Part cocktail bar, part restaurant, La Bodega has
since its opening eight years ago, become part of the Cairo social scene. Especially popular with the ex-pat community. it's is a great place for people watching.

A new menu is being prepared for the opening of
the revamped Aperitif Bar.

157, 26th July Street, Zamalek , Cairo
tel 2735 0543

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Ibn Tulun Mosque is the oldest mosque in Egypt and one of the oldest in the world (approx 1200 years old), most notable for its minaret based on the famous one at Saqqara. It's eerily deserted, something I did not expect, and is off the beaten track for tourists (though I went in July) - a must see.

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You'll be lucky if you ever get into a taxi in Cairo that has a working meter. The meters were calibrated years ago when petrol was much cheaper, and so now everyone has to guess the price of a journey.
A good rule of thumb is about 1LE for each minute of your journey. We've been living here for four months now and haven't been shouted at by irate taxi drivers since using this rough rule.

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On a visit to Cairo, as well as the usual tourist places, take a trip to Heliopolis, a suburb to the north-east of the city. It was built in the early 20th Century by a Belgian and hence has some fantastic European-style architecture (and his own palace, which is a wonderful Taj Mahal-esque structure). Within the district is the centre of Heliopolis, El Korba, whose Bagdhad Street has some amazing colonnade type arches running along in front of the shops; you could almost be in Venice's St Mark's Square! (or somewhere similar..)

Helipolis has a large, wealthy Christian community of a range of different denominations, something you will notice by the proliferation of churches there. It has a nice feel to it with a number of cafes, bars and one of the British club's branches is here. One of the two British Council offices is also in Heliopolis which means there is a small-ish community of British teachers in the area too.

Pop up there and spend half a day especially if you're interested in architecture, churches and an alternative tourist experience. The Presidential Palace and a number of official government buildings are in Heliopolis as well, should you be interested in that.

Just mention Heliopolis (Arabic: Masr Gadida) to any taxi driver, they will know it. It should take about 20 mins from Downtown, much longer at busy times.

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