The Citadel, Military Museum, and Oud music

May 28, 2010 - 8:45am
Yesterday, we went to the Citadel of Salah al-Din for a photo shoot during class. Within the Citadel, we saw the mosque of Muhammad Ali. It's a huge place, and it's on top of a hill (which is near the hill of Al-Ashar park, where we saw the sunset). The mosque was so impressive. It was massive, and was so gorgeous inside. The mosque's inner part, where the quttab (the niche that points to Mecca) is, was elaborately decorated and the ceiling was high and ornate. There were circular lights and chandeliers strung around in circles. The chandeliers were catching the breeze from outside and were making quiet twinkling noises, which added to the sense of calmness about the place.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

The mosque was enormous!

The lights inside the mosque.

The ceiling was so ornate, and was lit in places with colored lights.

There was significant evidence of restoration efforts.

























There was some intense haze yesterday - the weather report read "sun and sand." When the wind picked up a little, the sand was pretty rough on our eyes and equipment. The view from the Citadel was pretty dismal, as a result. On a good day, you can see the Pyramids at Giza from the Citadel. Still, it was an amazing experience to be there and photograph the place. So relaxing!

Also in the Citadel complex was a military museum, which was so very Egyptian! We paid 1 LE to bring our cameras in. It was full of models of weapons, buildings and automobiles - some of which didn't look very professional or legit. There were some cool paintings and dioramas of war scenes and rulers, and examples of weaponry and military uniforms hung on mannequins. There were sections of the museum for all the important military and political happenings, which was cool to see as a sort of walk-through timeline. The building itself was like a palace (it may have actually been one). The museum had a roped pathway that led you along hallways and up and down stairs. It was one line, and you had to go through to the end - at which there was a portrait of the current President of Egypt. Outside the museum were old airplanes and tanks. Rob commented that, being Egypt, these probably weren't even fully decommissioned. They were impressive, though.

"No entery."

A statue in the museum.

There were some pretty creepy mannequins there.

























We headed back to the hotel, and Rob and I went to Alex Top for koshary. The fluids guys have had Alex Top koshary for most of their meals this past week, so we figured we'd try it, too. I hadn't had koshary since Luxor, and it was nice to have real Egyptian food again. A lot of the food here is American or European, so it's easy to be lazy about what we eat.

At 7:30, we went to the Culture Wheel to see Oud music. The show started at 8:30, and I got a good amount of it on video. All the speaking was in Arabic only, and people were laughing at jokes we didn't understand. The crowd was definitely engaged in the music, and would clap along when the tempo increased. It was a good show, but it went on for so long! After about an hour and a half, we decided to leave - only to learn later that there was an intermission after we left! Outside the Culture Wheel there was a craft fair going on, which Alexis and I visited after the show.

Oud music at the Culture Wheel.