Baab Zuweilla

Despite my initial skepticism I quickly learned to appreciate the beauty of having every Tuesday off. While its not very conducive to travel, it does mean that I am never more than a day removed from a break. It also provides a great opportunity to sleep in, avoid doing homework, and maybe explore some of the lesser-known attractions of Cairo.

This past Tuesday a small group decided to take a taxi to Islamic Cairo and walk around without much of a set itinerary. We were rewarded when we came across Baab Zuweila (baab means door, or in this case gate), which is the last remaining southern gate from an 11th century wall surrounding Cairo. The gate was much bigger than I had expected, and made me reconsider my image of Fatimid Cairo, which at the time was mostly a dwelling for the ruling dynasty slightly removed from the main metropolis of Fustat further to the south. It was certainly well-defended. In the 15th century the two minarets in this picture were added, and today they give visitors an excellent view of medieval Cairo. Not without a cost, though! The minarets are accessed by small, tight stairways with only occasional lighting. And that's just to reach the first level. Right before the second podium the stairway, for unknown reasons, suddenly becomes a series of iron bars arranged in a spiral around a central pole.

This might be hard to imagine, so hopefully this picture will help. If you look behind friend/former roommate Matt Boutilier, you can see what I'm talking about. It also gives a good idea of how good the view of Cairo is from up there. Once again I learned that Cairo's size defies the imagination, and that it is aptly named the City of a Thousand Minarets. A few of my friends were brave/crazy enough to make the ascent to the highest podium via that staircase, but I chickened out. Maybe next time.

After descending from the dizzying heights of Baab Zuweila we headed north into the heart of Islamic Cairo. On the way we enjoyed tea at a surprisingly non-pushy tapestry making shop. The work there was amazing, but also a little too expensive to buy off-handedly.

We finished the trip by visiting Al-Azhar mosque, one of Cairo's most famous sights and another Fatimid era building. Al-Azhar, which is both a mosque and a university, was built in the early 970's, and is considered as one of the oldest centers for higher education in the world. For most of its history it has also been considered the center of Sunni Islamic law and theology. Although the main courtyard is actually quite small, it was also very peaceful, which is always a relief after traveling through the small, crowded streets of Cairo.

P.S. I did get a haircut this week, but due to a slight miscommunication, it was cut a bit

shorter than I expected. So, because I haven't included any pictures of myself in Egypt yet, and because this is a look I don't intend to replicate for some time, I've included a picture of the resulting almost-biker look.