Zamalek

In a city of towering apartment blocks, Zamalek seems almost like a suburban preserve. It occupies the northern part of Gezira Island (translation: Island Island), and features a lot of architectural styles: Deco, Beaux-Arts, Western-Oriental hybrids. Its streets are pleasantly unpopulated, and if you squint, it can look like small-town America. Should bring the bike here.

A lot of expats and former government officials live in Zamalek, and it's home to many of Cairo's embassies. The Canadian Embassy, in particular, is quite a looker.

This splendid building from the '20s or '30s is also distinguished by its corner store, which sells beer during Ramadan. You can visit ten thousand grocers and not find a cold one during the holy month. Even Drinkies, the Coptic-owned beer delivery service, has unplugged its phone.

We're quite close to the rag-tag city center, but these neo-colonial palaces are a world away.

A quiet tributary to the Nile.

The plant life here is more lush than I expected, and much of it is utterly foreign to me.