The season to be jolly in the heart of Cairo
CAIRO: Autumn, it is the northern hemisphere’s favorite condition, and also Cairo’s best season. It is the ‘silly season.’ A shopping frenzy ensures, copious quantities of food and drink are consumed, party invites flood in and Cairo’s foreigners get all sentimental about Christmas crackers and mull wine.
But the day will come when we will all miss Cairo, so I’ve come up with a few memories of my own that will pack easily into anyone’s Christmas stocking.
No 1. Christmas cards are always a bother. Best option is to take the family up to the Citadel for a photo shoot. For LE 30 you can dress as Mohamed Ali Pasha, Cleopatra, Salah El-Din or other historical characters, that you can then copy and fire off via email to all and sundry.
No 2. Exercise goes out the window with the feasting. So, for the perfect Friday afternoon activity, why not summit three classic minarets of Islamic Cairo? Bab Zuweila, Al-Ghuri and El-Qalaun. These will help you keep in shape and provide a new and amazing perspective on the medieval city.
No 3. Tennis fits in well with Christmas’s social theme. No better place than the Nile Hilton’s clay courts. And it is not because of the true bounce, but because you now know you will never make it to Wimbledon. You see, the hourly charge includes ball boys!
No. 4. This might be telling too many secrets. But, Cairo’s best date is a half bottle of champagne from Drinkies and an evening stroll through Al-Orman Gardens, across the road from the Cairo Zoo. Just peel off and find a dark spot under one of the big eucalyptus trees and discreetly pop the cork. You can celebrate your subversive behavior with a Cuban cigar in the library at the Giza Four Seasons afterwards and discuss the coming revolution.
No. 5. What would Christmas be without giving? For original, useful and inexpensive gifts, try the Book Binder behind Al-Azhar Mosque. Here you can have photo albums, diaries and pocket books personalized with gold lettering. Or, have your manuscript bound.
No. 6. For the office party, catching up with an old friend or just a change of scene, only one bar in Cairo rates on a global scale – the Horreyya Café, Midan Falaki, Downtown. Stella for LE 6.25, peanuts and a random crowd where I guarantee you’ll leave with new best friends having solved all the world’s problems.
No. 7. You can always count on Cairo to turn on a sunset, and we all have our favorites. But for Christmas it must be a felucca from Maadi, where you can cruise past the lights of the Church of the Virgin Mary. They also have Biblical theater that can be viewed from the river.
No. 8. Lonely? Will you be a Christmas orphan? Then spend a weekend afternoon at Victory College softball fields in Maadi. Eat some great BBQ, chat with long-term expats and find like-minded singles. Everyone is up for gossip at the softball and before you know it you’ll be knocking back invitations for drinks on Christmas Eve, lunch on Christmas Day and you’ll probably leave with a date for New Year’s Eve to boot!
No. 9. Well known, but not well patronized, the Cairo Opera House holds a carol concert each December with the company’s divas knocking out some of the classics, all backed by a 100-strong choir wearing Santa hats.
No. 10. If you want to get free of the city and the pollution over the silly season, then why not try New Year’s Eve in the desert. Badawiya Travel runs a well-known White Desert safari, where they set up a luxury Bedouin camp for evenings of everything and anything. Transport from Cairo included, just pack your smile. www.badawiya.com
If you are thinking that it is still November, then you may be surprised to know that British department stores rolled out the Christmas decorations in August. Anyway, since we know Christmas is a time for family fights, it can be very stressful. So plan ways to relieve your stress with these 10 helpful hints, think ahead and you’ll always have happy Cairo Christmas memories – Inshalla.
As for me, traditionally Christmas means heat, flies and the crackle of cricket commentary from a distant radio. With the English team in Australia this ‘silly season’ I will be tuned in somehow, listening somewhere, whilst making new memories with someone special – happy Christmas!
Notice Board:The BCA Mohandiseen runs a Bridge Night every Sunday and the players are looking to boost their numbers. So if you are an experienced bridge player, or even someone who would like to learn, then please contact Genevieve Dooley to arrange. Email: [email protected]
