Jordanian hill country

Jordanian hill country
Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

The new Chiantishire?

Another Giza skyline

Another Giza skyline
Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

A less well-documented image of Giza.

The Pyramids at Giza

The Pyramids at Giza
Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

Some photos from my recent trip to Egypt and Jordan, starting off with perhaps the most photographed monuments in the world.

An actor's life

Show going well. Totally knackered!

Viareggio in a nutshell

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

Party time!

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

Dancing to an Italian version of "I'm a believer"

Lift up your skirts and sing

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

George's wiener

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

You'd need a big bed for this head

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

La dolce vita

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

A carpet of confetti

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

Nighfall in Viareggio

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Originally uploaded by MonkeyGone2.

Viareggio Carnival

A business trip to Lucca and Viareggio in Tuscany earlier this week happened to coincide with the carnival season. And, as I was to discover, Viareggio carnival is one of the two largest in Italy (rivalled only by Venice), attracting more than 200,000 people at peak times. And, whereas Venice is known for the fantastic costumes of the revellers, Viareggio is noted for its impressive processsion of floats. Founded in 1873, it was with the introduction of papier mache in 1925 that the float designs started to become really innovative and daring. Having only experienced one other large-scale carnival (Notting Hill in 1994 and 1999), I have to say that the floats were more impressive at Viareggio, although the parties afterwards were certainly not (an average Saturday night in Guildford is more lively). But then you don't go to Italy to party. There now follows a selection of photos of the procession taken last Sunday evening...

A whirlwind tour, part two

On the flight from Amman to Cairo, I was sitting next to a group of pilgrims who had been to Mecca for the Haj. The group comprised a man in his sixties, a younger man (possibly his son) and five women of varying ages wearing Burqas. The father, sitting right next to me, spoke good English and we engaged me in conversation about my trip to the Middle East and the wisdom of the Koran. Upon landing, I was amused to spot a pair of Puma tracksuit bottoms peeking out from beneath the Burqa of one of the group.
Cairo is a city that specializes in a certain kind of adventure travel. I don't mean a trip to the pyramids or a cruise down the Nile (though these are unforgettable experiences). The adventure is getting into a car and hoping that you'll get out safely at your destination. It is not only the seemingly insane driving that causes your stomach to leap into your throat (road markings are just for show, and drivers change lanes constantly and for no apparent reason), it is also the fear of ploughing into the pedestrians who fearlessly stroll out in front of the traffic, or sprint across three lane highways! Fortunately, my driver, Hassan, was well versed in Cairene road etiquette and I only thought we were going to crash, say, half a dozen times.
The traffic chaos is actually quite endearing and, despite the choking pollution and its sheer size, I really like Cairo. It is such a vibrant city. And rapidly expanding. Driving from one side of Greater Cairo to the other takes about an hour. I also spent some time out at 6th of October City (named after the Yom Kippur war of 1973), an industrial new town of about 50,000 people a little way outside the city's sprawl. Here many of Egypt's industrial showpieces have been built or are under construction. Cheap natural gas and low labour costs, together with recent reductions of individual and corporate taxation levels are encouraging increasing foreign direct investment in the country. And, as hard evidence, there were plenty of new factories and apartments under construction.
After watching the sound and light show at the pyramids of Giza (fantastic lights, hokey commentary), I was invited to dinner on board a floating restaurant called Le Pacha. Built in 1903, this boat has 11 different resturants (French, Italian, Lebanese, etc), and the Chinese-Japanese fare we sampled in L'Asiatique was very good. And popular too with a foreign Egyptian foreign minister who (so I was told) was seated at the next table.
On the way back to the airport the next morning, Hassan took me through Heliopolis, the grandest part of Cairo, and home to politicians and wealthy industrialists. One of the key movers in the district's development was a Belgian, Baron Empain, whose former home was modelled on the Cambodian Temple complex of Angkor Wat. Now abandoned to a colony of bats, it was an incongruous yet somehow fitting final glimpse of a great city.

A whirlwind tour, part one

Spent last weekend (28-31 January) on a brief business trip to the Middle East, stopping off in Jordan and Egypt.
Amman, the capital of Jordan is a hilly, fairly sedate city with a fairly strong western influence (at least compared with Egypt). Certainly it has the only branch of Hardee's (a US regional burger chain) that I have seen outside the States. Jordan is a surprisingly green country at this time of year and thoroughly pleasant after the cold of northern Europe.
Arriving after dark on Friday evening, and due to fly to Cairo 24 hours later, I decided to get in some sightseeing while I had the chance. I hailed a taxi outside the hotel and arranged for the driver to guide me round some of the city's landmarks: The Roman amphitheatre, King Abdullah Mosque and The Citadel. The latter was closed, but a friendly security guard was persuaded to allow me inside by a small financial contribution. The Citadel is pretty impressive, even after dark. As the name suggests, it is a fortress located high atop one of the city's many hills and it contains ruins from many civilizations: Roman, Byzantine, Ummayad, among others.
My driver then decided to take me to a local bar, which, as I entered, I realized was a brothel. At which point I kindly asked him to drive me back to my hotel!
Jordan seems pretty wealthy, certainly compared to some of its neighbours, but life for many of the country's Palestinian refugees is less than wonderful. A small shanty town we passed just outside Amman is indicative of the living conditions many endure: basic housing, medication and sanitation, and nothing more. This is largely due to the official stance of both the Jordanian government and the Palestinian Authority (that these people are in Jordan only on a temporary basis, even though many have been there since 1967, and some since 1948).
After a lavish Lebanese meal, I was lucky enough to have time to drive down and see the Dead Sea. As my hosts pointed out the places where Jesus was baptized and where Moses is buried, the age and importance of this place hit hard.

I'm the boss

For those who may have missed it, one of the only two Jews in Afghanistan was buried this week. However, it seems his surviving co-religionist is not exactly in mourning: "He was a very bad man who tried to get me killed," eighty-year old Zebulon Simentov toldAssociated Press, "and now I am the Jew here, I am the boss."
For the full story see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4206909.stm
Sounds like it would make a great play or screenplay.

Busy, busy, busy

The blog's been taking a bit of a back seat lately because of other committments: The Brussels Shakepeare Society's production of Henry IV, parts one and two and Henry V opens in ten days' time. I am playing Scottish warlord, The Douglas, fellow traitors the Archbishop of York and Lord Scrope of Masham, and a soldier called Williams. Visit: www.shaksoc.com for more info about the show.
Have also just helped with the music for the American Theatre Company's production of Proof (last night tonight). Among the featured tracks are Sister's Sledge's "We are family", "And the healing has begun" from Van Morrisson (Into the music, 1979), "Shine on you crazy diamond" by Pink Floyd (passage from 1:48 to 2:40) and "Fade into you" by Mazzy Star. A full listing will follow shortly.