Sunday, March 6, 2011

Qasr El-Nile Bridge













The other day I decided to walk across Qasr El-Nile Bridge to get to Tahrir from Zamalek (the island in the Nile where I lived my first summer here) after I had been wondering around. It was another beautiful day, perfect temperatures and sunny skies and the walk across the bridge isn't an usual stroll to take. The view of the Cairo skyline along the Nile is simply fantastic and four iconic giant bronze Egypt lions guard the entrances to the bridge. But this bridge has become yet another symbol of the revolution struggles. It leads you straight into Tahrir Square, and this bridge saw some very infamous battles during the revolution. If you watched any coverage of the revolution you most likely heard the name of this bridge at least once. Specifically on January 28th, the Friday of Anger as it is known here, there was a huge battle between peaceful protesters and riot police. Police drove trucks into crowds, fired tear gas and shot them with water guns and bullets during prayer. On February 2nd, the Day of the Camels, molotovs and rocks were hurled between revolutionaries and Mubarak's thugs from the Bridge and the surrounding streets. There are unbelievable videos of these clashes on YouTube.

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