Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Good Day without Parades

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.
Gilbert K. Chesterton


Drinking my wake-up coffee on the balcony this morning, I heard the sounds of chants and drums wafting over the sugar cane from the city. I can't imagine how loud it must have been to be in the center of the parade and I can't imagine how early the folks got up to begin the parade before 7 am! I ventured across the river 45 minutes later and found no sign of the celebration.


So I walked about quiet streets, looking up at the architectural details . . . and the pigeons.


I decided to treat myself to an Egyptian breakfast of a foul (pronounced "fool") and a tameya (known as falafel in Lebanese cooking) sandwich. I've often seen crowds of hungry folk gathered around this shop around 10 am. That's the time of 'second breakfast'; the 'first' having been a cup of tea and a smoke three or four hours earlier.


I was tempted to wait for a fried eggplant sandwich.


I ate my bean sandwiches (one stewed, one fried) in the square overlooking Luxor Temple. Even without the parade, it was an enjoyable morning.

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