Date night: Sequoia

At last, a child-free evening, and a chance to enjoy that martini I've been anticipating for weeks.

John and I spent the evening at Sequoia, a restaurant on the Nile serving Middle Eastern cuisine.  It's a special spot. It's atmospheric and catches the north wind, which is a welcome relief on these balmy summer evenings.

We ordered a mezze plate - felafel, hummus, baba ghanoush and bread.  It was delicious, and the perfect way to end a busy day.

I spent much of the morning trying to locate a few shops and galleries that I had read about.  I'm quickly learning that being armed with a street address is not enough.  The street numbering system is idiosyncratic and can't be relied upon to be sequential.  After traipsing up and down various streets and asking for directions I had some success.  I found the Loft Gallery, a mish-mash of antiques and Middle Eastern wares.  The gallery is housed in a spacious 1930s apartment with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.  Every corner of every room is filled with chandeliers, mirrors, chaise lounges, silverware and glassware.  I tried to purchase some vintage champagne glasses, but the asking price was linked to a story about them being owned by an influential Egyptian.  Sadly, it was lost on me and I was reluctant to pay the premium.

On the hunt for the Loft Gallery, I found a few new shops of interest - an art deco antique store, a fair trade market and a rather disappointing organic food store.  There are no shortage of shoe shops, clothes shops, jewellers and patisseries.  There is a patisserie close to our apartment that sells macarons, cheese cakes and a chocolate eclair that John is still talking about.

I ended up at a bookstore that stocks English and Arabic books.  I picked up a few children's books so John can start reading to Finn in Arabic.

I tried to find easy texts, but thought I'd also challenge him with Dr Seuss.  I think he might be using Google Translate for that one.