Egypt for a wedding and New Year's - Cairo

Hi Everyone,

We are winding up our time in Cairo which has been nothing short of amazing! We started our trip out right with a day lay over in Amsterdam where we got to do a whirlwind tour of all our favorite spots/activities which was perfect because we had both been there before.

Before I give you a step by step let's get to the good stuff- BLING BLING BLING- the wedding- this wedding was a four day extravaganza- step over Vegas- you have nothing on a Cairo wedding with a New Years Eve party, a Persian wedding (an intimate gathering in the groom's house in Cairo which was really fun), a Henna party and a wedding- at the henna party the women get together and get painted with henna- this party was originally suppose to serve the purpose of telling the virgin bride what to expect on her wedding night but has evolved into a combination Egyptian coming out party/Vegas show- for some reason the bride did a fashion show during this party where instead of wearing a veil covered in condoms she came out every ten minutes in outfits brought by the Henna painter including a belly dancing outfit, a flamenco dancer costume and my personal favorite- a Hawaiian hula skirt with coconut boobs (how the tradition of the Henna party evolved from a night explaining how to lose your virginity to the bride to be making an appearance in a set of coco boobs is really beyond me but it did make for some good photo opps

Now the real good stuff- the wedding was like nothing I have ever seen before in my life- it was the most over the top event you can imagine. I swear no Hollywood wedding you ever read about in US weekly is going to top this. How do I explain the "Egyptian Wedding"- first let's go through the highlights:

1) walking into a ballroom with a camera crew with enough people to shoot a music video- we are talking 5 regular camera guys (like point and shoot cameras)- and just about six video camera people- including two guys walking around with video cameras and another video camera that is on what looks like a construction site mechanism so it can get the overhead birds eye view shots- I kid you not

2) a laser "Cake Show"- where they uncover the wedding cake from behind a bamboo wall and then shoot laser beams on it while they blast the music- oh yeah and the cake is never actually even eaten until the next day so that you can enjoy the beauty of the cake for the entire wedding

3) a band the size of the gospel choir that serenades the bride and groom for half an hour banging their intstruments as they walk into the ballroom

4) enough food to feed a small army

5) an entire crew of people from Egypt's most prestigous society magazine (including their own camera crew)

6) an appearance by none other than Egypt's version of Justin Timberlake (I knew he was legit when he played a song that I actually recognized from being here for a few days)

7) a cat walk (like the ones they have in fashion shows)-

8) a stage

So basically the wedding goes something like this- the bride and groom walk in after the band plays- walk the cat walk, then go sit down on the stage where laser beams surround them, then people come up to them (everyone in the freakin wedding- all 400 people) and shake their hand and take a photo with them, then everyone stays up until 6am dancing.... whoever said that New York is the city that never sleeps should come to Cairo- I mean I thought the Spainards eat late (around 9 or 10) but the Egyptians don't eat dinner until midnight or 1am- crazy!

You can see how these weddings could be as tacky as a show at Circus Circus in Vegas but because this one was in the Four Seasons and the flowers were so amazing and it was done tastefully it was just over the top without being tacky...

The wedding was SOOOOOO much fun though and it was such a small world that I even met an Egyptian guy from Cairo who is going to Harvard Business School with Kamani! Random!

It was so fun to see my friend Yalda (who I knew since Kindergarden get married- she looked so radiant and so beautiful and it was so much fun)!!

Let's back track...

We arrived in Egypt and got into a car sent by our hotel only to find out that three Saudi princes were also staying here- they actually have a palace right next door (literally) but prefer to stay at the Four Seasons and then get their food made by their personal chefs at the palace and then shipped over here. Hot! And let me tell you the people in this hotel have been hot....

Egypt is such a wierd mixture of some of the most conservative people in the world and some of the flashiest. In fact our hotel is filled to capacity (mostly with Middle Eastern tourists)- a lot of whom are from Saudi Arabia and supposedly the women cover up completely in Berkas (is that how you spell it) in Saudi but as soon as they step foot in this hotel they really let their hair down- literally- I have never seen so much bling in my life!!! These women are decked out in all gold we are talking gold earrings, belts, necklaces and diamonds all over their fingers- I got in the elevator the other day and almost got knocked over by this large woman's earrings that were literally the size of my fist- and they were also just smoothered in perfume. Awesome!

We have really been having an amazing time here- have not gotten sick at all and feel 100% safe- Cairo is a way safer city than people make it out to be-----

We have seen so many incredible sights- including the Egyptian Museum (which has now become my favorite museum ever)- although just like everything else here it's a little crazy- so this museum is basically filled to the brim with 150 thousand artifacts, only ten of which are labeled and most of whom are just sitting out so that you can touch them if you want- we got a guide to explain everything to us- the highlights were the King Tut stuff (everything from his tomb- the only one ever found 100 percent intact), animal mummies, etc....

And the pyramids were amazing!!! We took a camel ride through the Sahara and around the pyramids which was so cool!!! I even got the quintessential Egyptian experience when a four foot tall seventeen year old Egyptian man who looked like he was nine offered to buy me from Brett for 1 million camels (in the guide books I read that they usually offered 10 or 100 so you can imagine I was feeling like I was having a pretty good hair day that day)...

What else- the bazaar here is the largest in the Middle East and really fun to go to and roam around, plus stopping for some Turkish coffee and Sheesha (hooka) is pretty relaxing as well!!!

We got the coolest cab driver the other day that made us laugh for hours- he has 7 kids but wants 12 which he says is not too many.. he spent the whole ride talking about his wife and how she is covered and how great she is.... and how much he loves her red lipstick and how they dance together in their house in Luxor- he was so precious!

Today we are going back to the market then we will be taking a sunset cruise on the Nile (which we can see from our bedroom)- it's beautiful!!!

Okay, time to go....