morning in the tentmakers' alley

Friday morning we took a trip to the tentmaker's alley in Islamic Cairo. We took the metro from this, our local stop, to a place fairly close.



It appears we weren't technically inside the older city, because we were just outside of this large gate (Bab Zuweila). It's been a while since those gates were used, so they're just decoration now. Islamic Cairo is different from Old Cairo in that Islamic Cairo was built about 1200 years ago, whereas truly old Cairo (aka Fustat) was established long before.



We'd forgotten to change our clocks for daylight savings, which got us to the tentmakers' alley before anyone was open, so we sat in a local cafe and had tea and breakfast. This is a typical Egyptian breakfast: foul (stewed fava beans with lemon, olive oil, and vinegar), pickles, very fresh bread, and a bit of arugula. This particular stand was run by a very businesslike woman. Cost: 2 LE = 40 cents.




This gentleman was selling his snacks on the other side of the cafe. He was frying fresh potato chips, eggplant, and taamiyya, each of which he stuffed with a bit of salad into a pita. These and foul are hugely popular both for breakfast and lunch. Note the water pipe in the foreground, probably for when things got slow.




These are taamiyya frying. Taamiyya are basically falafel, except falafel are generally made of chickpeas, and tamiyya are made from fava beans. Delicious.


This very old half-blind and very kind gentleman offered us a tour of this old and run-down local mosque. He claimed it was from the time of the Mamluks (pre-1800). He also claimed to be the muezzin (who sings the call to prayer). The brickwork and stained glass certainly bespoke a period of previous grandeur.
This is the tentmakers' alley beginning to open. This particular street is famous for pillowcases and wallhangings and other kinds of tapestries like these:
Anyone interested? Send details of color schemes and sizes. They're available in geometric designs like these, in flowery motifs, and sometimes in calligraphic designs, generally with religious/spiritual messages.



Zach is a bit fried here from the heat as it is approaching noon and we are getting ready to hide in the a/c for the afternoon. These lamps are very popular for Ramadan, and as Ramadan begins Monday, they were selling fast.

For anyone trying to talk to us, e.g. skype, please keep in mind that Fridays and Saturdays are weekends here, and Sundays normal workdays. As mentioned above, we have already changed our clocks for daylight savings, so we think for now we are 6 hours ahead of the East coast and 9 from the West coast.