Back in Cairo

We survived our overnight trip in the train from Luxor. After checking in at the hotel - very modest but good internet! - we met Mariam, our favourite guide, and headed off. First we visited the Citadel - a huge old fort which includes the oldest mosque in Egypt. The mosque was amazing - like stepping into the Arabian Nights. So beautiful! It's one of the mosques which don't require female visitors to cover their heads. Women wearing strapped tops or brief pants or skirts are given these huge green capes. Of course Hugo wanted to wear one. He didn't:) We sat down on the vast floor covered in various carpets and Mariam pointed out a lot of details in the architecture and tradition. It was really interesting.

Next we visited the Hanging Church - a Coptic or orthodox church built over the top of two towers from an early Roman fort. It was so interesting - the art is all Arabian looking, but it depicts Christ and stories from the Bible. We saw two secret tunnels where the Christians used to hide when the Romans came looking for them. One Christian would stay behind to close the trapdoor, pull the carpet over the top, look the church door and then wait for the Romans to arrive and kill him. We visited another Coptic church where they believe Joseph Mary and Jesus lived when they went to Egypt when Jesus was a baby.

We also visited a synagogue, which has a spot where they believed Moses prayed. I guess a lot of things happened in Egypt, even if we're not sure where. The synagogue was beautiful too.

Mariam took us to a great place for lunch - like Egyptian Sizzler, but half the price. After lunch we went to the Egyptian Museum. I would like to go to the museum every day for a couple of hours for about a month. It is glorious. The building is about 100 years old, so it feels like you're already in a historical context. Tutankhamen's treasures are glorious. He was buried like a Russian doll. His mummy (which we saw at Luxor) wore the famous mask (incredible!) and was then placed in the golden coffin, which was then placed in a wooden coffin, inside another larger gold coffin, and then all of this was placed inside three gold-gilt wooden boxes - huge! I can only begin to imagine how Howard Carter must have felt, after he had all but given up and run out of funding, to stumble upon, in the one spot he hadn't looked, the single step which led to this extraordinary discovery. It was fantastic to see all the trinkets, statues, jewelry and furniture stored in the tomb.

Lastly, at the museum, we visited the mummy room. The mummies had had their heads and often their hands and feet unwrapped. So we could see Rameses II's eyelashes, Hatshepsut's teeth, Seti 1's toenails and Amenhotep's hair. It was amazing to be a foot away (with glass in between) from these fantastic pharaohs' faces. I wished we could pour some water on them, reanimate them and talk to them!

A lot more to see there - maybe on another trip:) Bored, and without realizing the others were doing it, all three of us learned to recognize Arabic numbers on the train this morning. We played 'read the number plate' as we drove along. I need to find out why, if we use the Arabic number system, we didn't just stick with how they write them. Their six is the same as our seven, and some other numbers are easy to confuse. I think we've got it though:) You only need to know the 10 digits, then the numbers are constructed exactly like us.

We are relaxing in our room, playing online and watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Rachel has congested sinuses so I visited the pharmacy to get some medicine for her. They offered me antibiotics. When I asked for a sinus decongestant, the pharmacy assistant brought out Ventolin. I ended up getting some Rhinocort. No prescriptions necessary, and it was very inexpensive.

Tomorrow - off to church in Maadi, the expat suburb and then we'll see.