Egypt Day 3 – Cairo

Day 3 in Egypt started at the Al Azhar Mosque, which is a grand structure that reflects many centuries of style & elegance. There are five very fine minarets with small balconies and intricately carved columns. It has six entrances, with the main entrance being the 18th Century Bab el-Muzayini (barber's gate), where students were once shaved.

You then enter into a great & grand courtyard which dates from the 10th century and is overlooked by three stately minarets. The white facades, the huge pillars and the beautiful carvings and arches is where you can spend most of your time.

The madrasas are not open to visitors. But tourists may enter into the main prayer hall, which is warmly carpeted and supported by alabaster pillars.

This is inside the mosque. The lighting was amazing...

The dome with inscriptions...

The Cairo Museum, should really be on top of your list of things to do and see!! Its an amazing experience….. to walk through history. The Egyptian Museum is situated at Tahrir square in Cairo. Camera were not allowed into the museum, so I have no pictures to show you. On the ground floor there are the huge statues. The upper floor houses smaller statues, jewels, the treasures of Tutankhamon and of course the main attraction - the mummies. The museum ahs around 120 halls. Here you will find monuments from pre-dynasty and the Old Kingdom, monuments from Modern Kingdom and overall Middle East. The museum is also home to a large library and photography section. You can also see monuments from the late Greek & Roman periods and an area for coins, papyrus & scarabs. You must surely visit the hall of the royal mummies. There is an extra entrance fee for this, but it is well worth it. Currently the museum has eleven kinds & queens.

We ended day 3 with a dinner cruise and cultural show on the Nile. The experience was well worth it. The music & dancers, all traditional Egyptians….. were just awesome.