of the hung parliament in the mid-to-late 1970s; not least the scheming of the whips to try to get some semblance of business done in trying times.

At the time of writing (March 2018) this seems like a hark back to halcyon days, but in 2012 I think we were supposed to be thinking, “thank goodness our 2012 coalition is so much saner and more stable – politics is just more mature now, isn’t it?”

Below is the trailer:

There were some amusing lines, but it was all a bit obvious and of course, as the case with all dramatisation of historical events, there was no suspense for us in the “what happens next” department because we lived through it all as youngsters.

As a play, it all felt a bit “tell” rather than “show”.

I have a lot of time for John Graham as a playwright but this one didn’t really do the business for us and I don’t think it was just the unfortunate understudy business – we’ve seen enough theatre to be able to adjust and allow for that.

We saw Beth (from downstairs) and her dad across the political divide; I discovered afterwards that they got more out of it than we did…

…as did most of the critics, who hailed the piece and the production – click here for a link to the reviews – so don’t listen to us.

A Musical Feast: From Schein To Telemann, Academy Of Ancient Music, Wigmore Hall, 21 September 2012

You don’t have to be a Telemaniac (nor a Beliber) to have enjoyed this concert …but it helps.

We absolutely loved it, but then we are lovers of Baroque music by the likes of Telemann and Biber.

Further, we were treated to some early Baroque by Schein and Simpson, to whet our appetites and to show us how table music emerged as a genre in the 17th century.

Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall resource for that evening.

The Academy Of Ancient Music (AAM), bless ’em, have put their full programme up on their website, so I am sure this entitles me to add a link to their pdf – there is some really interesting reading material in the programme.

Below is a short vid that shows the AAM under Richard Egarr rehearsing a Telemann concerto – one of my favourites as it happens:

Below is a nice selection of Telemann Tafelmusik – but not by AAM:

Finally, for those unfamiliar with Thomas Simpson (as we were) who would like to hear a small sample – below a little woodwind sampler, provenance unknown beyond the YouTube details provided: