Present is in the Past
MOST VIEWED
به زبان فارسی
PICTORY
LATEST MUSIC
SEARCH
I saw no women in any of those coffee shops. There were, however, want adds on windows of some other stores for young “good looking” women sales clerks...
Every block had at least one, sometimes more, coffee shops where men sat and drank tea, smoked shisha (water-pipe)...
“Cairo is the safest place in the world,” our tour guide said. “You can walk all over even after midnight; there is no danger.” I took up the challenge. Late at night, I went walking on the 26th of July Street. Outdoor Vendors blocked not only the sidewalks but parts of the street, causing even more congestion in the busy traffic.
Inside, there was a spacious lobby with courtrooms on both sides and a grand staircase that led to the upper floor.
A plaque said had been built during the Mubarak administration. It was “Southern Cairo’s First Level Court”.
In the crowd, some men were in suits. One was standing at the door of a court room. I asked him if he was a lawyer. He said yes. We had a conversation in English. He said he had “a client now coming from prison”.
Posters for the candidates were on display in the area still called Central Cairo (wust al-Balad) where ordinary Egyptians grappled with the more pressing problems of daily life. Not far from the Abdeen Palace where the formal Presidential events are held, I walked up the steps of the colonnaded courthouse.
in 1962 President Gamal abdel-Nasser, who was a leader of the Non-aligned bloc during the Cold War, built Gezira’s Cairo Tower, the city’s tallest structure, partly to make a statement by using the U.S. aid money intended for him to purchase American arms.
In the early 20th century the Gezira (island) in the middle of the Nile was developed with parks and gardens and a new choice residential neighborhood, Zamalek.
The affluent consider the elegant restaurant here as one of the best in town. We were taken there for lunch on the patio with an unobstructed view of the Citadel that Saladin built. Like him, and the Fatimids, many other conquerors chose to build their own new city in this metropolis.
I took my shoes out and came back. I then proceeded to take pictures of women in their special section that was on one side of the Shrine. No one objected to this.
Tourists crowded the souvenir shops and restaurants that lined the other corner. They had been told by their guides that the Hussein Mosque was not open to non-Muslims. I did not see but a few Western tourists in al-Azhar mosque which they could enter. Like many other aspects of Islam, their knowledge of the rich history of this square remained non-existent or, worse, confused.
RECENT COMMENTS
MOST DISCUSSED
| Title | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Islamo Fascist Paedophiles in London. | Dec 01 | 87 |
| Forgotten Captive | Nov 27 | 61 |
| The New Iranian.com Is Ready! | Dec 05 | 39 |
| The Women of Camp Ashraf | Dec 01 | 35 |
| Persian parties are like Persian history! | Dec 03 | 34 |
IRANIANS OF THE DAY
| Person | About | Day |
|---|---|---|
| نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
| Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
| Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
| احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
| گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
| Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
| محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
| Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |