All posts in Egypt

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VIII

By | November 28, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VIII

By Islam El Shazly

Egyptian builders over the ages were very ambitious; and their patrons were even more so. Only in recent years has the grandiose gone away and got replaced by mediocre concrete construction attempting to mimic some of the European and North American architecture, with few exceptions of real architectural marvels.

From the early builders Djoser and Imhotep to the Khedive Ismail, they all left monuments as a testament to their vision, some visions were more attainable than others, and some put the country in debt. However their monuments remain as a reminder of the  sheer willpower and imagination they had. And maybe a little bit of ego! Read more…

OPULENT: THE TOP 11 BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN EGYPT

By | November 27, 2012 | Egypt, Reviews, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on OPULENT: THE TOP 11 BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN EGYPT

By Islam El Shazly

Back in the early 20th century and the late 19th century travelling was a more relaxed affair; because of the nature of travel at the time which was predominantly by either trains or ships, people were away from their homes for months at a time, and that called for a different kind of hotel.

The extended nature of the stay meant that only the well to do and the wealthy could travel for any sustained period of time, and hotels became a sort of a home away from home. Hotels of the day defined luxury, unlike most fancy hotels of today that are mostly glitz and glamour, those ones were truly palatial and decadent. Read more…

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VII

By | November 14, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VII

 

By Islam El Shazly

A picture is worth a 1000 words, even more so when they are from this calibre, then they really become a a window to the past, they provide moments in time that are now lost. In a sense like the great art of the ancient world, left for us by master artisans, on walls of temples and villas, they might not be as intricate but they are still every inch fascinating.

Read more…

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VI

By | November 7, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK VI

 

By Islam El Shazly

What started out as just a nostalgic post about the beauty of Egypt and the sights that are for the most part gone from our lives – some buried under the waters of Lake Nasser and some abroad! – has turned into musings about what could have been and what could be.

The fact is, these amazing, almost magical, stills of a time gone by awakened a sense of belonging Read more…

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK V

By | October 31, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK V

 

By Islam El Shazly

Looking at the state of affairs in modern day Egypt makes me wonder: have we totally lost our innocence and simplicity?

Over the last 7,000 years Egypt has seen her fair share of pretty much everything, from natural disasters to human wrought disasters and multitude of invasions and occupations. However, we’ve always to learn from them, adapt, then advance further. All while still maintaining the simplicity that was characteristic of the Egyptian. So the question should rather be: what went wrong in the last 60 to 200 years? When did that dramatic shift in the Egyptian persona happen?

Read more…

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK IV

By | October 24, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | 4 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

Peering back into history to find the beauty of a time gone by is a very delicate affair, an affair that if not done with a sensitive eye and an attentive heart, could end up being a very short lived fling.

As Agatha Christie put it:

Read more…

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK III

By | October 17, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK III

By Islam El Shazly

Driving through one of the many older neighbourhoods in Egypt one can feel very small, if only you can turn off your eyes whenever you see modern ugly concrete monstrosities. A lot of our architectural heritage almost went the way of the Dodo, a lot of the early twentieth century villas and mansions that used to dot the banks of the Nile from Aswan to the Delta almost vanished because of greed and lack of visionary planning, same as marvels that were built tens and hundreds of years earlier. Alhamdulillah, some people paid attention, and did all they could to save what they could for future generations. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK II

By | October 10, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK II

By Islam El Shazly

Last week I took creative liberties with the quote about nostalgia, the proper quote is more like this “nostalgia is a seductive liar“, and that is probably down to the fact that as time slips by and we get older, our memory becomes a bit skewed. we are predisposed to readily remember the good and selectively forget the bad. So driving past one’s old stomping grounds one remembers every tree they climbed, every nook they hid in while playing hide-and-seek, and where they played on for hours on their bicycle, while keeping at bay the memories of bad moments, or painful experiences, Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA – LANTERN SLIDES

By | October 3, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA – LANTERN SLIDES

By Islam El Shazly

I have always been told that nostalgia is a seductive mistress, which is very much true, too much dwelling on what has been, and what might have become had it stayed the same, can lead to a lot of misery, frustration, and a bit of stagnation in creativity.

However, it is one of the very few things that we share as humans, and we don’t share much really. Reminiscing about the glory of the past, the architecture and the arts, the culture and the might. There’s a certain romance to it, and that’s not too bad, because if used properly, it can fuel future grand designs in all aspects of life. Read more…

SAILING THE NILE: LUXOR TO ASWAN

By | August 22, 2012 | Egypt, Travel + Leisure, Travel Chronicles | Comments Off on SAILING THE NILE: LUXOR TO ASWAN

By Islam El Shazly

Back in 2009, before I started Al Rahalah, my wife and I went on a Nile cruise courtesy of Radamis Travel*. It was on one of their two cruise ships: Radamis II, back then it was operated by the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, and on the top 10 list of Nile cruises in the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide: Cairo and the Nile. It is now operated by Swiss Inn Hotels & Resorts.

Before then I had only been to Aswan once for a quick two day trip; my wife on the other hand had never been anywhere south of Cairo. This proved to be one of those experiences that you never forget. In a great kind of way! Read more…