I went to my Sunday farmer's market and it brought back memories of markets I saw in Cairo. It is so good to be back and to familiar surroundings, it was so good to see the usual vendors at the market and I am glad I live in the USA. I took a walk around my neighborhood. While the rest of Los Angeles is sizzling because of the heat wave, it was so beautiful where I live, the sea breeze brought the temperature down and the sun was bright, the air was clear. I can breathe again and leave my guard down. It was on heighten alert in Cairo. We were on transit in London for three hours, the first thing we did was eat in a western restaurant, we ate at Gordon Ramsey's Plane food restaurant. We had pork and green salad, two thing we didn't have in Cairo. We were told not to eat salads in Cairo and only drink bottled water. It was good to order a fizzy Badoit, all the bottled water in Cairo is still water.
There's no shortage of food in Cairo, nor of fresh fruits and vegetables and meat, though they are expensive. They grow all their own food, the desert oasis yields and abundance of fresh food. We saw bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, all kinds of root vegetables, dates, of course. There were butcher shops at every corner. We don't know how they were grown so the guide books warned that unless you can peel your fruit, don't eat it.
These are different farmers' markets, so exotic, so picturesque. I shall always remember them. Some of the neighborhoods are so different that they are almost scary. We went to so many, each time wondering if we'll come out alive, but they left us alone and we came home.
I went to my Sunday farmer's market and it brought back memories of markets I saw in Cairo. It is so good to be back and to familiar surroundings, it was so good to see the usual vendors at the market and I am glad I live in the USA. I took a walk around my neighborhood. While the rest of Los Angeles is sizzling because of the heat wave, it was so beautiful where I live, the sea breeze brought the temperature down and the sun was bright, the air was clear. I can breathe again and leave my guard down. It was on heighten alert in Cairo. We were on transit in London for three hours, the first thing we did was eat in a western restaurant, we ate at Gordon Ramsey's Plane food restaurant. We had pork and green salad, two thing we didn't have in Cairo. We were told not to eat salads in Cairo and only drink bottled water. It was good to order a fizzy Badoit, all the bottled water in Cairo is still water.
There's no shortage of food in Cairo, nor of fresh fruits and vegetables and meat, though they are expensive. They grow all their own food, the desert oasis yields and abundance of fresh food. We saw bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, all kinds of root vegetables, dates, of course. There were butcher shops at every corner. We don't know how they were grown so the guide books warned that unless you can peel your fruit, don't eat it.
These are different farmers' markets, so exotic, so picturesque. I shall always remember them. Some of the neighborhoods are so different that they are almost scary. We went to so many, each time wondering if we'll come out alive, but they left us alone and we came home.
I don't think the tour buses brings tourists to these areas. We hired a taxi for the whole day or part of the day, telling the driver where to take us and to wait for us, so if we should feel uncomfortable, we can jump back into the taxi and be off. Oftentimes we don't stop but just ask the driver to slow down so we can take pictures from the moving cab. There's a lot of haggling and baksheesh (bribes), after the first day, we got the hang of it and became pretty good. I will post more survival tips in later postings.
Mmmmmmmm.... fresh salads, how I miss it. It's good to be home.
1 comment:
I'm going to Cairo on the 20th and your blog has been very helpful. I'm really looking forward to your other survival tips.
Thanks!
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