January 9, 2026

Amman, Jordan > Cairo, Egypt

Travel Day. Fun Fact Time! What was the first city to be called the city of ‘brotherly love”? Turns it was Amman! In the 3rd century BCE, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Greek ruler of Egypt, conquered Amman (then called Rabbath Ammon). After doing so he renamed the city Philadelphia or “brotherly love” after himself. The idea was to solidify his control over the area and to “Hellenize” it. It remained known as Philadelphia until the 7th century when Arab Muslim armies conquered the region, at which time it reverted to Amman or Ammon. It is recorded that William Penn drew inspiration from Philadelphia (Amman) in Asia Minor.

It is an easy travel day. Our flight isn’t until 12:35. We need to be in the lobby to meet Khalil at 10:30. Since it is the weekend here in Amman, they celebrate the weekend on Friday and Saturday, the work week is Sunday through Thursday, Khalil believes traffic will be very light. The Itinerary says 09:00 to leave for the airport, but we are going with Khalil.

Harry V didn’t join us for breakfast. Mary ordered something off the regular menu and it took forever to get it. At one point we thought we might have to leave without actually seeing what it was or having the opportunity to taste it. It was simply poached eggs on toast with some greens. We had our cappuccini and brioche and come fruit, before her eggs arrived.

The interior of the breakfast room at the Fairmont.

We were back upstairs in the room getting our things by 10:00 and in the lobby by 10:15. Khalil was right one time and met us in the lobby just before it had gone 10:30. Harry V joined us about the same time. It is raining and cold. It was 12°C or about 54°F, cold but not freezing. It will be warmer in Egypt when we get there in a few hours.

Our luggage assistance met us at the curb, took our bags and helped us check-in. The process was very easy. We are not sure if we were getting special treatment from the tour people, including special check-in lines or what, but it was a lot less complicated than anywhere else so far. The airport did do a bag screening even before entering the airport.

Once we checked in headed to the normal passport control line, and then “personal” screening, like at US airports. We presented our papers at passport control and flew right through. Then we stood in a quickly moving line to do an additional screening of the carry-on bags and ourselves. It was all very efficient and well run.

From there is was the usual gauntlet of duty free stores and off to the gate. We got tot he gate and waited just a few minutes before boarding began. They start the boarding an hour before the flights here; the same was true in Milano for Royal Jordanian. It is unclear why they take so much time to board, normally it is like thirty minutes. However, they got everyone on board and we actually departed the gate a few minutes before the scheduled time of 12:35.

It is a short hour-and-a-half flight from Amman to Cairo. We also gain an hour due to time change, so on paper it looks like a thirty minute flight. The flight was completely uneventful. We sat in economy because it is such a short flight and the seats were very comfortable and larger than American commercial carriers. They even served us a meal consisting of some ground meat on a roll, apple juice, water and Knafeh; a traditional Arab dessert made with kadayif, a spun pastry dough, layered with cheese and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar. Attar is much like honey only a little bit watery. It was actually very good. The meat on the bread was maybe a little tasteless, but still fine.

We landed and quickly were found by Ahmed, the Kensington representative, who took us through the passport control and stood with us while we waited for our luggage. There was some confusion about the Egyptian visa. We had applied for and received an e-visa from Egypt and the Kensington agent thought he was supposed to by them for us. So, it was a good mix up and we got though passport control sooner.

He then walked us out to the car which was waiting to take us to out hotel. Ahmed is the Kensington Representative here in Cairo. He rode into town with us, along with Ahmed our driver. We have been in Egypt for all of an hour and met three people all of whom are named Ahmed.

We were taken directly to the Four Seasons Hotel at First Residence in Giza. Just to be clear, there is an East and West Bank of the Nile. Yes, the Nile actually runs from he mountains in the south to Mediterranean in the north. The east side of the Nile is the Cairo Governorate and the New Cairo City. The south side of the river is the Giza Governorate. On the maps it is generally, or simply, referred to as Cairo.

Cairo Governorate has about ten million people. The greater Cairo Metropolitan area has about twenty-five million people. This makes the metropolitan area Africa’s largest city. Yes, Cairo is on the African continent. Just like Amman is on the Asian continent. Staying here in Egypt makes my country count 83 and Mary’s 75. Harry V now has five of the seven continents; missing Oceania and Antarctica.

According to google this hotel was built in 2000, and refurbished in 2017. It is an elegant hotel, for sure, but it does seem a bit dated for something completed  2000. This is the same hotel Mike and Maddy were at on their honeymoon in 2010. Depending on where your room is located in the hotel you can look out at the Nile and from some rooms it is reported you can even see the pyramids. The other side of the hotel offered views of the city and the Ancient Zoological and Botanical Gardens; currently undergoing a renovation.  

The location boasts a stellar location. You have the Nile, a built in mall for shopping, spa, several restaurants and you are near the Cairo Opera House and Cairo Tower, and, of course, the Giza Zoo. Now pulling up to the front entrance of the hotel you might get a little worried by the barricade and guards. Don’t let the fact the are using mirrors to look under your car, or open the trunk. It is perfectly safe, once you get through the airport like scanning machine and into the hotel. From all of this one might conclude that it isn’t safe to walk around Cairo. It is often good to go with your instincts; this would probably be one of those times.

We have rooms on the 7th floor. Ours is overlooking the Nile, although we can’t see the pyramids from our room. Harry V over looks the zoological garden. Our rooms are “Deluxe Rooms” according to thier website. Each one is about 45 m2 (approximately  500 ft2). So large enough for a comfortable chair and a desk, as well as a bed. The bathroom is nice with both a tub and a shower.

 The view from our room.

We unpack and get comfortable, then decide to head down to the “mall” and see what restaurants are available. There is a guard at the entrance to the mall, but since we “exited” from the hotel he just waved us on. On the main floor of the mall is La Gourmandise. It was right in front of us, and we were too tired to look beyond it for other options.

We each chose two dishes. I started with the Chicken and Mushroom soup (Poached Chicken, Mushrooms, Crispy Olives, Focaccia Croutons, Basil Oil), Mary got the French Onion soup (Gratinated Cheese, Croutons) and V chose the Classical Bouillabaisse (Assorted Seafood, Tomato Stock). As our main dishes I went with the Veal Piccata (Mashed Potatoes, Mushroom Sauce, Sautéed Vegetables). Mary chose the Veal Milanese (Breaded Veal, Buffalo Cheese, Spaghetti, Tomato Sauce; so ok who in the heck put buffalo mozzarella on top of a piece of breaded veal and then topped that off with tomato sauce and had the nerve to call it Milanese?). V ordered the Braise Lamb Shank (Buttered Mashed Potatoes, Plum Jam, Cinnamon Lamb Jus).

My soup.

My veal

Mary’s veal

V’s lamb shank

A photo of the mall from our seats.

The soups were all really good, just very big bowls full. We could easily have stopped there and been satisfied. The veal piccata had the proper flavor, but the veal was very thick and not pounded out, like you would normally expect in a veal piccata. The veal milanese just wasn’t. The cheese and tomato sauce on the veal turned it into something else. V’s braised lamb looked really good. The butter mashed potatoes looked a lot more like basmati rice than mashed potatoes, oh that is because it was. Other than that is was reported as good.

After dinner we headed back to our rooms. Ali’s father apparently decided to meet in Roma, and not Bologna, when V got back. So, I got on phone with Royal Jordanian Airways, and I was able to change his ticket back to Milan to one going to Roma. Fortunately, it departs Amman at the same time as our flight, so now problem getting all of us to the airport.  We stayed awake as long as we could. But all of us were basically asleep by 21:00.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria