El Andalous - Coffee Machine Tales

El Andalous - Front Entrance

I wrote in one of my early blogs that I no longer drink coffee. That is no longer true. After I’d adapted, I returned to coffee drinking, although, admittedly, not as much as I used to. I generally have two cups a day now – one in the morning, and one when I get back from my afternoon swim. On occasion, I may have a cup at lunch, too.

However, I think life is trying to tell me to quit the habit, as I’ve managed to break four coffee machines so far this year. Admittedly, about 50% of the time, it’s been my fault.

The first one broke of old age (better it than me!). It kept on fusing each time I used it, so I gave up and threw it away. I bought a new one in Spinneys – Black and Decker. It was quite large and looked impressive. Mechanically, it was perfect. Unfortunately, I broke the carafe within the first month. It’s been a long time since I’ve been that annoyed with myself.

I spent some time looking to replace the carafe, but even on amazon or on ebay, and ignoring the delivery difficulties, it was going to cost more to buy a jug than to buy a new machine altogether.

For a while, I continued to use the machine by manually pressing the button that releases the coffee into the receptacle with a spoon and then placing a pyrex dish on the warming plate to collect the coffee. Once completed, I would transfer the coffee into a large plastic container with a pouring rim, and then I’d pour it from that into my coffee cup. It was rather a faff. Eventually, I had to face facts. I needed to purchase a new machine.

So, I bought my third machine on souq.com – bargain, I thought, at 156 LE. I even learned that these days they are known as “drip coffee makers”. The term “coffee percolator” seems to have gone out of fashion.

I put my Black and Decker machine in a cupboard, just in case I suddenly found a carafe that would fit.

Anyway, my third coffee maker arrived and it was a pretty good machine for the money. It was slightly smaller, but that wasn’t a bad thing, and it made coffee. Just the ticket. I tested the carafe on the Black and Decker, but it didn’t fit. I made sure to take great care with the jug this time. Then, one fine day, I switched the machine on when it didn’t have any water in. I got a whiff of something burning and that was another machine, kaput. Again, I gave myself a right kicking. I’ve obviously turned a bit stupid since moving over here.

This time, I ordered another machine – the same one – without hesitation. The old Black and Decker one came out and I went back to the old, exhausting routine with the pyrex dish, plastic jug, and mug.

I eagerly unpacked coffee maker number four, only to discover that the lid wouldn’t shut properly. I couldn’t see what was wrong, so I placed a heavy item on top of it on its first use. That seemed to do the trick as the lid then stayed down afterwards. I went to make a second lot of coffee the next day and a bit fell off. Whatever this bit did, not having it somehow meant that the water could no longer work its way up the machine and onto the coffee.

So, that one had to be returned, which was a bit of a story in itself (next blog).

My only consolation is that I now have a spare jug should I break the one on the replacement, when it arrives. Meanwhile, I am back with the Black and Decker one again, faffing about with the pyrex dish, blah, blah. At least I am now starting to feel that I am getting some of my money’s worth out of that machine, even without a jug.

How long will it be until I break coffee machine number five?

Sahl Hasheesh - Mosquitos

Sahl Hasheesh - Pier from El Andalous Rooftop

One not-so-good thing about living here is the mosquitos.

I have been trying a number of preventative measures, but as yet with no success.

The first technique was to buy that insect killer that electrocutes them. It may seem barbaric, but after I’ve been bitten twenty times, I’m quite happy to lower my ethical standards. However, it didn’t really work and then the lamp broke anyway. I’ve never bothered to replace it.

I originally had a mosquito net in my bedroom, but I found it annoying when I had the rats and my broken foot as I had to fight back the mosquito net each time I wanted to dash out of my bed (either in fear or for the call of nature). Although I was comforted by thinking that the net made it harder for the rodents to get up on my bed (my biggest fear), I was also convinced I would see the rodents’ antics better if only the curtain weren’t in the way. In the end, I opted for mosquito netting doors so that I could have air coming in from the balcony at night and I took down the mosquito net over my bed.

However, there’s still always one mosquito buzzing round in my flat every single night.

I have the mosquito killer plug-in liquid that evaporates. This didn’t work for me outside, but when I’m in bed the buzzing does seem to stop after about half an hour once I’ve plugged it in. But maybe it’s just psychological and I just end up falling asleep, since when I’m in front of the TV I see no effect whatsoever on that lone mosquito. So, jury is out on that one.

I use “Off” spray as a repellent, which works quite well, but I don’t really like using it. As a potential substitute, I’d heard that spraying yourself with vodka deters the mosquitos. I really liked this idea. It sounded quite decadent. I tried it and actually it didn’t make me smell like an inveterate alcoholic; it was a pleasant and light spray that I enjoyed using. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, which kind of defeated the exercise. I’d also heard that if you sprayed a mosquito directly with the vodka, it would die; however, my lone mosquito just seemed to get drunk and bit me another six times.

Another person told me that drinking a whisky each evening is effective against mosquitos. Unfortunately, I don’t like whisky, but maybe I should try a vodka and orange and see if taking vodka back to its intended use is actually the best medicine. Maybe after a stiff drink, you just don’t care either way!

I’m currently pinning my hopes on daily intake of vitamin B tablets. The advice I’ve heard is that you need to take it for a month before it demonstrates the desired effect; indeed, many people report a distinct lack of bites after receiving a regular regimen of vitamin B1, B6 or vitamin B complex. I’m six days in so far…

And then there’s immunity after around two years, they say. The only problem with that is you are immune only to the mosquitos in your area. Apparently, mosquitos stay and breed within a confined area, so you may turn out to be immune to the ones in your back yard but not to the ones down the road… still, at least I would be able to use my balcony at night.

As for post-bite measures – up until now I’ve been soothing myself with Waleda ointment, which works quite well. Sometimes I’ve used bicarbonate of soda, which is also quite good. Recently, on recommendation, I bought a tube of the local ointment (only costs around 30p!), designed for local mosquito bites, and that too is pretty good. Another thing I’d like to try is one of these bite-zapper things that I’ve heard several people talk about. You put it over the bite, zap it with the gizmo, and then the bite causes you no more itching or anything any more.

But my long-term aim is to be mosquito free!

Sahl Hasheesh - Snorkelling at the Tropitel

Tropitel Pier - Come on In!

Surgeonfish

Apart from my snorkelling trip to Abu Hasheesh and on Jac’s birthday to Paradise, most of my snorkelling has been whilst swimming either at Palm Beach or at El Andalous beach. Actually, I don’t even really snorkel – I swim with my goggles on and put my head in the water as I go along. I’m getting quite adept at holding my breath.

However, when Tom and Kath visit, they usually go snorkelling at the Tropitel over on the other side of the bay from El Andalous, so I joined them and others on a couple of occasions. We got a buggy to take us there and back.

The Tropitel has a lovely pier with sunbeds. You can climb down the steps at the end and swim along the reef either side. For those not wishing to be out in the open sea, there’s also a lagoon fed by the sea and bordered by coral. It’s not so deep there, so the water’s warmer. As is so true of all of Sahl Hasheesh, the water has many beautiful shades of blue.

I recommend it as a place to go for a change of scene!

El Andalous - Sundowners

Me overlooking the Pier at Sahl Hasheesh (Photo courtesy of Holger Hartmann)

In working life in the UK, it can be quite common to go for a drink after work on a Friday night. I think it’s a celebration of the end of the working week, or the breaking open of the pay packet for those who are paid weekly.

The Brits over here seem to have carried through this tradition and so an invitation to “sundowners” – or a drink to watch the sun go down – is a fairly frequent occurrence, and it’s not limited to Fridays or even just one day a week. So far, I’ve been invited to sundowners only by people with flats with sea views, so I also wonder if it’s just a thing for those residents.

Those who knew me before Sahl Hasheesh probably think of me as a relatively keen drinker, but I’ve actually changed my habits a bit since I’ve moved over here. Somehow, I'm not so inclined to drink when it's hot. Having said that, I still have the occasional glass of wine in the evening, but usually not until after I’ve eaten and my body has had time to adjust after the day’s sunshine and swimming. My "sundown" habit is more to come off the beach, get my laptop out to check how my shares have performed, and then sit on my balcony with a cup of coffee and a bar of chocolate. So, I’m really rather sedate at that time of day.

Once the mosquitos come out (this may be worth another blog!), I move inside and start cooking, so that I have enough time left in the evening ahead to settle down properly to my writing (and/or watch my soaps!).

For me, therefore, sundowners are a very social event, since it takes me out of my routine (and, don’t get me wrong, when invited, I do drink!); indeed sundowners are very often designed to be like mini gatherings with nibbles also provided in addition to the alcohol. However, I believe that many people have sundowners at the end of each day to admire the view from their balconies as a matter of course. There is definitely a worse life than this!

Egypt - Five Learnings

Ice cream shop, Sahl Hasheesh

I had written down notes for this blog and now it seems that I threw them away as I was tidying up (yes, these days, I tidy up!). So, this will be a different set, since for the life of me I can’t remember everything I wrote.

Anyway, you pick up different things as you move along in life. Here are five things I’ve learned since I’ve been here.

1. Time in Egypt is fluid. I was not expecting Swiss punctuality, but that’s not actually what I’m referring to. In Egypt, things such as winter and summer time are pretty fluid as well. I believe they’d dispensed with summer time, but they’ve just decided to bring it back (to save electricity, apparently). So they’ve just announced that on 15th May, our clocks go forward. But then they go back again for the month of Ramadan to ease the fasting (June 28 until July 27, 2014), and then they return to an hour forward afterwards. No doubt in winter, the clocks will go back again, but I don’t think that’s been announced yet. Date to be decided. Weird or what?

2. The Russians have an insatiable desire to pose for their photographs. I may be in Egypt, but there are a whole load of Russians here. You can spot them a mile off. There will be one woman, half-in, half-out of the sea, long hair draped over one shoulder, waves lapping over her. The guy will be giving directions, holding a huge camera, maybe even with a helper to position the woman correctly. Alternatively, the model (just a normal holidaymaker) may be embracing one of the trees, chest out, smile dazzling. Or perhaps lying on her back on the sand, hand laying above her head, hips twisted. They may even hire wedding dresses and pose like newlyweds. This is all bizarre for UK eyes, where the culture is more to disliking having your photograph taken or believing that the best photos are where you are at your most natural. Or perhaps you might pose but that would be just for a joke. The Russians, however, are being perfectly serious.

3. I now buy baby shampoo. One of the best tips I’ve had since I’ve been here (thank you, Kathleen, although I believe it originated from Josephine) is to smear the tiniest smidgen of baby shampoo on the inside and outside of your snorkel/goggles and then rinse them out before you go snorkelling or swimming. You will then get a fabulously clear view and they won’t steam up at all while you’re out. I tried this and it really works. So, if you find me in the baby aisles of the supermarket, don’t get the wrong idea!

4. Vodka is an indispensable household item. To be honest, I’m not convinced about this one. However, apparently, I’ve heard second- or third-hand, the Russians view vodka as a bit of a miracle item. If you spray it over yourself, the mosquitos will keep away. If there’s a stubborn stain on your floor, vodka will remove it. Having difficulty with getting your glass doors smear-free? Vodka will clean them immaculately. You can buy vodka here for 15 LE in the alcohol warehouse, so I’ve got some now at home, all ready to use.

5. Immunity. I’m pinning my hopes on this being true. Apparently, after you’ve been here solidly for around two years, you no longer notice mosquitos any more. Your skin tolerates them and no longer reacts to their bites. Each time I get a bite now, I think I must be one step nearer to that day. I can but hope.

Sahl Hasheesh - Baron Palace Resort Hotel

Baron Palace Resort Hotel, Sahl Hasheesh

Another business that managed to open just in time for the tourist season was the Baron Palace Hotel (daahlings, “Baron” is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable – “Baronne”). It advertises itself as “six star”, but I’m not sure how official that is. Anyway, when fully completed, it will have an extra 600 rooms available for visitors to Sahl Hasheesh, so its opening is a pretty big deal in these parts.

Since people had seen it being built over a number of years, its completion aroused quite a bit of curiosity among the residents (it’s just like living in a little village here with everyone wanting to know what’s going on where) and over the weeks a number of people have made the journey to take a look (it’s the other side of the bay from El Andalous, so you need transportation).

It is a truly beautiful hotel – with a wonderful flower display in the foyer and a huge chandelier overhead. There’s a lovely infinity pool overlooking the sea with its further multiple hues of blue. I took coffee there one day with Pam and Jac in an area shaded by something akin to a wooden gazebo; we were actually waiting to be shown round the hotel, but in the end Jac performed the tour for us since nobody arrived and she’d been several times already.

The hotel has three sections – one for families (there’s a teenagers’ bar [with computers, a pool table, a games area, and bar area] and a children’s play area [children’s pool, rooms for various age ranges, cinema rooms, library, a childrens’ bar], plus child-minding facilities available), another part houses the numerous restaurants, and the third section provides adult-only accommodation.

It houses facilities for conferences – one was actually taking place as we were there and we swiped some of the rather wonderful chocolates that had obviously been left over from the coffee break. No wonder I used to put on so much weight when I worked!

The spa, which was opening the next day, also looked and smelled magnificent. We walked along a candle-lit corridor with the scent of cinnamon floating in the air to a central area and a maze of corridors with 18 treatment rooms, a sauna, a steam room, hot slabs.

I’ll be interested to see what their daily rates are as I can feel myself planning my birthday treat in September (inshallah)!

El Andalous - Breakfast

El Andalous Restaurant - Shisha Area

Surprisingly, it appears that high season here is May to October; I would have imagined the winter months to be more popular for tourists. Anyway, since high season was approaching , many aspiring businesses try to be ready before the influx of visitors. One such business included the poolside restaurant at El Andalous. This has been planned for some time, but a flurry of activity (or rather sudden bursts of activity, followed by inactivity, followed by further movement) meant that all of a sudden the rumoured restaurant suddenly opened.

Consequently, another social event shortly after Lena’s departure was breakfast in order to celebrate its opening, organised by Jac. She’d bravely managed to arrange for nineteen of us to go – this is Egypt, so it was timed for a leisurely 10am, I think, which suited me fine.

However, few things in life run smoothly. It turned out that the restaurant did not normally do breakfast and they were, therefore, arranging this especially for us. As a result, they charged an extortionate price for it (110 LE discounted to 100 LE per person). Don’t get me wrong, the spread was beautiful with croissants, jam, pains au chocolat, Danish pastries, fresh orange juice, coffee, fresh fruit salad, cold meats, cheese… but you could get a similar breakfast for around half the price just down the road.

As a result, on the day, six or seven people dropped out altogether, due to the price. The rest of us bit the bullet and decided to forget it and just enjoy ourselves. It was already very hot, so we moved the tables about a bit when we arrived so that more of us could sit in the shade; the tables were decorated very nicely with good crockery and it looked great. I don’t really eat cold meats, and cheese is a definite “no” for me, but I made sure I ate as much as I could (that student mentality never really leaves!) and certainly enjoyed the bread, pains au chocolat, etc. Amanda and John, who I’d sat with, kindly thrust the leftovers onto me before we left, given that we’d effectively already paid for them.

Unfortunately, some people were under the impression that they could pay just for what they ate. Consequently, Fanney and Fridbert each just ate a croissant and had a cup of coffee and when they got the bill, they thought it was pretty good value. However, it turned out that they were looking at the 10% discount believing that to be the total after discount. They weren’t so pleased when they were asked to pay ten times that amount!

Despite everything, it was actually an enjoyable morning. You win some, you lose some….

Hurghada - Evening Out

Sheraton Road - Photo (c)  Holger Hartmann

Sadly, Lena had to leave, but I was relieved that she’d enjoyed her time (and am so glad she chose the 18 days rather than 14 days to visit!) and my life continued to be busy.

Two days after she’d gone, I joined Kathryn and Nicole for dinner out in Hurghada. The original idea was to go to the Bombay (Swiss Way!) restaurant and then go to the bar / club next door afterwards. However, in the end we tried somewhere none of us had been before (I believe). I was happy enough to go anywhere since I haven’t eaten out much in Hurghada and would like to build up some recommendations for guests when they visit.

I can’t remember the name of the place where we ended up, but it was in a semi-circle of rather Western-looking restaurants on Sheraton Road. I ended up ordering a steak, which was pretty good and the price was reasonable.

We paid up and walked on to the pub/club, which was reputed to have good live music on a Friday night. Apparently, you have to get there early if you want a seat.

I needed to take some money out. The cash machine I tried was out of order, and a guy seemed to be hanging round with a very drunk Russian woman by the machine next to me so we walked on as I knew there was a machine near where we were going.

However, when we got there, two guys were loitering next to the machine and I felt a bit apprehensive. The Russian woman we’d just seen earlier was now just being helped by her taxi driver to get into the car; she'd obviously just got money out herself. Kathryn explained that at the last machine the taxi driver had been  trying to help the drunken woman. I had just assumed it was a random guy trying to take advantage!

Anyway, at this machine, too, some tall Egyptian men were standing around. They tried to speak to me, but they spoke only Arabic and I couldn’t understand; I was also blocked by my general sense of panic as they didn’t seem to wish to move from the machine and wanted to watch me. I’m not sure how, maybe Kathryn latched on, but eventually we managed to work out that they were telling us that the machine would work only if you used the stick by the machine to push the buttons; fingers wouldn’t work. So, I was being all scared and they were just trying to be helpful! I must get back to learning Arabic.

Finally, we got to the pub / club. I think the owner might be Norwegian (or I could be horribly wrong!). Anyway, she greeted us all in person and was so familiar that we all thought she already knew the others and then were surprised to discover that none of us had been there before.

It was really hard to believe that you were in Egypt as it was very much a European-style bar with alcohol served at the table (no obligation to have food, although it looked good). People of all nationalities and ages filled the area. A group of young Egyptians was sitting on the table next to us, playing a game using a mask. Kathryn looked at the mask once they’d finished and they offered to let her have it. It was all very friendly.

The crowd on the other table appeared to have ordered a whole bottle of Vodka, so maybe they were Russians. I heard two women coming in and greeting the owner in English, although they could have been Scandinavian. German voices echoed out from another corner.

The doors were open and overhead fans decorated the ceiling; it wasn’t yet hot enough for them to be on (but plenty warm enough for sitting inside or out!), but the fans added to the general atmosphere and you could imagine them whirring round in the summer months.

The band was described on the blackboard as “heavy rock", so I was a little apprehensive, but the music turned out to be relatively light with one female singer (in English) and some male guitarists, as I recall. Since I can’t get any radio stations in my flat and I swim now rather than go to the gym, I don’t listen to music at all these days and hearing the band made me realise how much I miss it.

More people piled in as the band started (later than billed; This is Egypt) and the place had a buzzy and relaxed feel. We stayed until around 00:30, at which point we asked Esmat to collect us (probably to his relief as he no doubt wanted to get to bed). As we walked outside, an Egyptian guy at one of the tables was sitting with his mates with a Labrador puppy, so we fondled the puppy and talked to them for a while before walking down to Sheraton Road. A litter of kittens scuttled about just behind us, but the guys warned us off from touching them since they were wild and could be diseased. It was all very friendly and sociable, but also a very “Egyptian” experience, somehow.

I popped in quickly to Metro to buy some milk – I was not the only customer at that time – and then we waited until Esmat arrived to take us home.

I would never have imagined that it would be possible to have a night in a pub with live music and drinks flowing here in Egypt. It was almost like being back in continental Europe (I say “continental Europe” deliberately; in the UK, it’s rarely that warm and you wouldn’t get table service). It was a super evening out and a change from the norm.

Luxor - Our Hotel

Madinat Habu, Luxor

We did the Valley of the Kings on our full day and then visited Karnak and Luxor Temples on the day we left. On arrival, the hotel provided us with a complimentary plate of fruit and a complimentary plate of biscuits, which we pretty much finished on our first evening.

We had a bit of a missing cutlery theme during our stay, as the tea and coffee making facilities were without teaspoons; when we ordered room service, they forgot to provide cutlery; when we ordered drinks at the bar, they forgot teaspoons for our tea and coffee; at breakfast I was caught “stealing” cutlery from another table since they'd removed mine before I'd finished with it. Someone, somewhere, was trying to tell us something, but I never worked out what!

However, the hotel was excellent and the staff was as helpful as we could possibly wish. We’d booked a room with direct Nile view as it was half-price, so after we’d got back from the Valley of the Kings, we went to the pool (I checked my shares!), and then thought we’d make use of the tea and coffee in our room (now supplied with teaspoons).

The night before, we’d noticed that all the lights had gone off on the opposite side of the river and we wondered whether it had been a power cut, rejoicing in the fact that at least we hadn’t had that problem. But we spoke too soon. We may have had teaspoons, but suddenly all the power went off in our room. Looking outside, it appeared that lights were on elsewhere, and they were on in the corridor, so we initially thought something had gone wrong with the electricity in our room only.

We traipsed down to reception only to be informed that it was indeed a power cut but that the emergency generator was keeping the lights on in the corridors and public spaces. So, that was the cup of coffee scuppered! The obvious solution was to go and have an alcoholic drink of some description, so we went to the bar and sat drinking wine on the terrace overlooking the Nile. Life could definitely be worse! This time we were in darkness and the other side was lit up.

We took our last meal in Luxor in one of the restaurants in the hotel courtyard. We sat down and I felt something wet on my arm. I looked around and Lena said she couldn’t feel anything. Then Lena felt something on her skin. No plants appeared to be above us that may have just been watered. No customers were nearby who may have been spilling or splashing water. Gradually, it happened a little more frequently and it dawned on us that it was rain. Because it’s so unusual, rain always causes hilarity in Egypt, so the waiters were laughing and asked us if we wished to move tables, but we decided to stay outside. It stopped almost as soon as it started.

As we took our coffee at the end of the meal, huge drops fell and quite literally splashed in a big dollop in my café latte. This time, you could see the water hitting the fountain causing the moat to look quite choppy. For Egypt, it was quite a heavy burst, so this time we did move inside, although it stopped after three or four minutes (which is quite a while for over here!). Anyway, it certainly wakened everyone up and I like to think it was a sign of the gods smiling down on us.