Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, I spent the day in Coptic Cairo, fulfilling a long-delayed plan to explore a serene little corner of this chaotic city.

Copts are Christian Egyptians, members of an ancient denomination based on the teachings of St. Mark, who brought Christianity to Egypt in 50 AD. Just after Jesus Christ's death, according to this Egyptology website, similarities in beliefs helped Christianity become accepted by Egyptians, who believed in the godly triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus.

They established thriving communities and ornate churches in Alexandria and in what is now modern-day Cairo. Today, Copts make up about 12 to 15 percent of the Egyptian population and only five churches remain in Old Cairo, once home to 20 in the same square mile. Copts are represented in parliament, worship freely and have flourished in business. Still, there is occasional harassment from extremists and several documented cases of the Egyptian government refusing to issue ID cards for Copt-Muslim couples or their children. Unlike in Iraq or even Lebanon, intermarriage is exceedingly rare between Muslims and Christians in Egypt.

The ancient district with Coptic Cairo also is famous for Ben Ezra, Egypt's oldest synagogue. The synagogue is still open for visitors -- today I walked through a metal detector and underwent a bag search before entering. For obvious reasons, there was much more security at the synagogue than at any other site in Old Cairo.

I didn't have time to visit all five major churches in the area, but the ones I did visit were immaculate. The Coptic Museum was inviting, with clear labels on exhibits and soothing lighting. Forgive me if I sound awestruck by the excellent condition of a museum in Cairo, but anyone who's ever visited the national museum here will understand. (There's no label! Could be a mummified alligator, could be the throne of Ramses II...)

You can visit this site to learn more about the specific churches, including the extraordinary Hanging Church, which is built on top of Roman walls. The Mar Girgis church was lovely; it's one of the few remaining round churches in the world. Restoration was going on at the church of St. George, originally constructed in 684 and rebuilt in 1857 -- a newcomer compared to the others.

I spent at least two hours in the old city and only saw a fraction of the sights. When I later showed the photos to a friend, she couldn't believe it was Cairo. In this touristy enclave, the streets were clean and gardens were landscaped. Visitors admired Christian textiles, Jewish mosaics and Egypt's first mosque. Spanish tourists bartered with Egyptian shopkeepers. Kittens mewled from underneath the chairs at outdoor cafes. Little girls with swinging ponytails played hopscotch on the sidewalk.

As a friend and I walked to catch a taxi, a man beckoned to us from his doorway. He ran a ramshackle cafe in what was basically his living room in Old Cairo. We walked through the room and out into his back garden, where he had frayed old carpets, plastic picnic chairs and about 15 cats.

We were clearly his first visitors in a while. He was so excited that he snapped an evil-eye amulet onto my wrist, gave us a free hieroglyphic bookmark and dabbed clove essence on the hand of my friend.

We soon learned that our host was a former athlete and bodybuilding coach who is now dedicated to a healthy, holistic lifestyle. Over tea, we chatted about his other hobby: Bedouin massage. I'd never heard of Bedouin massage and I'm not sure how it differs from any other rubdown, but he said it worked wonders on the bodybuilders he used to train. We took his card and promised to let him know if we found any clients for him.

I asked for the bill, bracing for the inevitable tourist "special friend" price that's triple or more the going rate. Besides, with the teas, Cokes, amulet, the bookmark, surely he was expecting something exorbitant.

"10 pounds," he said.

That's about $2.