"Round and about Cairo" a Cairo Travel Page by uglyscot

Since mosques do not have representations of people or living things as decoration, there are many beautiful patterns to be found carved in the mosques.
There is so much variety that the same pattern may not be repeated in a building, whereas in other mosques they are,

Cairo is bustling and noisy, but from the River Nile the variety of buildings is very interesting. There are new luxury hotels, high apartment blocks- finished or unfinished- quaint little sabilas , mosques. There are large billboards, and the bridges.
But at night it takes on a different aspect. The main impression is of light, light reflected in the river- everywhere. Couples stroll along the bridges or the Corniche, and somehow the darkness muffles the hustle and noise.

Most of the big hotel groups have their hotels along the river, or near to it. This provides a beautiful view of the river and all its activity, as well as leaving the guests to feel space. The view of the river at night is particularly beautiful with all the lights of the buildings and the craft moving up and down the Nile.

An island linked by the main bridges. It's considered a good address to have to live in. It has some good shops, leafy streets, the Marriott Hotel which is a must visit , as it was formerly the Khedives's palace, and dedicated to the Belgian Queen when she came to the opening of the Suez Canal. It is very popular for having lunch on Fridays and Saturdays- all of smart Cairo frequents it then.
There are also the monstrosities- the huge tower blocks, but in general it has a more pleasant ambience that other parts of Cairo.

The outskirts of Cairo are populated with tower blocks, grey unprepossessing, but sometimes a patch of green or a few dusty trees make all the difference.
Wherever you go in Cairo there is noise: taxis with horns blaring, shops with music, women shouting to their children or the 'boab' [doorman], men selling gas cylinders banging on the cylinders, men shouting goods to sell, sometimes strolling musicians, sirens from police cars . A cacophony of sound.
In summer , if you live in a respectable area, strolling musicians playing traditional instruments stop outside apartment blocks in the hopemthat visiting rich Arabs from the Gulf will throw down some money in appreciation of their music. I used to sit on my balcony and enjoy the free show.

There are two main islands in the Nile at Cairo. The first is Gezira and the smaller one Roda Island. The latter has a museum to the great Egyptian singer Um Khalthoum.
At the end of the island is what was the Munastirli Palace, built in 1851, which is now a cultural institute. And beside this is the Nilometer. It is not ancient, but performed the same function as the ancient nilometers which recorded the height of the inundation [flooding] of the river.. It is a kiosk with a conical roof. It can be visited.

Cairo is such an amazing city that one should never be surprised at anything. One of the strangest sights I have seen was a Chevrolet pick-up truck packed with donkeys.

It must not be forgotten that there are a lot of Christians also in Cairo . The Coptic Church is the main one but there are also other denominations. As a result there are so many different types of church architecture to be seen. I've been collecting some of the more unusual ones.