Next stop for the Pharaohs

Cairo, Egypt Today we began our adventures at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The premise of this museum is to trace the entire history of Egypt from its earliest time to the present, with a major, but not exclusive, focus on the Dynastic era of Egyptian history, but not to overlook the origins of Muslim Egypt onto today.

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Welcome to Egypt

Cairo, Egypt If American tourists’ only exposure to Egypt was the Cairo airport, there wouldn’t be any rush to visit. Chaos abounds, and signage is minimal. Though English is generously used, clear directions are rare. It took two hours to get an Egyptian visa (recommended to buy at the airport), survive passport control, get luggage and try to find our pre-arranged driver — who never showed.

And then there are the cab hustlers who make brethren in India look calm as they attach like leeches to your arm. Thank goodness we were only coming off a five-hour flight from one time zone away. International travelers who flew for 10+ hours and across six time zones must really get the shakes.

In any event, we ultimately got to our hotel by midnight, and checked into our lovely room, overlooking the Nile.

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The birth of Modernism

Madrid, Spain The target for our last day was the Reina Sofia, the national museum of 20th century art.

Among the Spanish artists of the early 20th century in the museum are many of the greats. Picasso, Gris, Miro, Dali, just to name a few, all grew up during a time of great political turmoil here, beginning with the Spanish Civil War, leading into World War II and then into the Franco regime. 

Fascism was the ideological power of the day, dramatically promoted by the press and opposed by many artists.

This is the rightful home of Picasso’s Guernica, the most famous manifestation of the resistance and the centerpiece of the museum. It is truly breathtaking.

Whether or not these artists were lobbying for political change, they were evolving artistic expression in new directions. 

The collection is stunning in its dramatization of a time and a place where turmoil and creativity merged together.

There was also a bit out turmoil outside the museum. Huge demonstrations regarding housing yesterday, and today the topic was support for Palestine. Very passionate crowds.

For a bit of calm, we went to lunch and then the nearby Botanical Gardens. Restful.

A brief afternoon respite, and then we’ll have a farewell dinner with our friends. We’ll have to return to Madrid in the near future to see more of this beautiful city. But for now, we need to pack up and get ready for our travel day to Egypt tomorrow. Next stop, Cairo.

Don’s Food Corner

With the protest march limiting access to many restaurant choices, we lucked out finding a quasi-French place off the main street. But in an isn’t-it-a-small-world encounter, a couple overhearing us mentioning Ohio as our place of origin jumped in and wanted to know WHERE in Ohio, since they too were from Ohio. Not only had they lived in Cleveland (where I grew up) and Cincinnati (where Jo spent her formative years), they also graduated from the same university we went to (Miami University in Oxford, Ohio). We simply cannot escape this. They seemed like acceptable people but we didn’t linger to find out.

The meal itself was acceptable as well. June, Alan and I all ordered Nicose salad. Not exactly as they make it in the south of France. But it featured fresh tuna (not canned). I was actually surprised that the Spanish didn’t try to sneak in some of their ham to make it more local.

Jo had a bowl of pumpkin soup, which she thought hit the spot. It was followed by a serving of chicken salad, which included raisins, nuts and bound together in a curry mayonaise and served with banana bread. The waiter warned that it was “sweet.” It was a cross between a Waldorf salad and Coronation chicken salad.

To our surprise, one Brit at the table claimed to have never heard of Coronation chicken. For their edification, and perhaps yours, Coronation chicken was invented to be part of the banquet buffet for the coronation of Elizabeth II. It is often found on menus throughout the U.K. and is usually a feature of one of the little sandwiches on trays for formal afternoon teas (at “better” establishments). Our Brit friends could be excused familiarity with this quintessential Britsh dish because they are not royalists. But it was like encountering an American who never heard of Sloppy Joes.

The Conquistadors

Madrid, Spain We started our day at the Museum of the Americas, commemorating Spain’s dramatic colonization history, and the reason Spanish is the world’s most spoken language.

There were several ways the story could have been presented. I was curious to see if there was any sense of apology for the destruction of whole civilizations and the brutal imposition of Christianity on indigenous populations.

Spoiler alert: No.

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Madrid from the bus

Madrid, Spain We had an odd start to our trip to Spain. Our flight left New York at 4:30 in the afternoon, and arrived in Madrid at 5am. Calculate the six hour time difference and you realize we got here before midnight in New York. Hey – when were we supposed to sleep? I have to admit we were still wide awake, which is unusual when arriving in Europe.

We got to our hotel hours too early, but we had a plan. After storing our luggage and having breakfast, we headed for Hop-On bus tours, using the minumum amount of energy and consuming the maximum amount of time.

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It’s time for Tut

New York, NY It’s been our goal for several years to tour Egypt. But the people who built the pyramids were not as driven, it appeared, to complete the eagerly awaited new Grand Egyptian Museum on schedule. There have been many cancelled opening dates, but this massive edifice is now well and truly open.

It is considered spectacular. For the first time, key artifacts of each dynasty are properly displayed in their historical contexts, and — drum roll, please — King Tut’s riches have a proper home.

We are stopping in Madrid on our way, to break up a long trip and to rendezvous with friends June and Alan. Then it’s off to Cairo, as we plunge deep into our most ancient civilization yet.

Get ready!

It’s all happening at the zoo

The Bronx, New York Simon and Garfunkel had it right. Recently we spent a perfect-weather day at our amazing local zoo, considered one of the best in the world.

Even though it has rightly earned that title, due to its careful conservation and stewardship of the animals under its care, it’s getting a bit harder to see zoos as necessary and appropriate.

However, habitats for the animals have improved greatly over the years, making good zoos worthy of respect. Ours is in a beautiful setting, next to the Bronx River, with wonderful landscaping and mature plantings making it seem just a little bit wild at at times.

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