Cairo - Day 12 Sunday March 20

We had a day at leisure today, which meant our first day without setting an alarm! We made plans to meet with Kathleen and Barbara to walk around Cairo for a bit. Our guide, Tarek, cautioned us multiple times about taking great care when crossing the streets, and with good reason. We found that the key was to look for a local, or preferably a few, stay in a pod, and cross quickly when they did, hoping for the best. It was quite the exhilarating activity!

Our first stop was Tahir Square. It is the central gathering place in Cairo and associated with the early demonstrations that led to the Arab Spring.

Here is one of the many mosques we see each day.

The square is surrounded by some stunning architecture.

You will remember the distinctive Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

The lion bridge

Although I stopped to take a picture of this statue, the “happy accident” is that I captured a man, weaving through this crazy traffic, balancing a huge pallet of fresh bread on his head. Total awe, dude.

In all, we walked about four miles, and did some shopping which is best left undocumented.

Our farewell dinner was a time to say goodbye to our traveling companions who have shared our Egyptian journey. Tomorrow Charlie and I travel to Amman, Jordan where we will be the only two people on the next phase of our tour!

Photos are tagged Egypt and Cairo