It wasn't even two weeks between returning from Cape Town and me jetting off again. In my defense, this trip was planned for the past year (and finalized two months ago). When planning the trip, I had two serious options for how to get to my first destination, Madrid. Option 1 was to go through Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, which I wanted to do but then there was the attack at the airport and the attempted coup and so Turkey didn't necessarily feel like a great place to travel through, too many unknowns for my liking. So I instead went with Option 2, flying EgyptAir through Cairo. Almost immediately after booking my tickets, people expressed concern. "Cairo International Airport isn't that nice, and you won't want to spend four hours there," they said. Or, "You don't trust Istanbul/Turkey, but you're willing to trust Cairo/Egypt?" I granted them the second point, but the first one got me concerned and I therefore read online reviews of the airport, which panned it for a whole host of problems. Skytrax gives it a 3/10, and comments range from "chaotic and not clean" to "one of the worst travel experiences I've ever encountered" to "so much quality is missing." Seems like people's worry for me was well-founded.
Until I actually got to the airport. My first thought was, "Wow, this is a super nice airport!" I guess when Khartoum International Airport is the comparison (it has a 2/10 on Skytrax), anything looks good. But still. I was expecting a slightly nicer version of KRT, not the beauty that I saw. Not only were there lots of eating options (including a Burger King and a Haagen-Dazs), but the seats were very comfortable and numerous, and I was able to take quick cat naps on them during my four-hour layover. The gates were logically arranged (Side Note: can't say the same for Madrid, which looks like someone said "OK, where's Gate 30?" and then a guy closed his eyes and randomly pointed at a map, and that became Gate 30. And then they repeated the process for Gate 31, and so on.) and the announcements were clear, if a little numerous. I don't speak Arabic, but even I could understand many of the words in the Arabic one, and the English announcements sounded like English. This was completely different from Khartoum, or even Addis Ababa, where the English announcements oftentimes sound like someone who doesn't speak the language is trying his or her best to sound out the words over the PA system.
I'm sure Cairo International Airport has its downsides, and if I flew through it regularly, I wouldn't be so enamored by it. But Khartoum sets the bar low, and I was impressed by how over and above Cairo was of it.
Given that I'm on an Iberian Peninsula adventure, I share the below clip that I am absolutely obsessed with by Fernando Daniel, a contestant on the current season of The Voice Portugal. This was his Blind Audition, or Provas Cegas.
Until I actually got to the airport. My first thought was, "Wow, this is a super nice airport!" I guess when Khartoum International Airport is the comparison (it has a 2/10 on Skytrax), anything looks good. But still. I was expecting a slightly nicer version of KRT, not the beauty that I saw. Not only were there lots of eating options (including a Burger King and a Haagen-Dazs), but the seats were very comfortable and numerous, and I was able to take quick cat naps on them during my four-hour layover. The gates were logically arranged (Side Note: can't say the same for Madrid, which looks like someone said "OK, where's Gate 30?" and then a guy closed his eyes and randomly pointed at a map, and that became Gate 30. And then they repeated the process for Gate 31, and so on.) and the announcements were clear, if a little numerous. I don't speak Arabic, but even I could understand many of the words in the Arabic one, and the English announcements sounded like English. This was completely different from Khartoum, or even Addis Ababa, where the English announcements oftentimes sound like someone who doesn't speak the language is trying his or her best to sound out the words over the PA system.
I'm sure Cairo International Airport has its downsides, and if I flew through it regularly, I wouldn't be so enamored by it. But Khartoum sets the bar low, and I was impressed by how over and above Cairo was of it.
Given that I'm on an Iberian Peninsula adventure, I share the below clip that I am absolutely obsessed with by Fernando Daniel, a contestant on the current season of The Voice Portugal. This was his Blind Audition, or Provas Cegas.
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