Egypt's Arts... Sand In A Bottle

Glass is not just that window or mirror we have in our houses, it's also an art and a craft that is hard to master, Egyptians are known to have mastered the art of glass for thousands of years. Glas is made from the pure white sand that comes from the deserts of Egypt, so it was easy for Egyptians to get quickly inspired by the Idea of mastering the art of glass. Either by hand made moulded bottles or by filling a glass bottle with coloured sand. Which is a craft that is admired by all of Egypt's visitors alike.

The art of glass is one of the oldest crafts known to the Egyptians, even nowadays you can find street sellers selling their cheap bottles that they made at home, while elegant and beautifully crafted bottles are sold at fancy bazzars and antique shops.

It is said that taking a bottle full of sand home with you from Egypt is just like taking a peice of Egypt home with you, with all the elegance of history, and greatness of the Pharaohs, so if you do visit Egypt some day be sure to take a nice bottle full of sand home with you.

Egypt Climate

The Climate Of Egypt
Egypt has a great climate through the whole year, in the winter Luxor & Aswan are the best place to go to enjoy the sunny atmosphere and warm climate, also Cairo in the winter is a cosy city to be in with the temperature rarely going below 16 degrees Celsius which is almost 61 Fahrenheit.

In the summer I always visit the Egyptian North Coast which is full of fabulous resorts and also a great summer climate, or I just go to the Princess of the Mediterranean "Alexandria".

But for a enjoyable climate all year round you should choose Hurgada & Sharm El-Sheikh those two cities facing the red sea have a climate too hard to resist, They also have a high profile in means of tourism and diving and beautiful sites and landscapes.

The Most Beautiful Temples On Earth

Abu Simbil, the city of love and beauty, the capital of culture, a city which holds in its folds the most beautiful and amazing temples in the world..

They are the famous temples of Abu Simbil, and the Ramsis the 2nd temple, which he had built to honour the god of love and beauty “Hat-hoor”, then he gave it to his most beloved wife the beautiful “Nefertary”.

Abu Simbil became famous when the High Dam was built in Aswan across the Nile River, because these temples were threatened to drown in the Nile, If it weren’t for the 51 countries that held together with Egypt in order to move the entire structures to higher grounds, the world’s culture will stay forever thankful to these countries.

Now, the reason why these are the world’s most extraordinary temples is that they were carved into the body of a mountain a structure like that isn’t found anywhere else on earth.

My Extraordinary Cairo Trip

Two years ago I was finishing my graduation project in the Academy of art in Cairo, the Graphics & Advertising department, my Idea was a campaign called "Different Eras & One Cairo" meaning that Cairo has lived through a lot of historic periods, holding in its folds monuments and treasures other then the Pyramids and Sphinx, such as the Coptic, Islamic, Roman, Greek, Mamluk, Arab, and modern eras and much more.

So one day I decided to take a walk along with my camera in Cairo, I was intending for three hours of photography, but it turned out a much longer adventure, for nine hours I kept walking and photographing until I just couldn't stand on my feet any more, sad that I had to go home but happy with my photos, my journey for that day was over.

The path I took was a long one, I'll explain it here if you would like to try it yourself.

I started out taking the subway to "Mar Girgis" station, where my first scene was "The Virgin's Church" then I passed by "The Roman Tower of Babylon" then the famous "Mar Girgis Church" known as St. George Church, I then entered the "Coptic museum" where I had a free pass.

I then walked down Mar Girgis st. down to the famous "Seven Churches Alley" which is a splendid site, it is a narrow alley with seven churches and a Jewish temple, all with extraordinary architecture, after a few arguments with the guards there and showing them my collage ID which gives me access to many historic places they allowed me to photograph there as they say only foreigners are allowed to photograph there.

After that I moved on a little bit more down Mar Girgis st. to "Amr Ibn El-As Mosque" which is the first mosque to be built in Cairo 14 hundred years ago.

Then I took a long walk towards "Magra Al-Eyoon Wall" Which was built hundreds of years ago for many reasons one is to protect cairo and the other was to supply the Citadel with water from the Nile River.

After walking the whole length of the amazing wall I reached The "Citadel" which was built by Salah El Din in order to protect Cairo from Invaders and it still stands as one of the most treasure holding buildings in Cairo.

Then I moved on to the famous mosques of "El sultan Hassan and El Refaie Mosques" with the very tall minarets (a splendid site to see), Then it was time for me to go visit The Azhar Gardens where you can see the entire view of Cairo from.

Then I went down to The famous "Azhar Mosque" and "AL Hussain Mosque" then I walked through "Khan El Khalily Alley" which is full of great architecture arts, then I took a look at the "Complex of Qalaun" which was still being renovated at the time, I really did sneak in because it was not allowed to enter it yet.

Later I saw the extraordinary street called "El Darb El Asfar" or the Yellow Alley, which is full of Houses of famous Arab merchants that lived there hundreds of years ago, full of art and ornaments, what really dazzled me was the art of Arabesque which is a wooden plate on the windows that is cut through in very small and delicate holes for the light.

Then I moved on to another famous wall that was built to protect Cairo with the enormous gates of "El Nasr and El Futooh" after that with almost 200 images on my memory card I was ready to call it a day.

If you are willing to take that trip someday contact me, and I would be willing to give you all the info you might happen to need and a map also :)

Egyptians looking forward to the Obama Era

The Egyptian Street is looking forward to a good era of political relations with the American side, because on the personal side the two nations were always friends, but the problem when present is always on political issues, so, what will happen next I don't know, if you've got an idea on the issue please feel free to leave a comment here.

Cairo International Film Festival Opening Yesterday

Finally Cairo is ready to start the most prestigious Film Festival in the Middle East and Africa, Honoured by Spain as the honour guest, we are really happy to have them here.
“Once again Cairo is ready to celebrate the fine art of Cinema during its annual Cairo International Film Festival."
these were the words Dr. Farouk Hosny (minster of culture) said as he started the fun

Top 10 Places To Visit In Egypt

Egypt is the most mysterious place on earth, The taste of Ancient Egyptian Mysticism still lingers in the air, This ancient atmosphere really does give you the feeling that secrets are yet to be revealed. Maybe you could be lucky to reveal some secrets yourself, here's where to find them:

1- Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx
These pyramids of kings Khufu, Kafhre, and Menkaura, are the greatest tombs on earth in means of size and structure, these perfectly shaped structures leave anybody seeing them with the mysterious questions of how they were built.
As for the Sphinx, the saying "The riddle of the Sphinx" is full of meaning because archaeologies until this day still argue about its purpose and orgin

2- Abu Simbil
Ramsis II had these two temples built in order to give himself and his wife Nevertari mortality, It is said that these two temples are of the most beautiful in Egypt and the world, What is also extraordinary is that these temples were relocated in order to avoid the floods in the late years of the 20th century.

3- Cairo, The capital of culture
Cairo isn't the place you would want to miss, if you really want to dive in Egyptian culture Cairo is the place to go, full of luxurious bazaars and great restaurants makes it your chance to grab a bite from Egypt.

4- Al Azhar Gardens
As one of the most beautiful parks in the world. Al Azhar Gardens remains a landmark in Cairo, where you can catch a panoramic view of the old city, and it's spectacular minarets.

5- Temples of Karnak
This is where the ancient Egyptians worshipped their gods, This temple holds a monument of almost every single god in the Theban religion.

6- The Nile River
Who would be willing to miss the famous Nile Cruise? Yes that's right, Nobody.
It is the reason why all the other wonders are present, the legendary river has been the vein of life in Egypt for thousands of years, and it is said that the Nile river will be the last water source to dry out on earth, what else could be magic?

7- Valley of the Kings
The most sacred place of the Pharaohs, this is where the most esteemed kings were buried , present there are many mummies and lots of un-revealed treasures, in fact the most famous mummy was found there "Tutankhamun".

8- The Egyptian Museum
After visiting where the treasures were found, you sure would want to see what was found, if that's the case then the Egyptian Museum is the place to go.

9- Siwa Oasis
If Alexander the great liked this place, Why wouldn't you? Egypt is not all about monuments and Pharaohs, this place is one where you could loosen up a bit and take a swim in the cool waters in the middle of the desert.

10- Hurgada & Sharm El-Sheikh
Two world ranked resorts also well known for the great coral reefs and scuba diving sports, Here you can swim in the spectacular waters of the red sea, or dance your hips of at the famous bars and discos.

Ancient Egypt Pyramids"New Pyramid Found"

"Image copyrights Yahoo.com 2008"

I heard a rumour on the 10th of November that a new Pyramid was discovered In "Sakkara" area, on the next day the rumour was confirmed by the Egyptian press & media, the BBC, and yahoo news.

Now Egypt has 118 revealed Pyramids and lots more hidden ones, The Egyptian Antiques Chief thought it to belong to the mother of a Pharaoh who ruled more than 4,000 years ago who is said to be Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti, founder of the 6th Dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom.