10 Taha Hussein

I've had a few requests to post pictures of my parents' house. If you want a little history of the residence, see here.

The front of the house.

Here's a view looking out the front door. Those are cars sitting in traffic beyond the fence. To the right is a guard house. Across the street there is a creperie, a bakery and a sweet shop. I've been wanting to get crepes for breakfast one of these mornings, but Mohammed the cook has kept me hostage. Why eat out when everything at home is divine?

The side yard.

The pool, which is heated! To the left of this photo there is a guest house (you can see it overlooking the pool). So next time my kids start driving me crazy, I'm going to pack my bags and run away.

Looking down the stairs at the entry room.

One of maybe five sitting rooms, too many to keep track of.

The dining room.

All the bedrooms are upstairs as well as a TV area. The kitchen is ginormous and takes up most of the bottom level. There is a smaller family kitchen on the main floor with a little food elevator that brings the food up from downstairs. There's a room for laundry, a room for ironing and a servants' quarters downstairs as well. I was too shy to go down there and take pictures. Maybe once I know the staff a little better.

And now my favorite part of the house...

This stained glass window that greets me every morning. It's HUGE and sits in the atrium of the staircase. I'm glad we decided to leave our balls, bats and frisbees back at home.

So if you were on the fence about coming to Cairo and staying with my parents, hopefully this will convince you. It's like staying in a beautiful hotel but even better because I've got my family around. I don't think I'll be able to leave when the time comes. Thank goodness that's not for another 2.5 weeks!