Booze in Egypt - a primer

Stepped into another world, the hustle and Bustle of Cairo International and the arab world - first impressions are of glitz and glass and heat - jump in a cab and head for the Om Kolthoom Hotel, an excellent hotel and jolly nice is I say so myself - good choice, in an ideal location. Although the rooms are basic, the service of the staff is five star, straight away Bianca required some medicine for a mosquito bite roght on the big bum of hers and I enquired politely in the lobby and the manager contacted a local chemists got delivery happening with aplomb and within ten minutes I had a fist full of medicine all for a total cost of 1 Euro! Nice one manager guy - you get a big virtual slap on the back for not being a slacker waster. But anyway I have found out about drinking: Although devout Muslims refrain from drinking alcohol, beer, wine, and hard liquor are available in bars, restaurants, and some grocery shops. Imported beer and wine are the most expensive, but the local beer called Stella is a light lager that is quite good, provided it has not sat in the sun too long. It comes in large (about 20 oz.) bottles and is about 4 to 5% alcohol about . Stella Export, available in bars and restaurants, is more expensive (4%), comes in smaller bottles, and is stronger--closer in alcohol content to most Western beers. Marzen, a dark, bock beer, appears briefly during the spring; Aswanli is the dark beer made in Aswan.
Brandy is drinkable only when diluted, and the local rum is not much better. However, zibib, the Egyptian version of Greek ouzo or Mexican anasato, is good either on the rocks or diluted with water (which turns it milky) as a before-dinner cocktail. Other hard liquors are imported and therefore are limited (the ports at Suez and Alexandria seem to have the widest variety) and expensive. If you drink regularly, plan on stocking up at a duty-free store before you enter Egypt. an I do drink regularly so I have stocked up - clever old me eh ? and I have some nice bottles of Brandy, Gin - two very nice bottles of Chateaux Neuf du Pape and assorted mini bottles of god knows what - chin chin my luvva.

Into the Abyss

So, yes, anyway I do have, still a bit of a hangover from last night. And , yes, I did keep on seeing what I thought was Petra all over as I was whiked by a party of new found Jesuit buddies on a whistlestop tour of some of Romes more wicked parties last night. It must have been seven or eight and my stamina was good. I met these guys on the corner as they looked for a flagpole to hoist their weird petard and was then withem all night. There was Frankie, an American from Chicago and Johnnie a guy from Liverpool and James an Irishman who could melt the heart of any female within ten feet. We joked about Reindeer and chatted up countless elder women and the odd male - -even though we could hardly speak a word of the native Italian and got shouted at many times. The evening was rich with humour and I lost my trousers near a fountain. The religous side of my nature never surfaced and there were numerous cats to stroke, dogs to woof at but no traffic cones. I am now going to bed early and am ready for the next days vigour.

A charming man gave me a pipe - and the doctor I met at 3am said I was lucky to still be alive given the amount he guessed I had had to drink. I say the world is lucky - and tomorrow I pack it all in because I am going on a self inflicted resolution frenzy - no drinking ! Well how about that ?

So - here we go - into the abyss - see you on the other side...........