Islamic Cairo Take 2

We woke up for the first time before our alarm clock and were both feeling great. We showered quickly, went down for breakfast and were ready for our day. The plan was to see most of Islamic Cairo, eat lunch and come back to our hotel. We started for Al-azhar because it is an easy place to tell the taxi and Jack wanted to see it in daylight. I actually saw the university aspect of it, which I had not seen before. We took some pictures and then continued on. The next stop was the Al-Ghouri complex, built by a sultan in 1505. The story of Al-ghouri was that he rode off into battle when he was 78 to battle the Turks and never returned. We continued our walk to Bab Zuweila, the only remaining gate of a medieval town. The place in front of the gate used to where executions took place but the coolest aspect of the building was the ability to go up in the Minarets. From there, Jack and I got a great view of the surrounding area and The Citadel, our next destination. We walked the first part of the way to the Citadel but eventually hopped in a cab. During the cab the driver actually tried to convince us that the price we originally said was too low. It kept saying, “Look how long it is taking us, more than five pounds”. We argued and eventually just handed him the five and told him that this was the price we agreed on and this was the price he was getting. Basically, even if you do manage to haggle a cab driver down to the price you want, you then get to spend the whole cab ride arguing.

Al-azhar again

Al Ghouri

Bab Zuweila

Don't fall!!

Jack went to the very top on a super sketchy ladder

Love this

Bab Zuweila from below

The Citadel is huge and was the home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years. Saladin built it in 1176 to fortify against the Crusaders. It fell into the hands of the Turks, the French and eventually Muhammed Ali (not the boxer) who built a huge mosque inside of it. We visited this mosque along with the mosque of Suleiman Pasha and An-Nasir Muhammed. Jack knew the name of Suleiman Pasha and wanted to see it. Lonely Planet says it is a more tasteful example of Ottoman style mosques and also says it was built in 1528. The other mosque is the Citadel’s sole surviving MAMLUK structure. We also stopped by the national police museum, which is located in the Citadel and saw some old guns, as well as the pistol used in the attempted assassination of Nasser.

From the minaret

Suleiman Pasha

The view from the Citadel

Again

Inside the mosque of Muhammed Ali

Jack lost in thought

Right outside the mosque

The Citadel from below

After the Citadel, we hopped in a cab and got bopped by the driver who drove us to the wrong mosque. We did not realize it until we had already bought a ticket that we were in the mosque of Hassan and not the mosque of Ibn Tulun. The mosque of Sultan Hassan was built in 1356 and is huge. I cannot imagine what some of these mosques look like during prayer times. There must be hundreds and hundreds of people all doing the same motions.

We eventually made our way to the mosque of Ibn Tulun which we also studied briefly in our Islamic Civilization class. The mosque was about to close for prayer but we did get a chance to look around briefly. The mosque was built between 876 and 879 AD and is the cities oldest intact functioning monument. One architecturally interesting aspect of the mosque is that it was the first building in the world to use the pointed arch that one commonly associates with the European Gothic arch. The mosque also holds a special place in our heart due to an interaction that occurred while we were studying it. It was the first week of class and Dr. Berkey showed us a slide of the mosque and asked for our comments. The following took place:

Dr. Berkey: Yes, Michael.

Clayton: It’s Clayton.

Dr. Berkey: Sorry, I am still learning names. Go ahead Clayton.

Clayton: Well…it’s square.

Dr. Berkey: Yeah…anyone else want to say something?

Ibn Tulan, notice the shoes

Paul, Jack and I all laughed about that exchange for the rest of the semester. To his credit, it is described as “geometrically simplistic” but it was funny nonetheless.

After our quick visit to the mosque we went to Felfela (the place we went on the day Jack almost passed out) and this time got a much bigger meal. For the first time we were actually very hungry. We ate a huge meal, including dessert, and went back to the hotel. I want to point out two things about our journey to Felfela though. First, I got on the most crowded subway I have ever been on. Jack and I were actually being crushed by the crowd of people and everyone was screaming at everyone. I guess traveling at the busiest time of to the busiest station is not the best idea. Second, when we got off the subway we had to cross one of the biggest intersections in Cairo. Crossing streets has often been described as Frogger except its life and death. You cannot stop or else you will be hit. Either keep moving forward and the car will swerve behind you or keep moving to your right or left. Rather intense to say the least.

Back at the hotel, we rested for a while and Jack decided to take a nap. This “nap” took three hours and eventually turned into bedtime. Since Jack is in charge of deciding what to do at nights, we did not end up going out. One benefit of sleeping a lot is that it saves money. As for me, I blogged and read my book Liar’s Poker which I have now finished.

Nutrition:

So Jack and I were dying to eat ice cream and just had to order a banana split. I risked it and ate one of the bananas because it tasted so good (so far I am fine). I am pretty sure we also finished our dessert in less than one minute. Besides that breakfast was the same old same old, and the chicken I got for lunch was good. I have decided that since chicken is usually the cheapest and easiest to take down it is now my go to item on the menu. Sorry the pictures are dark!

Chicken Kebab

Desert