Ahly vs. Zamalek

Last Friday I accomplished one of my goals for this semester by seeing Egypt's biggest domestic football game: Ahly vs. Zamalek. FIFA said that the two clubs share "one of the world's fiercest footballing rivalries," and while the match does not have talent of El Clasico or the Milan derby it certainly shares the passion. This year Al-Ahly had already more or less wrapped up the league title, but a win over their archrivals would be a particularly sweet way to clinch the title. Meanwhile, Zamalek could insure a second place finish, and thus a place in next year's African Champions League, by a victory. Of course bragging rights until the next game next year were also on the line. The price for a second class seat to the game? 30 pounds, or between 5 and 6 dollars. Not too shabby.

We showed up to Cairo International Stadium about an hour and a half before kickoff, to find the stadium already almost completely filled up. Our first error was to enter the Ahly gates, even though we intended to support Zamalek. After we saw that the Zamalek section was still open we asked the guards if we could cross the "no man's land" between the two areas, guarded by two rows of riot police. After some deliberation we were allowed to go over, and found seats with high but good view of the entire field.

The game surpassed all my expectations. Zamalek got off to a stunning start by scoring in the first minute, and the Ahly section went dead quiet. For the rest of the first half there was non-stop action, as the two teams traded goals before going to the locker room tied at 2 all. The second half was a little calmer, so when Zamalek scored with under 15 minutes remaining it seemed that they might have wrapped the game up. The Zamalek section got rowdier and rowdier as the clock wound down, until the game reached injury time, the extra time added by the referee to make up for time lost on injuries and other distraction during the half. Then disaster struck as Ahly scored an equalizer in the final minutes, and it the Zamalek section's turn to fall silent, except for the sound of curses and a few chairs broken in anger. The remaining time expired without incident, and although the game ended in a draw the Ahly crowd definitely came away with a better feeling, having taken a point away from what looked like certain defeat. Despite my disappointment at the result I mostly felt lucky to have witnessed such an incredible game, which provided great entertainment both on and off the field. Here's a video of the game's six goals.

Spring Break: Part Two

Things are getting surprisingly busy here in Egypt, especially since we're entering the time of year when school is actually challenging, or at least time consuming. Final papers are popular in Egyptian classes, so in the next few weeks I'll be writing three 10-12 page papers and several smaller ones, while fitting in a trip to Jerusalem(!) in between. So if I'm a little tardy in posting, please forgive me.

With that note, I'll try to give a few more happenings from Spring Break:

Least Time At A Major Monument: The first day we were in Athens we the Acropolis perched on its hill, so naturally enough we decided to check it out. By that time it was past 6:00, which in Athens is apparently way too late to be open. No big deal, we would come the next day. So the next morning we followed a Lonely Planet walking guide that was supposed to take 2 hours, 4 if you walked slowly, and included the Acropolis. Apparently we are exceptionally slow walkers, and that combined with a lovely hour and a half long lunch put us at the gate of the Acropolis at approximately 2:35, where we told that Athen's most famous destination was closing in 10 minutes. There are two major problems with this: nothing closes on the quarter-hour, and unless its a tea time break why would anyone close before 3:00? But there was no time to argue, so we spent the next ten minutes sprinting frantically around the top of the hill, barely stopping to snap the occassional picture or glimpse at the wonderful scenery below us. Despite the rush, I could appreciate some of the wonder of the place, which I think is much more impressive in person than pictures, like many ancient monuments. The size of the building, like the pillars of the Temple of Zeus we had visited earleir, was truly impressive.

Least Touristy Destination: Skopje, Macedonia

This is definitely not a tourist-oriented city, and it would be difficult to spend more than one or two days of sight-seeing here. Almost none of the major sites had any sort of booth, and the fortress doubles as a sort of park for locals. The only time we bought a ticket it turned out rather poorly; it turns out that the Art Gallery in the old Turkish baths is 60-70% blank walls, with a few pictures in one wing of the building. There is a nice "bazaar" in the town (anyone who has been to Cairo or even Istanbul would probably laugh at the idea of the orderly town market being compared to those cities), and there I bought my only souvenier of the trip, a nice beret. All around, the best thing about Macedonia was the mountains; on the train ride into Skopje we were able to see a gorgeous moonrise over the hills behind us.

The Goofiest Outfit Award:

Easily goes to the Athenian soldiers at their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is a case where a picture is worth a thousand words, apologies for the pigeon wing in the foreground.

Spring Break: The Good, Bad, and Ugly- Part One

This is easily the most challenging post I've attempted yet; trying to describe a 12 day trip through 4 countries with any justice takes far more writing than I can do at the moment, and would require more reading than most of you would probably care for. That fact, combined with the rather annoying reality of schoolwork, means that instead of a thorough summary of my break I'm only going to cover some of the highlights, and maybe a few of the low. But first, let me say that there were far more of the former than the latter, and in general it was the best break I could have asked for, both because of the excellent sites we visited and the great company we enjoyed. And now let me present the 2010 Eastern Europe Trip Awards:

Best Country: Bulgaria

Bulgaria was the suprise of the trip, with just the right combination of great sights, cheap prices, and the feel of being undiscovered. But what might have really made the Bulgaria experience complete was the highly-reputed Hostel Mostel, who turned out to be just as good as advertised. When we arrived in Sofia off the overnight bus from Skopje we were three tired travellers in a random, wet Eastern European city, without much of an idea what, if anything, there was to be seen in town. But as soon as we arrived at Hostel Mostel we were greeted by a cup of coffee and a free map, made by our hostel, with a recommended walking tour that stopped by just about every site in the city, large or small. This gave us a much-needed sense of direction and purpose, and we spent what turned out to be a beautiful day seeing a suprising number of beautiful buildings. The Soviets aren't known for architectural brilliance, but they actually managed to make some impressive, albeit somewhat imposing, buildings in Sofia. And of course there was the beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which is dedicated to the 200,000 mostly Russian soldiers who fought to free Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

Best City: Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The other half of the Bulgarian experience was even better than the first, although this may just show my preference for smaller, historical towns. Veliko Tarnovo has a setting that is hard to beat for good scenery and good defensive capabilities. The oldest part of the town is set on a ridge between two rivers, which is narrowly connected to the old fortress, pictured here. Most of it is ruins nowadays, but it doesn't take much imagination to realize that this was once an excellent place for a defensible capital. Walking anywhere in town was a challenge, as no road could manage to go more than 10 yards without turning, rising, or falling. Veliko was also the setting for one of our best meals, with some excellent Bulgarian beer, some sort of strange Spanish pizza, and some Bulgarian pot dishes.

Worst Moment: Train Ride from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece

When we decided to save money by taking a midnight train from Athens to Thessaloniki, we assumed that the Greeks would prefer to sleep between midnight and 6 in the morning. Or at least accomadate those who might wish to by turning off/dimming the lights. Unfortunately, the reverse seems to be true, which resulted in a very long and frustrating train ride between the two cities, spent listening to a group of chatty women in the rows before us. Nevertheless, we managed to put in a solid day sightseeing in Thessaloniki, although the coffee market received a considerable boost.

City That Most Deserves More Time: Istanbul

This is a hard one to choose, especially since we only spent a day and a half in Athens, one of the most important cities in history. Nevertheless, Istanbul seems like it would be a wonderful place to spend time a couple of months in. Of course there are all the major sites in Sultanhamet (the oldest district), but our brief forays into other parts of town revealed a town with a much more distinctly Turkish feel, and a huge number of secondary sites that would be worth a visit. Unfortunately student discounts seem to be unknown in Istanbul, so we had to limit ourselves to the must-sees. With a little more time and money Istanbul would be the perfect introduction to the Middle East; with its clean streets, easy public transportation, and somewhat exotic feel it makes for a less shocking transition than other cities. Cairo, for instance.