TRAVEL THERE: A FEW BITES
Yes, we did finally find The Fish Market Restaurant, but that’s not where we had lunch. Let me tell you about our midday meal before getting to dinner.
Return to the Food Court
When Bill was finally able to drag me out of The Royal Jewelry Museum it was past lunch time. Those big buffet breakfasts came in handy, but eventually you have to eat. Bill recognized the neighborhood as being the one where the Four Seasons Hotel, Mall and Food Court had been and I found it on the map I was carrying. We were only a few blocks away. We’d been exploring new things for hours. Something familiar sounded good.
We had a nice meal and did a little wandering around in the Four Seasons. Then we headed outside to find a cab, because we were going to take a look at Montazza, one of King Farouk’s palaces. Bill was quite excited by the prospect of visiting a favorite childhood memory, but it was a very different place than he remembered.
Montazza
Bill’s memories of Montazza were from the time when Nasser was still in power and it was still being maintained in its former glory. Now the gardens are sparse and obviously not cared for. I suppose they run the sprinklers to keep the grass growing. A different class of people also seemed to be in charge. Going to Montazza was a special occasion back then. You dressed up and you behaved appropriately. Now casually dressed people are spread out across the ill-kept grounds and they think nothing of getting up from their McDonald’s picnic and leaving the trash where it lies.
Still, we walked throughout the grounds and took these pictures. There is a thin veneer of the former glory, but close inspection shows that everything is about to fall apart. This is was a very sad visit. Afterwards we took a taxi back to the hotel, but here’s some images so you can imagine along with us how beautiful it once was.
Snack Time
Remember when we’d gone back to Delices for ice cream the night before. Well, while he was there, Bill bought some baklava. I thought he’d eat if after the ice cream, but he didn’t. I thought he’d eat it for breakfast, but he didn’t. He waited until we got back from our museum adventures and had it as an afternoon snack. Yep, that’s him on our balcony taking a selfie.
After snack time came nap time. After some research we finally found out where The Fish Market was and planned to head that way.
Mitzergana
One Arabic word I know is mizergana. I’m not sure of the spelling, but I know how to use it. The evening we went to The Fish Market was mizergana. Things were just broken and off. Not anybody’s fault necessarily, but the finely-tuned engine that is our marriage wasn’t doing so well. The plan had been to grab a taxi to the restaurant, but instead we walked. I dressed for the taxi, so I wasn’t thrilled.
The Fish Market wasn’t quite what we expected. Yes there were big ice tables full of fresh fish, but from the description of the place we thought that once you picked your fish, then they’d give you a wide variety of ways to cook it. Basically you either got fried or grilled. It was good, but not our vision.
Something else I didn’t expect was a mizergana tummy. About halfway through the meal I began a series of restroom visitations. I don’t know if it was the brisk walk to the restaurant, too much strange food or just par for the course. Whatever it was, for the next hour or so I stayed in close proximity to a toilet.
Our visit to Alex was almost over. I’d used Bill’s nap time to get us packed up for the road. Come back next week and learn which attractions we saw before leaving town.
jane sadek 