But first, Rome (Dec 30 - Jan 6)

On the way to India we stopped off in Rome. Well, that's what I'd been saying, but Rome isn't a stop-off sort of place. More descriptive would be to write that we have whirled through Rome. In only a few days, and our first time in this magnificent city, we opted for the most obvious of tourist stops, and spent long days stumbling over ancient paving stones and sparkling mosaics. We stayed in a private apartment near the pyramid, and yes, that's a real pyramid, although not Egyptian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Cestius Our place had a wide view of the Aurelian wall and the pines in the Cimitero Acattolico ('Non-Catholic Cemetery'). We visited most of the ancient sites such as Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, and several museums including the Vatican museums. Google will offer you all the images and info you might want on these.

Bright sunny days and easy-going people have made our visit pleasant. The winter light is beautiful on stone, plaster and brick. Here are a few of Lee's photos to give you an idea.

There is plenty of color in the city, and the soundscape benefits from the many gulls, crows and parakeets. I particularly enjoyed the latter. The Roseringed variety look and sound just like their Indian cousins, but I found the Monk Parakeets cuter (both are feral descendants of escaped pets).

On New Year's eve we stayed in and watched fireworks from our flat's balcony, but the party continued for 24 hours, so we did venture out on the evening of the 1st. This year's Fiesta di Roma theme was "a journey through nature." We didn't see much of it, but what we did see was mesmerizing.

As a new visitor to the city, I found myself amazed at the sheer size of the ancient sites. Maps show the extent of the Forum and related areas, but the massive size of some of the buildings was a surprise. My parents have a couple of reproductions of Piranesi engravings (such as this one), and as a child studying the images I was offended at the small size of people relative to the structures. Now, though, I realize that I just couldn't take in how big the constructions really are. I was also surprised, simply because I was ignorant, by the vast amount of brick. Based on experience in other parts of Europe and the Middle East, I had come to think of ancient Roman structures as made of large blocks of stone. In Rome, though, we saw walls and walls of brick, and also, what allowed them to build at such gigantic scale, cement-filled brick walls. Granted, back in the day the brick would have been covered with marble (long since scavenged for use elsewhere), but at first look I couldn't help thinking of the red brick mill buildings of my North Carolina youth.

Speaking of brick buildings, looking at the Roman buildings from the ancient through the palaces of the Renaissance, I realized that everything, but everything I think of as traditional western architecture and interior design - furniture with animal feet, columns and pilasters, chandeliers, door knockers, swimming pool tiles - it all originates in Rome. When I lived in Indonesia years ago, I used to sniff at the practice of plopping a "traditional" roof on a modern building, but now I think of all the U.S. banks, post offices, colleges, libraries and virtually the entire Washington, D.C. mall, and I realize that, like the bourgeois gentilhomme who was thrilled to learn that all his life he had been speaking something called prose, I now know that I grew up surrounded by Roman architecture.

We spent only one day in the Vatican, which is not enough, not that any amount of time could be enough. Many people come expressly to see the chapel ceiling fresco by Michelangelo. We did spend some time in there, and it is impressive. Perhaps because of the Christmas season and the many creches all over Rome (try a google search for "100 Presepi"), elsewhere in the Vatican Museums, the Madonnas were catching my eye: some sly and sleepy in their modesty, some easily adoring, and some appropriately amazed.

I'm feeling very glad that we've scheduled a longer stay in Rome on the way back from India. Soon, though we must fly on.

and then, Cairo (Jan 6 - 8)

The main reason Cairo was on our itinerary at all was that our ticket, with EgyptAir, had a stop there anyway. We could have chosen to doze in the airport for several hours, or to take a couple days to visit before continuing. No contest there! We had a relatively short flight across the Mediterranean and only one hour in time difference. It seemed like our wait for luggage was almost as long as the flight (it wasn't - I was just eager to get out of there and into the city).

One thing I learned right away about Cairo is how highly security checks are valued. Going in and out of airports and museums and even the metro, one must go through several screeners and xray machines. It is done in a casual sort of way, but becomes a regular reminder of who is in charge. On our taxi drive from airport to the downtown area, a section of the road was lined with police vans, lights flashing, at each intersection. When I commented, the driver pointed out plainclothesmen along the road every few meters. "BO-lees," he said, pointing (Arabic doesn't have a comfortable way to pronounce the English "p" sound), "BO-lees, BO-lees, BO-lees" pointing them out, and then he used google translate to say, "they are here to welcome you." We didn't manage to learn whom they were actually welcoming.

It was a bit of a struggle to convince our taxi driver to drop us off, despite Lee having prepared a screenshot of the google map in Arabic, because the lodge was in such a humble location. It occupied one corridor in a venerable former office block probably from 1920s or 1930s, with no sign. The driver finally asked some people smoking hookahs in a cafe who confirmed the location. In the dark, the entrance did look daunting. Apparently our driver thought so too (or wanted us to think so) because he insisted on coming up the elevator with us, where we were warmly greeted. Then he demanded a big tip (this we also learned is the way it is in Cairo) and all was well.

On our first and only full day in Cairo, we spent the morning ogling amazing ancient things in the Egyptian Museum (three security checks to get in, and two to leave again) and the rest of the day exploring neighborhoods and markets. The museum is old-fashioned, which I love, because it has not yet succumbed to fashions in dramatic lighting and flashy displays. It was in disarray because some objects were being packed up to be moved to a new museum in a tourist district on the other side of the river. In addition to the objects themselves, I loved the labels, some of which were opinionated in a way rarely encountered in highly curated museums. One, describing private memorial tablets from Abydos from "decadent periods," complained that they "...for barbarous design, corrupt texts and general muddle almost pass belief." Another dismissively noted that a work was no better than many others in the museum's collection. I would have enjoyed meeting the author of those labels. I hope some of them are preserved when they finish the renovations.

Lee and I wandered, mouths agape, among these beautiful precious things that make the Roman works seem recent. I won't share photos of them, because you can find them online or in books. In some rooms we were alone, others were being renovated, and there were a few popular spots (King Tut) that were full of people. Some groups moved through with guides. I was impressed to see Egyptian guides leading groups in heavily accented but recognizable English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

Based on what I saw in the Egyptian Museum, I must now contextualize one of the comments I made in Rome. Chairs with animal feet are Egyptian, and the style must have been borrowed in by the Romans. I also learned quite a bit more about communication and trade between Egypt and Rome, but won't repeat all that here.

From the museum we ventured into the Metro (security check with xray) and on to some older neighborhoods. It was disorienting not to be able to sound out street signs. Even numbers are a struggle until you get the hang of them. The market areas were packed with goods, overwhelmingly busy and noisy. Merchants hawked their offerings over little loudspeakers, sometimes only inches from our ears as we squeezed past in narrow lanes between displays of sneakers, clothing, plastic-ware, building supplies and so on. There was no chance to take photos until we emerged onto the street again. Quite a lot of transport was still happening via human- or animal-powered vehicles, including donkey carts, and guys riding bicycles while carrying platforms on their heads piled high with pita. These didn't get photographed, though, out of respect for personal privacy (not to mention that they move pretty quickly).

We spent our second day in Giza and Saqqara gaping at pyramids and telling touts that no, we really, really didn't want to ride, pat, kiss or have a picture with their camel or horse. The pyramids are...just there...in a solidly mysterious way. You've seen all the photos. On the ride back to the airport we tried and failed to get the taxi driver to stop for street food. He was sure we needed a full menu of roasted beef, chicken, lamb - anything but street food. When we declined this he might have been a little offended, or perhaps just uncertain where to find something he considered appropriate for foreigners that would meet our requirements. By the time he found a place to suggest, so much time had passed that we were more worried about getting to the airport in time, and so, to his evident relief, we gave up the idea.

The EgyptAir in-flight magazine asserts that Cairo is one of the safest cities in the world, outranking several American cities. I'm not sure where the data came from, as this survey puts Cairo in the high-middle range. But I certainly felt safe, given the dignified personal space on the streets and markets we experienced. Granted, Lee is bearded and I covered my head as I also did in past visits to Indonesia, Turkey, and Jordan, not to mention again all the security checks. Safety sometimes comes at the expense of freedom, of course. Being outsiders, we chose not to consider political matters while visiting other peoples' countries, but on walking past Tahrir Square to the Sadat Metro station, I silently formed a wish in solidarity with today's peacemakers where-ever they may be.

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