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Red Sea
Cairo (from Port Said & Port Sokhna), Egypt
Nowhere on earth launches an assault on the senses quite like Cairo. Its big, its bustling and its filled to bursting with age-old treasures from the times of the pharaohs. The first thing thatll strike you about Egypts capital is the chaos - fast-moving traffic, beeping car horns, calls to prayer, haggling merchants. Everythings a blur, albeit an exciting one. The other thing youll notice is the fusion of old with new. Traditional bazaars hung with copper-beaten lamps rub shoulders with neon-lit shopping malls. Theres nowhere like it.
Messina, Sicily
From the tangle of timeworn streets to the sickle-shaped harbour dotted with rustic trattorias, its easy to see why Shakespeare chose Messina as the setting of his romantic play Much Ado About Nothing.
" Be in Piazza del Duomo for 12 noon. Here, a Norman citadel houses the
worlds largest mechanical clock. At midday, gilt figures, including a roaring lion and a host of beautiful angels, emerge from the clock to re-enact the citys history. " Dont miss Sicilys star turn, Mount Etna. Europes biggest active volcano, its a contradiction in every sense - fiery and snowy, barren and lush, feared and loved. One of the best ways to see it is from the cutesy carriages of the Circumetnea Railway which follows a delightful route up along the slopes of the volcano. " Talk about gorgeous. Perched high on a cliff above glittering blue seas, Taormina is arguably the most charming town in Sicily. Lose yourself in the cobweb of narrow backstreets. Put a dent in your holiday kitty along the boutique-lined Corso Umberto. And head up to the Greek theatre at the top of town. Like curtains edging a stage, the ruins frame the silhouette of Mount Etna. Cameras at the ready. " The shady goings-on of the mafia underworld were famously showcased in the Godfather trilogy, much of which was shot on location in Sicily. Follow in the footsteps of Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino around the so-called Godfather Villages. Take a peek inside the Bar Vitelli watering hole and pay a visit to the Church of Annunciation where Michael Corleones wedding was filmed. Were making you an offer you cant refuse.
" Its Cairos ancient history that sprinkles it with stardust. Venture to the
outskirts to marvel at the deeply poignant Giza pyramids. These colossal man-made mountains will leave you with one question - how on earth did they build them? " Save some room on your camera for snaps of the Sphinx. Carved from a single ridge of stone, this massive sculpture has stood guard since 2500BC. " Explore the warren-like Cairo Museum to see dust-caked antiquities, age-old mummies and the treasures of Tutankhamun. " Admire the artistry of the Sultan Hasan mosque, with its only minaret puncturing the cloudless canopy of sky above it. " Explore the spice-scented bazaars that are shoe-horned into the citys winding streets. Dont miss the bargain-hunters paradise of Khan el-Khalili, a web of narrow alleyways crammed with haggle-happy copper, gold and silver sellers. " Finally, enjoy a cool drink overlooking the slow-moving waters of the Nile, watching as they idly follow their millennia-old course.
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