Starting in April 2012, as part of a 2-month-long odyssey, we stopped in Cairo to visit with and stay with our friend, Soha, for about a week. On a previous visit, we did the tourist activities: pyramids, tombs, temples, sphinx, and bazaar. This time, our focus was on the people we have come to know and care about, especially Soha, Hedayet, Hanaa, and other members of the Cairo Friendship Force club. People back in the USA were concerned about us being there because of reports coming out of Cairo about protests and civil unrest, which were the fallout of the Arab Spring revolution. We felt very safe. We were concerned, however, about the political and economic fate of the country -- this was just ahead of the presidential elections (which took place weeks after we had left Egypt). When things eventually settle down there, we hope that tourists from around the world will flock back to Egypt.
Noreen in our bedroom at Soha's
The rest of the apartment
Looking out the window
Just outside apartment
Refreshments along the Nile
Hedayets's welcoming feast
At Ron's request, Hedayet takes us to the area of the pyramids of Gizeh
Traffic in Cairo
Supposedly 3 lanes of traffic
Soha's birthday celebration, with grandchildren
Lunch at the Yacht Club
Noreen & Hanaa
The ladies of the club
Hedayet & husband, with Hanaa & Noreen
Special event: opening of confectionary shop
Elevator to go to upper-level sidewalk frontage
Egyptian license plate
Boat-trip on Nile for lunch
Note peaceful demontrators marching on bridge and sidewalks
Cruising the Nile
Whirling dervish dancer
Group shots
Here's to Friday -- with non-alcoholic beer
Off the motorway, on way to Alexandria
Hedayet's neighborhood in Alexandria
Water damage in Hedayet's apartment in Alexandria
Outside apartment building, old-fashioned clothes washing machine
On the promenade at the beach
Alexandria coastal sites
One of King Farouk's palaces
Driving along the waterfront
Approaching the new Library of Alexandria
"Castle" fortress in Alexandria
View from Greek-style restaurant in Alexandria
Glamour photo of Soha taken a few years ago!
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