We started off early, with Indian food for lunch, and then took the light rail to the airport. It wasn't my usual paranoia that got us there so early- apparently British Airways closes the bag drop two hours before boarding time. Of course, that doesn't explain why we got there over four hours early, but I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. We got a bottle of wine at a wine bar in the airport and sat for a while- it felt more like a mall than an airport by then- and then got on the 9 hour flight to Heathrow. We had pretty good seats in the third class section, which was between business class and coach, with a little extended leg room and free wine with the meal. I had two airline bottles, mostly to help myself sleep, and I managed at least a little bit. I also watched X-Men First Class, mostly because I'd seen all the other mindless superhero movies they offered already.
Heathrow was the strangest airport I've ever seen. It was a gigantic duty-free mall, with counters of perfume, hard liquor and cigarettes everywhere I looked. In between them were currency exchanges, drug stores, and specialty shops for things like designer shoes and sunglasses. It felt less like a mall and more like a small city. We had a fairly long layover, but were too tired to even think about shopping, and I was pretty miserable with sinus problems. The last few times I've been on planes, I've lost hearing in one of my ears for about two hours afterwards, which is unsettling. Then we got on the flight to Cairo, again in the third class (though on this flight, the first class was on the same level as the rest of the plane, instead of upstairs.)
When we landed in Cairo, I was missing half my hearing again. We disembarked on the jetway, and then Hassan, an agent from the tour company met us at the airport. He was very polite, and helped us get our bags and clear customs. He narrated a tour of Cairo as we drove from the airport, though I don't have a clue what he said. I was too busy looking out the window.
In many ways, Cairo looked like Florida at first- it had so many billboards and advertisements on the highway, palm trees wrapped in lights, and a similar feeling to the air. Well, it looked like Florida until it became obvious that most of the signage was in Arabic, there was the occasional statue of a stylized Pharaoh or Sphinx on the highway dividers, and of course the domed roofs and minarets on the mosques.
Our bags had to go through a metal detector at the hotel, and then we were led up to our rooms. The hotel was lavishly decorated- everywhere there were mirrors and alcoves with pottery, bowls of flowers floating in water, and things painted gold. I suppose that isn't unusual for a Four Seasons, but it felt a little dizzying at first. I started to explore my hotel room, and when I tried to turn on a light in the bathroom, a small explosion went off in a light fixture and all the lights were gone.
I groped my way back to the door, found my key, and was surprised to see that all the lights in the hallway were still on. My dad called the desk for me, and they sent someone up to look- and I'd inadvertently blown a fuse and caused a lightbulb to explode. I sat in my parent's room until they cleaned up the glass and fixed it. By then, I was too tired to do anything but fall into bed.
