Palace Walk: 01 (Cairo Trilogy)

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Walking along streets originally laid out in and around the palace, discover historic buildings, from the Houses of Parliament to the Old Admiralty to Churchill’s secret WWII bunker. At the centre of Kensington Gardens is the Round Pond, with a ‘goose foot’ of avenues spreading out from it, bisected by other avenues of trees. The areas between are filled with meadow, scrub and informal open woodland, providing a wide range of habitats for wildlife. Yasin, the eldest son, is al-Sayyid Ahmad's only child by his first marriage, to a woman whose subsequent marital affairs are the source of acute embarrassment to father and son. Yasin shares his father's good looks, and, unbeknownst to al-Sayyid Ahmad, Yasin also shares his tastes for music, women and alcohol, and spends as much time and money as he can afford on fine clothes, drink and prostitutes. Fahmy, Amina's elder son, is a law student, who is heavily involved in the nationalist movement against the British occupation; he also pines for his neighbor, Maryam, but cannot bring himself to take any action. Khadija, the elder daughter, is sharp-tongued, opinionated, and jealous of her sister Aisha, who is considered to be the more beautiful and marriageable. Aisha, meanwhile, is more mellow and conciliatory, and tries to maintain peace. Kamal, the baby of the family, is a bright young boy who frightens his family by befriending the British soldiers who have set up an encampment across the street from the Abd al-Jawad house; he is also very close with his mother and his sisters, and is deeply dismayed when the prospect of marriage for the girls arises. St. James’s Park is a rich mix of open grassland, reedbeds, wildflower meadows, and more than 1,200 trees. The St. James’s Park lake, covering a fifth of the park, is an oasis for much wildlife including over 40 species of water bird.

There are small and big family crises, with the firm hand of the pater familias dominating all -- and yet the threat of a changing world is constantly at the door. If you’re up for a longer walk than a lunchtime stroll, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk covers seven miles, and crosses four Royal Parks – you’ll be guided by the 90 plaques along the route. Kensington Gardens – made for mini adventures The family provides the novel with its structure, since the plot is concerned with the lives and interrelationships of its members. However, the story is not set in isolation; indeed, the characters themselves are important mediators between issues of local or wider scope. For example, the theme of 'authority' (particularly its establishment and subversion) is woven into both the maturation of the children of the al-Jawad family and the wider political circumstances which provide the novel with its temporal boundaries. The Downing Street area was once dominated by the largest palace in Europe, a fabulous love nest designed by Henry and Anne Boleyn. The sprawling Palace of Whitehall contained a vast sports complex and extensive gardens, protected behind high walls that kept out the riff-raff. Royalty and their courtiers didn’t even have to cross the public road that ran through the middle, ornate bridges connected the buildings on either side. And indeed it does not. Each of the couple's five children challenges some aspect, large or small, of the parents' lives. The two most important points of friction concern family relations and sexual attitudes.Yasin is al-Sayyid Ahmad’s eldest son from a previous marriage. He shares some of al-Sayyid Ahmad’s forbidden proclivities, including visiting courtesans, drinking, and music. Fahmy is Amina’s eldest son. He is highly intelligent, more pious than his brother, and wholly unaware of his father’s activities. Kamal, who is the youngest of the family, is close to his mother and sisters. Khadijah is the eldest daughter, who speaks her mind and is often jealous of her younger sister Aisha, who is said to be more marriageable and beautiful. Aisha is often the peacekeeper of the family and is much more amenable than Khadijah.

What is different or surprising about the rhythm of life for the al-Jawad family? When are the men separated from the women, and when do they come together? What are the important social moments of the day for the family? Why is Kamal so sad when his two sisters leave the family home? The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk covers seven miles, and takes in four Royal Parks, three palaces and two mansions, all of which were special to Princess Diana at different times in her life. Follow the 90 bronze plaques embedded along the route. The Princess and the Palace A walk to the ruins of the Tudor Mansion of Woking Palace in the meadows to the east of Old Woking, alongside the River Hoe. One of the major catastrophes in the book comes when Amina does allow herself to be convinced by her children to venture out and is hit by a car: al-Sayyid Ahmad sends her home to her mother in disgust at the dishonour she has brought upon him and his family by her actions. The ditches along this section of the River Stort have been opened up which has allowed the water voles to make their home here.Yasin probably detested the English as all Egyptians did, but deep inside he respected and venerated them so much that he frequently imagined that they were made from a different stuff than the rest of mankind.

The other is the astonishing position of women. It is one thing to know in the abstract that women were secluded and compelled to accept their husband's behavior, come what may; it is quite another to learn specifically about Ahmad's wife Amina. With a servant and a private bath, she had no need to go out of the house, and Ahmad simply forbade her to show her veil in public. In twenty-five years of married life, Amina stepped outdoors only to visit her mother on rare occasions, and even then was closely chaperoned by her husband. When you walk the elegant paths of St. James’s Park today, it’s hard to imagine that pigs once grazed here. But, 470 years ago, the St. James’s area was a peaceful water meadow known for its woods and a hospital for women suffering from leprosy. Distance: About 6.5km (4 miles) + extension of 3km (2 miles). Time: Approximately 2 hours + 1 hour. A circular walk to Woking Palace, a Tudor Mansion in the meadows to the east of Old Woking, then around the Park Pale returning along ‘The Sheep Walk.’ In the mornings, the women prepare breakfast at dawn. The men of the family eat together, then leave for school or work. The women of the family then have their breakfast and begin housework, with Amina strictly overseeing her daughters. Al-Sayyid Ahmad comes home for lunch and a nap before returning to his shop in the afternoon. After work, he goes out, doing as he pleases. The rest of the family meets around dusk in their home for coffee hour, which is a cherished time.Al-Sayyid Ahmad has great difficulty in dealing with the world at large, especially with regards to his family. The original plaster model for the sculpture can be seen at the Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village in Compton, Surrey. Watts worked on this for some twenty years, from 1883 to his death in 1904. The model was first cast in bronze in 1902-4 to form part of a memorial in Cape Town, South Africa. Yasin lived with his real mother until he was nine, and then was "transferred to his father's custody".