January 16, 2026

Aswan, Egypt > Cairo, Egypt

A travel day with some touring. This morning, we are up and at breakfast at 06:00. We have a 06:30 pickup from the boat to take us to the airport, where is all goes well we will board Egyptian Air 95 for Cairo at 08:25. No upgrades just economy class. It is an hour-and-half flight so no reason to upgrade. The Kensington field coordinator arrived just after it had gone 06:30.

He took us up to the waiting van, which then took us to the airport. It actually took about forty minutes to get to the airport, despite it being a Friday which is the first day of the weekend in the Muslim world. Not much traffic, but there was still some.

At the airport we are greeted by the airport assistant who helped get us through security and obtain our boarding passes. He left us on the way to our gate. We managed to get to our gate and on the plane all by ourselves. Although the boarding process was a little bit chaotic, we still managed to get on board and seated without any problem.

We arrived at the Cairo airport just before it had gone 10:00. We were met by an airport assistant who walked us through security and took us to baggage claim. He then walked us out to the waiting car and the the Cairo field coordinator who with our driver took us to the Fairmont Nile City. This hotel is much nicer than the Four Seasons.

Our guide Ahmed was supposed to meet us at noon in the lobby. Unfortunately, he thought we were going back to the Four Seasons.So accordingly he went to the wrong hotel. It got all straightened out in the end. By the time he got there we were ready for lunch. So, the first part of the tour this afternoon was a trip to a restaurant. Even though it was just across the Nile from the hotel there was no direct route, so it took about a half hour to get there.

Lunch was very nice and quite filling. After lunch we started the Coptic Egypt Tour. In the heart of old Cairo we saw the ruins of a Roman fortress. We visit the hanging church built between the two towers of the Roman fortress. Hanging because it “hangs” between the two towers. It is ground level now, so most difficult to tell. It is famous for its unique architecture, including a wooden ceiling which is built like the hull of a boat (they refer to it as a wooden ceiling like Noah’s Ark). It has a beautiful marble pulpit, and lots of intricate icons around the wall of the church. It is also the historical seat of the Coptic Patriarch for centuries.

Ahmed went to to lecture us about the break between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Church of Rome. This took place in 451 AD at the Council of Chalcedon. Honestly it was a matter of semantics. Was Jesus two parts – one divine and the other human, or was he both divine and human. It is a theological dispute and the Coptics believed in one nature, both devine and human (miaphysitism). The second break happened 600 years later in 1054 when Eastern Orthodoxy separated from Rome. This split had to do with papal authority and politics.

There were other theological disputes. Rome added “and the Son” to the Nicene Creed, which the Eastern church viewed as heresy. There were disagreements over using unleavened vs. Leavened break for communion. The concept of clerical celibacy was another piece of the problem. The west said absolutely, no exceptions, the east was more liberal.

We then visited the Cavern Church or Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Saints Sergius and Bacchus were early Christian martyrs, high-ranking Roman soldiers in the late 3rd century, revered for their deep bond and refusal to sacrifice to pagan gods, leading to their torture and execution, with Bacchus dying from severe beating and Sergius being beheaded; they became popular military saints and are honored in both Eastern and Western churches, with their story often interpreted as a significant early example of same-sex love in Christianity. 

What, say what? Not that the church would ever acknowledge it, but they may have been gay. Early texts refer to them as erastai (lovers). Their intense devotion to each other made them symbols of loyalty, sacrifice and divine love. How could this be true? Who knows if it is, but they were punished by being forced to wear women's clothing and then they were paraded through the streets. Due to their intimate bond and martyrdom as a pair, they are also seen as patrons or icons within the LGBTQ+ Christian community.

Please note this is not the only church built to honor them. Rome as Santi Sergio e Bacco. Syria has one as well. And this church in Cairo was built in the 4th or 5th century probably before the initial split between east and west. In theory the church is built over the crypt where the Holy Family sheltered around 4 before the birth of Christ (BCE). That doesn’t make much sense because how could Jesus have sheltered here before he was born. Ok, modern scholars believe the Jesus was born in 5 BCE, not on year 1.

This has to do with the timing of King Herod’s decree to kill the male infants. In theory, they stayed in Egypt for roughly three years until after the death of King Herod. Like most holy relics there is plenty of room for reasonable doubt. Having a holy relic meant having pilgrims, which in turn meant having money. Here it is claimed you can visit the cave to see the spot where the Holy Family rested, a well they drank from, and stones they walked on. Maybe, maybe not, but please leave an offering at the door for good luck.

Our next stop on the tour of Coptic Egypt was the Ben Ezra Synagogue.  Its not really even at old. The current building dates from the 1890s. There have been many major and minor renovations over its long history. Speaking of relics, and continuing to follow the money, in a courtyard behind the synagogue is the Well of Moses. This is where the Moses, as an infant, was hidden by his mother Jocheved, and watched over by his sister Miriam, until found and adopted by the Pharoah's daughter. Although we were told on one of the earlier tours that it was near Luxor thatMoses was found. That’s  only several hundred kilometers from Cairo. Hey, we don’t want this to be a Jewish relic only so this is where Mary drew water to bathe the infant Jesus.

It was now time to go visit the Khan el-Khalil Bazaar. Khan el-Khalili is a famous bazaar in the historic center of Cairo. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era (mid-13th to early 16th centuries) and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, (caravanserai caravansary was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and caravans) the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. It is now a large, semi-open-air market home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs. The name Khan el-Khalili historically referred to a single building in the area; today it refers to the entire shopping district.

We were supposed to have dinner at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant and Naguib Mahfouz Coffee Shop. Named after the esteemed Egyptian writer, and first Arabic writer to receive a Nobel Prize, Naguib Mahfouz, this establishment has been serving guests since 1989. Ahmed tried to suggest that it was in this coffee house that the book “The Children of the Alley” was written. It was intriguing enough to make me buy a copy of the book.

The problem was that it hadn’t even gone 17:00 yet. We weren’t hungry after the big lunch. The bigger problem is dinner service doesn’t start here until 18:30. So, we sat and had a cup of tea while the restaurant put together a to go order for Ahmed to take home. After all dinner was paid for, someone should benefit. Once we had the to go order we headed to the meeting point just outside the bazaar. It took about a half hour or so for the driver to show up to take us back to the hotel.

It had been a long day, and we were just about done. We got back to the hotel and went to our rooms. The rooms here have a nice bathtub, so it was a nice soak for me. After that it was a little reading for my new book, then off to bed. We have our flight to Amman at 08:40 so it means another 06:00 pickup.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria