Awareness of the outside world. In local news, School House Rock: Shot Heard Round the World.
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Cairo IRL, Things I Would Do
The Greatest Hits. Pyramids, a cruise on the Nile, and so on. The really, really big tourist attractions are attractions for a reason.
The Cairo sites, the Citadel, famous mosques, and so on.
Take the Cairo of Naguib Mahfouz Walking Tour. Would be cool to see places that I read about.
Visit Diwan book store. Book by one of the founders, Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef (Farrar 2021). Bought book? Are you kidding, of course I bought it. It is dwelling at the top of my TBR pile. Have not started. Needed to switch subjects for class. Will read.
Visit a nilometer. “An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.” Atlas Obscura: Nilometer, Netsky
Overnight in the desert. At an oasis. With a guide. Carrying lots of water. Experience true dark. Feel the extent of the desert. Stare at stars.
Hang with the horse folks. Find out about the horse culture in the area. Who rides? What disciplines? Shows? How is the horsekeeping? And so on. Maybe take a lesson or go on a ride? Because I have such a good record of hopping on strange horses. (Ha!)
US State Dept: Egypt Travel Advisory – Level 3: Reconsider Travel. dated October 15, 2024, cited April 18, 2025.
Cairo Virtual
Pyramids. When I searched on virtual pyramids, anything of interest was swamped by tour guide sites wanting to sell me things. As I understand it, this is pretty much on point for visiting the pyramids IRL.
Watch. The walking tour dude lists six more Cairo walks on his channel, YouTube: Luio Lui. [Taking A Break On A Porch]
Walk. “The Giza Pyramids Virtual Challenge will take you 46mi (75km) through the city of Cairo right to the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” Conquer Challenge: Giza Pyramids Would sign up if I still did virtual medals. Screenshots are fun. [5Ks]
Watch. Rick Steves Cairo. Video of TV show. Blog posts. Video rewatch with commentary. The show is well-shot & hits the high notes, including the mosque mentioned in Palace Walk. More below.
Read. Cairo: The City Victorious by Max Rodenbeck (Knopf 1999). Finished. Excellent, although the date makes the contents more history and less current events.
Fiction. Finding books set in & around the pyramids was easy peasy, even across a variety of genres. Cairo itself, less so.
Coming soon. AUC Press: Virtual Book Talk: “Visualizing Egypt” with Paulina Banas, April 29, 2025. Free.
Coming soon-ish, Road Scholar. Online Lecture: King Tut’s Secrets — Uncovering New Clues Through Technology, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. Free. Reminds me of the Arthurian discovery, BBC: Lost manuscript. [Your Name In Hieroglyphics]
Nota bene. Virtual Cairo is travel advisory level 0. An advantage of virtual over IRL.
Confession
I had dismissed Rick Steves. I saw him as a squeaky little elf who says nice things about places he visits. I was wrong. Or, I was right, but he is more than that as well. I was impressed with the Cairo coverage. In the video, he gently mentions politics. In the blog, he is even more direct. Without ever being less than kind.
He was honest about his safety & those of his listeners/readers. In Cairo, he chose to stay in a fancy hotel, for the fancy security and as a respite from the intensity of the city.
“I sleep at in an international-class hotel. It comes with first-class security. I hope the future will be more relaxed, but for now, I splurge for the peace of mind.” Steves: Egypt’s Cairo > Script
“While I like to think I’m a rugged traveler, to be honest, I’m able to thoroughly enjoy Cairo only because I have the refuge of a towering international-class hotel.” Steves: Party Poolside Back at the Hotel
“I often call Europe ‘the wading pool of world exploration.’ A city like Cairo isn’t the wading pool. It’s the deep end — and someone turned on the jets. If you can swim, the water’s great. But if you’re not quite ready to dive in, follow me here on my blog for some armchair Egyptian adventures.” Steves: Egypt — Something Different for a Change.
He referred to his high-end hotel as “rich-world.” As in, “If you want rich-world comfort, you’ll pay rich-world prices.” I love that phrasing. It is more accurate, less colonial, and less pejorative than First/Third world. Steves: Egypt’s Cairo > Script
I will be watching more Rick Steves videos.
No links to the company. No deals. Simply excited about this & wanted to tell you.
Coda
Current online class, UC Graham: From Istanbul to Cairo: The City in the Historical Novels of the Middle East.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Enjoyed the historical video of the The Shot Heard ‘Round the World. I hope you get to Giza some day. MM
Schoolhouse Rock was awesome! Amazing how the words come back so easily.