Comments on: Remembering Cairo

By: Art Knight

Art Knight — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 22:33:18 +0000

I love the elegantly photographed Sunset from Al-Azhar Park photo best. I am struck by the ornateness of the buildings in the video. My eyes could not see all there was to see! I will never be able to visit Egypt. So, thank you for sharing.

By: Speed

Speed — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 19:00:11 +0000

I think that the “booming, apocalyptic groaning noise” is caused by wind (some would call it the slipstream) on the camera’s microphone.

By: Art Bauer

Art Bauer — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 05:40:41 +0000

My wife and have wonderful memories of Cairo Thank you for bringing them back. Oh, to go back to Cairo and Aswan. I hope Egypt settles down so we can visit again. On the next we want to go to the Siwa Oasis.

Again, thanks.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 03:58:33 +0000

I agree, Cairo is one of the craziest and most fascinating places I’ve ever visited, on a par with Istanbul. While I was there, an Argentinian staying at the same place got his hands on an alarm clock that played a screeching distorted call to prayer, just like it came out of the outdoor speakers at 5 am…”Waaaaaahaallah!…”. Fantastic. We discussed how it would sound even better as it descended 5 floors from our hostel to smash in the street below.

I used to think that hearing the distant call must be one of the most mystic things in the world…until I actually heard the metallic howl that generally emanates from the worst amp/speakers known to humanity. When you hear the muzzein singing in person, it is vastly better.

By: Barb

Barb — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 18:31:29 +0000

recommend this blog from my daughter, a teacher in Cairo right now. http://www.bonbini.us Her perspective while living there now is valuable.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 01:48:35 +0000

Good piece/photos/video on Egypt. Amazing place, people are lovely, we feel for them all. Cairo is astonishing. The rooftops really look like in his photo. Nile is magical. We were there in 1991. Hopefully things will stabilize soon and tvl. can resume. Nice work Patrick.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 18:11:23 +0000

I spent my honeymoon in Egypt — six days on the Red Sea, a car ride across the desert to Luxor for a five day cruise, a bizarre overnight train ride from Aswan to Cairo, and four fantastic days exploring pyramids and the city. I will never forget our cab ride to the hotel from the train station in Cairo when the cab driver missed the exit and threw the cab into reverse ON THE FREEWAY.

My wife and I have been crying at the images of destruction and violence on the same streets, squares and markets we visted and loved.

BTW, Patrick, that looks like the unimpressive mosque where we fell victim to the one scam that got us on our trip. We ended up making a “donation” to the “imam” after being steered into the building.

By: Michael Spencer

Michael Spencer — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:18:57 +0000

Thanks, Patrick, for reminding the world that Egypt is a wonderful place and that the Egyptians- who will quickly remind you that they are not Arabs, rather the worthy children of an ancient civilization– that Egyptians are, to a person, kind, interesting and amiable. It’s one of my favorite places on the planet.

It’s the air, I think, the sensuous, golden air, even on the tarmac but certainly driving over the Sixth of October Bridge that tells you you are in ancient Araby. The smells are overwhelmingly sensual, sexual, even, so rarified and pungent and unknown to this western palate. There are men huddled around hookahs, and incessant honking, yes, but still. You are walking where Pharaohs trod 6 millennia ago. Think of it!

Egypt is intriguing, special, forever. It is humanity’s womb in important ways. And today, it is a heartbreak, our Egyptian friends struggling. All we can do from afar is wish they find their own way. And quickly.

By: Rod

Rod — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 12:20:34 +0000

Egypt may be about to go the way of Algeria in the 1990s — civil war.
All we can do is hope the military have the wisdom to install a democratic, diversity-friendly constitution with all the stress-resistant virtues of a flight-data recorder. For example, one that can’t be changed by the first parliamentary majority that comes along to turn the country over to extreme wackjobs.
Things ain’t looking too good, however.