Old Qahira

One of my weekly adventures pre the start of classes involved walking on the streets of Sharia Muiz al Din Allah with a couple of friends and taking out the giant lens to take some pictures. The lighting was obscured by tons of smog, so I wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going on there, and I had trouble balancing taking a picture half in shadows and half in smog.
Again, I wasn't particularly happy with most of the results, but here's what I did end up liking:

Made friends with this boy in front of the Masjid ul Anwar. He then tried asking for money because I took his photograph. I pretended I spoke no English or Arabic and got away, but I was somewhat surprised at how smart he was to beg me after I took the photograph.

One of the store fronts on the Sharia Al Muiz Ul DinAllah or however you spell them. P.S. It's one of the best places in Cairo to buy a Hookah.
There is something extremely significant and important about this building's marble jogging. Additionally it has a terrace, which is also important. I wish that I had a) a guidebook that would help me remember what it was that I was supposed to remember and b) more interest in learning about 9th century Islamic Architecture instead of just staring at it and taking pictures.

Case in point about the hookahs.



I thought this was a beautiful door. I also found a man that told me that for 5 pounds I could go inside and explore, however I was with the lamest group of people and they couldn't cough up 5 pounds to go in with me and were kinda annoyed at how many times I stopped to take pictures. No big, really, I'll just have to go again.

The beautiful, beautiful ceiling was kind of a problem to take pictures of. I wish that I had a steadier hand and/or a shake minimizing lens.

It just amazes me how much detail was put into this building. I wish that I could read Arabic Calligraphy so that I know what was written. Actually, I'd settle for reading Arabic well at this point- and then understanding it before moving to the calligraphy bit.



This was probably my favorite my picture of the day.