Showing posts with label gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardens. Show all posts

Saturday, June 29, 2013

The (Suzanne Mubarak) Children's Museum

The formerly known Suzanne Mubarak Children's Museum in Heliopolis is a hidden gem for all parents and visitors to Egypt. Tucked away on a busy residential stretch in Heliopolis, you can never imagine the amazing gardens that lay beyond the colorful entrance gates.



The fees are very reasonable, for 40 LE you get to have a "tour of the Nile" (a walk through a fake safari along the length of a model Nile, a visit to the museum (one floor only per visit -- don't bother asking why), an activity for your kid (painting Nefertiti on papyrus), and an enjoyable stay in the gardens which have one of the best and safest children's playgrounds I've seen in Cairo and even feature a butterfly museum (seasonal).


It is clean, highly under crowded (one of the few places - truly undiscovered so far by the masses), and I'd rate the interactivity and exhibits of the museum itself as better than the ROM in Toronto.

The first floor has Ancient Egypt and this is just awesome. It includes large rubber Sphinxes that kids can assemble like a puzzle, wall drawings, an X-ray scanner of a mummy and a replica of King Tut's tomb. Next floor up is agriculture, then the desert and the sea, and the top astronomy (top two floors are reserved for schools but with a bit of convincing we got to see the desert/sea floor minus use of some of the electrical gadgets).

Awesome, not to be missed by any family coming to Cairo.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Beautiful Fountains

The below pictures are taken from Al Azhar Park and are all recent, however Egypt has many historic fountains dating back centuries. You can learn more about the history of such fountains when you are visiting Egypt by a trip to Cairo's Islamic Museum.





For another fabulous modern version of fountains in Egypt - check out Chocolate Mania Egypt for chocolate fountains. Yum.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Eid Prayer

The Eid prayer is one of the most beautiful prayers in Islam. It begins at sunrise of the morning of the first day of Eid.

The people gather nearby the mosques, but prayer is held outside in nature, under the wakening sunshine and over the grass (in Egypt, large carpets with festive design are lain down over the ground to keep people dry from the morning dew as they pray and to keep clean). 


Before the actual prayer, the people chant prayer together (sort of like one massive outdoors choir), with different people taking turns at the microphone which leads the crowd, voices ringing in unison across the landscape. Children run about through the crowds of people. 


Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes or beautiful prayer gowns, as the prayer goes on you can hear the laughter of children and the calls of awakening birds around you, while the people stand shoulder to shoulder with one another, giving greeting and sweet tidings for the year ahead. 



Sunday, August 21, 2011

Hibiscus

The Hibiscus flower (called "karkaday" by the Egyptians) is not only gorgeous, all over the place in Egypt, but also made into a fabulous drink which can be served both hot and cold. Drinking it hot is a great natural remedy for lowering your blood pressure. The drink is prepared with quite a bit of sugar, and it is really refreshing in both summer (cold) and winter (hot). The hot version is interestingly a bit like German gluhwein, minus the wine.




Hibiscus comes also in other variations of color, such as pink, white and even blue, but the most common variety here in Egypt is red.


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Unexpected Greenery

In Cairo so many streets are lined with beautiful trees. In the springtime, the trees are at their most fabulously beautiful, particularly in the month of May, when the flowers are in full blossom and a lot of the trees have gorgeous red, pink, orange, yellow, blooms.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Palm Trees



Gorgeous. Love them. Palm trees always make me feel like I'm on vacation, even when I'm not.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Al Azhar Park

Al Azhar Park was a project by the Aga Khan foundation, a fabulous undertaking, a gorgeous reclaimed green space in Cairo. Beautiful proximity to the Citadel, Khan el Khalili and the heart of Cairo - from Al Azhar park you have a stunning view of Cairo, and on a clear day you can even see the pyramids. Great restaurants and cafes, children's playgrounds, beautiful gardens filled with fresh herbs, summer plays and music concerts, and even statues made of out of the recycled waste from the previous dump that was in the location. Fa-bu-lous.