Nadia Hassan

Como on a grey Sunday. The fern room is my happy place.

Evening walk past the mansions. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived at 599 and complained about it.

All-you-can-drink milk, twice. Professional note: the Midway needs better wayfinding.

Walked across the Mississippi on the rocks. 2,340 miles to the Gulf from here.

Papaya salad, sticky rice, and a stall with every herb I can't find anywhere else.

Showed my cousins the golden horses. They were more impressed by the ice cream truck.

Sambusa, Somali tea, then a paleta. The best food hall in either twin city.

Saturday ride along the river. Minneapolis on one bank, us on the better one.

Breakfast in a railcar diner from 1937. Hash browns perfect, counter seats only.

Winter Carnival ice sculptures, -4°F, a hot cider in each hand.

A balloon over the west bank at sunrise, then the tombs. The colours are still bright after three thousand years.

The hypostyle hall at opening, before the heat. A hundred and thirty-four columns and us.

Mint tea at El Fishawy, a lamp I didn't buy, a scarf I did.

Tutankhamun's whole treasure in one place at last. The grand staircase alone is worth the trip.

There at opening. Camels, sand, and the Great Pyramid being exactly as big as you've always been told.