Cairo

I spent no time in the modern areas of the city, as I was much more attracted to everything that was from another time.

My favorite parts of Cairo were the old Coptic neighborhood and the bazaar.

I remember having a strong feeling, not like deja vu, but more like the familiarity you would feel with family and friends. Everything was so different from the United States, where I was from, yet instead of feeling uneasy or out of place, I felt very much at home. The Egyptians were very friendly.

I was surprised at the number of animals that navigated the center of the city along with the cars. There were plenty of horse drawn carriages, and burros pulling wagons were a common sight.

In the old bazaar area, if you were grocery shopping you could be assured that tonight's turkey dinner was going to be really fresh.

One thing that I really liked about my tour was that we always stayed in local hotels. We stayed at the Mena House Hotel in the Giza neighborhood, a half block away from the great pyramids. This is the front of the hotel, and from where I am taking the picture, the pyramids are behind me.

The tour advertised that our stay at the Mena House would have pyramid views from our rooms, and we certainly did. Each day we stayed there, first thing I did every morning was open the curtains and gawk.

At the foot of the pyramids, you could rent horses or camels and take a ride in the desert. Although the city comes right up to the edge of the pyramids on one side, on the back side there is mostly desert with a few houses here and there.