The end of Ramadan

It's over! What a relief - everything now returns to normal, well normal for Cairo. As you can see from the latest photos we did attend one iftar (lit. breaking the fast) which was surprisingly quite pleasant. Out first experience of the company iftar two years ago wasn't much fun so we had a jaundiced view of the whole idea. This was much nicer and the location, Al Azhar Park, was a pleasant surprise. A well maintained, green space on the eastern edge of the city with some lovely views of The Citadel and Islamic Cairo. We've driven past it numerous times but never made the effort to go in (complicated u-turns required on a very busy road) which I can now see is a real shame. This one now goes on the list for future visitors. The big silver 'urn' in the photo contains some vile looking herbal drink which apparently helps aid the digestion of the huge amount of food eaten at iftar. I wasn't tempted to try it but watching the guy pour it out was entertaining.
Today is the second day of Eid al Fitr (the holiday at the end of Ramadan). This is the first time we've stayed in Cairo for this holiday and again I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be chaotic and noisy but it's wonderfully quiet. The cafes, restaurants and some food shops are open but pretty much everything else is closed. Very little traffic.
This afternoon we're taking a trip on the Nile with some friends on a lovely boat called The Christina. It's a wonderful way of spending 2 or 3 hours, enjoying the views, chatting, drinking and eating. If I remember the camera I'll take some photos and post them here. Cairo looks completely different when seen from this angle especially at sunset.
On Tuesday we're off to Taba Heights for a few days holiday, the kids have half term this week. Well, when I say we, that doesn't include Jon who, as a 'mature' 16 year old, refuses to come with us claiming pressure of work as an excuse. We haven't been to this resort before so it'll make a change. It's really just a collection of hotels on a beach although it's possible to do day trips to Jordan (Petra) and Israel. This is probably the last trip to the beach this year as it'll start to get chilly soon.