Amazing Street Festivals

Street festivals in Egypt are really incredible. The below pictures were both taken from the Korba district in Heliopolis. The street gets super-packed with youth, music-makers, face-painters, food n' drink vendors, book-sellers, craftspeople, parents with kids, sidewalk artists, drummers and booty shakers. As the day progresses and the sun wanes, the crowds spill in overflowing in a jittery chattery loud but peace-loving rabble, standing room only.

Eating out on the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr

After fasting from sunrise to sunset for an entire month, it is a wonderful feeling to wake up and go out and have breakfast or sit in a cafe during the day with friends and family!

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The dancing horse

Egypt has amazing horses, but this is a horse of a different kind. At celebrations where dance troupes come to perform, the dancing horse is a signature part of such evenings, a delight to all of the children in the audience, and drawing laughter and giggles as the mischievous horse goes around kissing people, tapping them on the head, cradling babies, and dancing with the other dancers and sometimes audience members.

Rockin' dinner tables

In Egypt, there seems to be a trend among restaurants to have on the outdoor patios large wooden rocking chairs for the whole family to eat dinner on. A fun way to keep kids interested in sitting down at the dinner table. Nice romantic dinner or drinks for a new couple. Just fabulous way of making great use of Egypt's year-round wonderful outdoor weather.

Art tables for kids

A nice feature at a lot of cafe and restaurant areas are art tables set up for your kids to do nice activities and paint pictures they can take home with them (sometimes on stickers, sometimes on large posters, sometimes on clay sculptures, etc etc) with bright colors and sparkles.

This table is set up during Ramadan in the cafe area in Al Rehab
The company running it is called Artoon and is based in Heliopolis.
where they provide art classes and music lessons.

Tangled

Birthday, fish and Jasmine

Bakar

Bakar is an adorable cartoon series that airs every Ramadan after the breakfast (i.e., break fast, when the sun sets). Each episode carries another moral lesson about virtue and the series displays fantastic scenes from the local rural life in Egypt.

Outdoor Lawn Movies

I have never seen a drive-in here in Egypt, but what there are tons of all over the place, at nearly every club, are large movie screens and plastic lawn chairs where everyone sits out at tables or in chairs and watches movies together - outdoors in evenings - year round, in Egypt's fabulous weather.

Geroland

Geroland is one of those fabulous locations in Egypt that does not receive the attention it really deserves. Tucked away behind the GolfCity mall in El Obour City just outside of Cairo, Geroland makes for a great afternoon with little kids. For anyone who has ever been to Toronto - it sort of reminds me of Toronto's Centerville Island. The rides are classics: the requisite carousel, along with bumper cars and a haunted house (which was too spooky for my little one to enter yet). There are flying dinosaurs, whirring boots, gentle rocket rides, and small spinning teacups, and a nice swan ride too. Lots of ice cream stands, fresh juice, cotton candy - typical amusement park fare with some Egyptian specialties thrown in like hummus (chick peas).

Makes for a great day, and another very welcoming place with small kids.

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