When we arrive in Cairo, Mohamed tells us that we really are not safe to go to Old Cairo which was our optional tour for the last afternoon. The area requires us to go into the city and because of unrest in Tahir Square, Mohamed is concerned about roadblocks and crowd control. Of course we are disappointed because we have heard so much about Coptic Christianity over the course of the past two weeks, and Old Cairo is the site of many historical churches of significance to ancient Christianity. But safety must come first.
As a really amazing alternative, after we check into the hotel (Radisson Blu in Heliopolis near the Cairo airport) Mohamed arranges for the bus to transport us to the City Stars Shopping Mall which is nearby. So instead of visiting Old Cairo, we get the opportunity to visit NEW Cairo! The Mall is the second largest in the middle east - second only to the one with the indoor snow skiing feature in Dubai! There is no revolution here! Except for the misguided liberated women who are change smoking in the restaurant we choose for lunch. The Mall is totally amazing! All the upscale American and European brands plus many from other parts of the world that are unfamiliar to me are available here. Christmas decorations adorn every escalator and lobby area ... no Christmas music because the Beatles promotion prevails. It is difficult to describe how bizarre this scene is after two weeks of Old Egypt! Nevertheless, we absorb it, starting with lunch at Paul's French bistro and the absolutely best French onion soup I have ever had. Then it's off to find the Egyptian chocolate shop in Donna's quest for camel's milk chocolate. There is none, but the alternative Egyptian dark chocolate is quite satisfactory! And then we are off to find the mall's Khan El Kalibi bazaar where I find five meters of fabric for a tablecloth and napkins. I've been looking for this fabric the entire trip. I have seen versions of it in decorative displays in many of the tourist shops throughout Egypt, but always as part of the display and never as part of the merchandise. The fabric is multi-colored with vibrant blue-purple, gold, orange, green, and red. It is a pattern that is used by Muslims during Ramadan so that will lead me to pay attention to the calendar in honor of our new Muslim friend. We reconvene with the rest of our group and find the bus back to the hotel.
It is our last night together as a group, so many of us meet for cocktails in the hotel bar and then we go to the served dinner and celebrate the trip and our experiences with toasts and tears, smiles and last photographs, and special tributes to our extraordinary program manager and tour guide Mohamed Anwar! It is a bittersweet evening, but we all believe our friendships will continue through our email network and visits with each other as we travel around the USA and possibly on future Vantage tours.
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