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A lot of entrances to museums and sights are gated off except for a tiny opening in Cairo. There are usually no signs to say “Enter Here” or “No Entry.” So we walked through a gate opening at the top of the terrace and a guard started walking over towards us waving us out. It was the first time that’s happened in Cairo.
There are 4 museums inside the Citadel too. First we went to the Police Museum, but it was closed so we walked around their open-air exhibit the prison. Then we went to the Military Museum.
When we went (around lunchtime) there were no tour groups there, only a few scattered tourists and a few Egyptian families. As we were walking around the open-air military exhibits (planes, tanks, etc) a man walked over to us to ask where we were from. He told us he was a government worker from Aswan and his wife would love a picture of us. He also said the Military Museum was closed and we should come and sit in the shade of this lovely gift stand. We declined and my partner said one of the things he really hates about Egypt is not being able to meet new people because you always have your guard up and that usually the people who talk to you just want something from you. I agreed. It’s not a nice way to feel. The Military Museum didn’t seem to be closed to an Egyptian family who walked in so we decided to try our luck. Imagine our surprise when it was open. There was no charge to go inside but if you wanted to take pictures you had to pay 1LE.
The Military Museum is huge. It’s almost all made up of busts of military personnel. There are also a lot of painted pictures. They have the world’s first cannon. And some of their slogans and the way they tell stories might give you more insight into Egypt. Walking through we could also hear all the staff in all the rooms reading from their prayers.
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