Monday, 19th January - Coptic Cairo

Today we slept in a bit before heading off to Coptic Cairo. We took a taxi via Khan Al-Khalili (the complete opposite direction to where we were heading) but still paid the agreed amount. We went into the first Saint George Convent Church where the residential nun can put you in chains supposedly used in the torture of Saint George himself…ooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk then!!! 8-o
Then we went into the Church of Saint Sergius, where they reccon Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus hid from Herod when they were told to go to Egypt.
Next was the Ben Ezra Synagogue where I set off a metal detector, but the security person didn’t care and let me through anyway (go figure)! We then walked past the Church of Saint Barbara and found a rubbish pile where there were cats and a heap of tombs. We were almost locked into a side area that we ventured into. Thirty seconds later and the bloke would have had it locked and been away.
The second church dedicated to Saint George was a Greek Orthodox Monastery and Church of Saint George. We checked out the church before checking out the graves around there as well.
From there we went and got something to eat. When we first arrived in the Coptic area and looked around the eating areas, we were given a business card from the owner of a place we were going to check out later telling him we would be back. He seemed a bit surprised when we did return. Bluey ate a chicken burger and I had a kofta (long meatballs with a garlicy sauce, pita bread and fries).
On our way to see the oldest mosque in Egypt (Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As) we bought a book a bit like mine, but I reccon mine’s better. We didn’t go into the Mosque as there was a divided section for men and women and we didn’t want to be seperated.
From there we went and looked at the Roman Towers and noticed there are bats living in the Church of Saint George. Then we tried the Hanging Church, only to find the bugger was shut! There was also a fire truck near the church that the people were trying to get started. I hope they were not in a hurry.
We then crossed the Nile to check out the Nile-o-meter only to find that IT was shut TOO! So then we crossed back over the Nile and walked and walked…and walked to the Cairo Tower before heading to KFC for dinner.
On the way back to the hotel we met someone else who wanted to give us their business card. “No need to buy, no need to buy!!” Yeah, right!!! We agreed anyway and were lead back TO THE SAME FRICKIN’ PLACE AS LAST NIGHT!!!!! This time we were not lead upstairs, but to the ground level. One of the guys from last night asked us AGAIN “Do you have any coins?” ... “No!” “Do you have coins, do you have chocolate?”....”...sigh, (thinking "give me strenght, give me patience")...No, we gave them to you LAST NIGHT!!” They were also trying to sell us stuff. AAAARRRRGGGHHH: We also waited about five minutes in awkward silence for our friggin tea. It is Egyptian hospitality that when you invite someone in to offer them tea. However, making someone wait in an uncomfortable situation for over five minutes is not hospitality in my books. We ended up saying that we needed to meet up with a friend and left them. I do not know why, but at the moment I have a hard time seeing “essential oils” sellers in a good light.
The bloke around the corner seemed like a good bloke. We may get some souvienirs from him.