Thursday, January 13, 2011

A Thrill Packed Day In Cairo...Part II

Let's start with er...uh...her...him...it...you know what I mean...the SPHINX...

Not to be confused with the MINX...but that is another story...she wasn't made of stone...

she created that effect...

Where was I...Oh yeah...

According to Hadidi, and after spending two days with this man, I have no doubts that,

"Khafre had this monument made to guard his pyramid situated behind it"...kinda like this...
With a likeness of the Pharaohs' face, a Lions body a Sacred Serpent about its head...the magnificent creature stood guard over Khafre's Pyramid...






Please excuse my uncharacteristic 'facetime' on this blog...but, then again...these sets were expensive to rent here in North Hollywood, and I wanted to make the most of them...(those extras in the background make more in a day than I ever earned singing on "Hello Dolly")











Leaving the Sphinx we visited a Carpet School in Saqqara...it was amazing watching the dexterity exhibited by these young children...take a look...

The School is in the basement of the store and the children attend and learn to weave for about 10 years...it is an ancient art that thrives today...the quality of their product is noteworthy...they make rugs from three sources...Slik, Wool and Cotton...

Their finest product is made entirely of silk...Then there is silk and wool, wool and wool...wool and cotton and finally cotton and cotton...

After leaving El Sultan, the carpet school, we ventured to the Egyptian Museum...






Hadidi loved taking this picture...

Here I am crowned by the grand architecture of the museum...











The museum is vast and at the end of the day, all I wanted to see were the mummies and King Tut's exhibit...(these amazing pieces have never left the museum)

No pictures, because they almost strip search you for camera's...

I wouldn't have minded though...maybe it was the lovely woman guard...

Interesting fact I have found in Egypt...there are metal detecters

at the hotels, museums and many public places...

The Egyptians harbor some of the nicest smiles I have seen...

friendly eyes...there is strength and kindness in them...


We then ventured downtown to the upscale shopping district...

and here I found what I had been looking for...





Bahler Street!


Named for a cousin who made quite a name for himself in Cairo...















It was thrilling to see...















And spelled in a variety of ways...all on the same street!















Almost as many spellings

as I see in America!














Bahlar at the north end and Behler at the south end...!

(and none of them 'mit umlaut'...

that would be Bähler...:)














But I must admit...THIS was my favorite...

A women's couture shop...

"MISS BAEHLER"

(this is the french spelling...:)




It was thrilling to see...the entire day was thrilling...I was like a kid...

OK...I heard someone say, "You're always like a kid"...and to that I say...

SHUKRAN!

Love to you all...stay tuned...tomorrow we drive to Sais and Alexandria...

And here is ÆSOP's Fable of the Week:


The Hare and the Tortoise 


  A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the

Tortoise, who replied, laughing:  "Though you be swift as the

wind, I will beat you in a race."  The Hare, believing her

assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; 

and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course 

and fix the goal.  

On the day appointed for the race the two started together.  

The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, 

but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course.
 
The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep.  

At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, 

he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, 

and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. 

Love and 'Good Day' from Cairo,

A Grateful Thomas 






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