Sunday, August 21, 2011

Swimming in Ramadan

Going to a pool during Ramadan is fabulous because you practically have the pool all to yourself. One of the advantages of Ramadan taking place in the summer in Egypt and why its a great time for tourists to come here! The waters start to get a bit fuller just before sunset (when a lot of people do exercise), so be sure to go early!
Travel to Egypt!

Suntanning

I do believe you should never encourage suntanning. However, for those of you who do prefer that California glow, you can save your money from the tanning salons and pick up a ticket for Egypt.

Or better yet, just buy a bronzer and still hop on the plane over here.

Source: Queen Estee's How to Care for Sunburnt Skin

Rockin' Christmas Parties

Since it is currently Ramadan, and I've made quite a lot of Ramadan posts, I wanted to balance the blog with a post about Christmas which is also a major time of celebration here in Egypt. The below pic is from a Christmas party hosted at a club just after New Years. As with every fabulous Egyptian party - loud music and lots of dance are involved.




Trendy Restaurants

Egypt (and by Egypt I mostly mean Cairo and Alexandria) has a large and growing selection of restaurants, cafes and night clubs. Great food, great atmosphere, and great company.  Cairo 360 is a great site to dig the latest reviews on where to go. Other sites to check out include Yallabina, CairoDining, and VirtualTourist.


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.


The Best Hair Salons

When used to live in Europe, I would wait until I came back to Egypt to get my haircut every time. In fact, the best haircut I received in the six years I lived in Europe - was by an Egyptian hairdresser. Egyptian salons know how to make women look beautiful. The best salons are often tucked away in small alleyways, with little ostentation: zero decorations, chairs covered in vinyl, plastic flowers, a metallic wall hanging of verses of the Quran, the smell of ironed hair. The results are always incredible.





Egyptian Rappers

Love rap. Love Egypt. together = fabulousness.
A nice list of top 10 Egyptian Rappers