Aug 19, 2008
Midaq Alley.
I found Midaq Alley.
I had a map, but even so I walked down the main street twice without seeing the tiny side street I needed to turn into to get there. After asking around and being told, more than once, that I'd just passed it, one guy actually got up and led me into it.
We walked a few feet down that street and then he pointed down this alley and said, "Midaq Alley."
There was a boarded up cafe to the right, which they called the "Naguib Mahfouz cafe." This is confusing, though, because there's a cafe in a different part of Cairo called "The Naguib Mafouz Cafe" (as in: that's its official name) and another one, in a still different part of Cairo, that is referred to informally as "the Naguib Mahfouz cafe" because he used to go there every morning to write.
This isn't either one of those; I assume it's called that because it's one he described in his novels. That building on the left is also boarded up.
Back out on the side street, there was a man loading stuff into his shop. When he saw me with my camera he insisted I take his picture. "Egyptians!" he shouted. "Strong!" Everyone in the street cheered.
M
