Readers,
When I originally heard the plan of laying low near the Cairo Airport for a few days between tours, I was hesitant. I was eager to get into the older parts of the city, which hugged the banks of the Nile, so that I could get to seeing the Museum of Egypt and what not. But upon the discovery that I could play a full, well kept eighteen hole golf course nearby and swim in a quite lovely pool, I became more receptive to the idea. The Marriott Renaissance where we had elected to stay in New Cairo had some amenities which we had grown to forget over the course of the trip, the best of all might have been the blackout curtains and soft mattresses, which over the course of three nights helped me to catch up on some much needed rest.
The real gem of our stay by the airport, to me at least, was getting out to golf a full eighteen after a nice breakfast. There’s something nice about only seeing two other golfers during your entire round. It took my average round time during high school tournaments of about five hours down to nearly two and a half, which made the pace of play much more suitable for ninety five degree weather. My golf skill itself remained largely unchanged from the fall, which driving being a little shaky, the irons striking pure as ever, and my short game a little hit or miss. Early on in to the round I was quick to ask about if we were playing any penalty for a lost ball, and I can confidently say if the answer was no, that I would’ve broken ninety for the first time, but I walked off the course with my average score of 104, luckily, the balls I lost were cheap. The rest of the day was very relaxing, as the family and I sat poolside as I tried to help sunburn my wrist in such a way as to get rid of my watch tan. It still needs an hour or two of direct sunlight to go away completely. The pool served as a great training space for Dagny and I to practice our routine for the circus, as we nailed some acrobatic feats in a short matter of time. The rest of the day was marked with a dinner at the on property Chinese restaurant, which, although overcooked, did a pretty nice job of cooking up roast duck in Northern Africa. To round off our time at the Marriott, I took a solo session in the Men’s locker room where I could listen to music, steam room, and sauna to my hearts content.
The following morning we took our time again getting motivated, but we eventually met up at the Continental breakfast buffet which was surprisingly pleasant compared to some of the others we had encountered over our travels. Eventually we had to leave behind our cushy digs in New Cairo and venture via Uber to our new place in the city, Pharaohs Hotel. We quickly dropped off our belongings before heading to the Egyptian Museum, which I had been looking forward to. It became instantly apparent that the museum had way too many artifacts and exhibits than it could curate. The best example of this to me was that they could label when a papyrus manuscript was from but couldn’t do the same for a mummified baby, no explanation, no date, just a display of it. All in all I was utterly fascinated with the museum and am excited to see more of it tomorrow.
We quickly noticed after exiting the museum that there stood a Ritz Carlton hotel right next door, which seemed like the appropriate place to stop in for lunch and cards. Looking back, I’m tremendously regretful that I didn’t the steak on their menu because I’m certain I won’t find a better one during the trip, and I miss a good ribeye. The rest of the day was marked with almost nothing noteworthy, we retired to our hotel before meeting with our next tour group for dinner in the evening. Tune back in tomorrow to hear what the inside of a Great Pyramid looks like!
Cordially,
Alastair
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