During the last few days of my visit back home, to Egypt, it was a real treat having my dear nephews (both in their twenties) acting as tour guides/showing my wife and I around.
Both studied architecture and it was, especially, sweet to see how knowledgeable and accommodating they were, given that the last time I had seen them was 12 years ago, when they were mere children!
By way of background, Coptic Cairo is part of Old Cairo and home to beautiful Coptic churches and historical sites. Currently, only around 5% of the population in Muslim-majority Egypt is Christian, but this was not always so.
Coptic Egyptians are, in fact, more connected to the Ancient Egyptians and in Christian tradition, it's believed that the Holy Family visited and stayed at Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church.
Both before and during the Islamic era, Coptic Cairo was a center for Christianity, with most of its churches built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt (7th century).
Come and join us for a small tour:
Even though I was raised Muslim, my wife is Christian and I'm susceptible to the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Catholic mystics.
On the way back home in the evening, I had a spiritual conversation with a Coptic cab driver that brought tears ...
Here I am posing with The Boys in the intricate entrance of one of the churches.
Happy to say that this sort of elaborate woodwork can still be found in modern Egypt:
After this educational and sensory feast, my wife and I were invited to a memorable fish dinner with my former boss --when I worked at the United Nations in Egypt, for nearly a decade.
My former boss, and current friend, was born in Alexandria, by the sea, and took great care in picking the fish himself.
It was truly heart-warming to visit with him, again, after all these years. And being the jovial and affectionate soul he is, he made my wife feel very welcome, too.
If you enjoyed this virtual tour, I think you'll also appreciate My Dinner Boat Down the Nile River in Cairo -- with a Bellydancer
And My Day at the Egyptian Museum--with Mummies