Today we got up around 7:15 (that's 12:15 am for all you east coast kids), got ready, and headed out to the Cairo museum. We took the metro, which is largely above ground and cost us one Egyptian Pound each (20 cents). Nine stops later, we were at our stop.
Crossing the road is another adventure, much like driving. Mostly because of the driving. Still no real rules. The Cairo museum is massive, and apparently has about 500% more stuff in the basement that they either haven't restored yet, or don't have room to display. The first floor was organized roughly by time periods, and consisted mostly of stone statues and sarcophaguses (sarcophagi?). There were a lot of them. Also, there was a large wooden boat that had originally been lashed together, and was approximately 4000 years old. Apparently, the Egyptian government, with the help of UNESCO and the UN, is creating a "Great Museum" in Giza. This "Great Museum" (much like the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya) is slated to be the largest of it's kind in the world. Pretty cool, and definitely necessary, as the current museum is way over-crowded.
The second floor of the museum held some of the coolest exhibits. Like the King Tut exhibit. Unlike the one that travels through the United States, this exhibit actually had his burial mask (solid gold), plus most of what was recovered from his tomb (gold jewelry, other coffins... lots of good stuff). In addition to the King Tut exhibit, there was also a large jewelry display. A lot of it was in great condition and looked like it could be worn today. Actually, it was very fashion forward. Tim Gunn would approve.
After the museum, we walked along the Nile for a while. It's surprisingly narrow, considering that the vast majority of water in Egypt comes from the Nile. We then walked around downtown Cairo. A lot of the stores were closed, but we did go to a few jewelry stores and an alabaster store. We had lunch with Farah's mother and brother at the Four Seasons in Giza. It was delicious! All sorts of... well... everything imaginable. All sorts of cuisine.
That brings us up to around four pm, when my jet lag kicked in a little bit and I crashed. That was a good, good nap. For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Crave, where I got some french onion soup. Several of Farah's friends, including Thea (who we played board games with yesterday) were there, and for dessert, we split this chocolate lava cake that was far and above any of those family restaurants in the states that try to make them. Way, way better.
Plans for tomorrow: PYRAMIDS!!!! CAMEL FRIEND!!!! So excited. There will definitely be pictures coming.
News from home: Girlcat has adopted my dad, and now plays fetch with him. Owen has not adopted my mom, and has turned the Christmas tree (and probably the rest of the house) into a jungle gym. He has also resumed his "I'm a food bully" attitude and general naughtiness. Some things never change.
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