During his stay in Cairo, Egypt, where he gave his longest and arguably most anticipated speech yet, President Obama indulged in some tourism, visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza, which he labeled "awe-inspiring". Obama described the tour as the best off the record (OTR) experience of his presidency so far -- even trumping the burger run to Five Guys with NBC's Brian Williams last week. "Five Guys was good, this was better," Obama said, according to MSNBC News. AP has more:
The president's brief stay in Cairo included a visit to the Sultan Hassan mosque, a 600-year-old center of Islamic worship and study. He also toured the Great Pyramids of Giza, and joked with reporters that if they were not present, "I'd get on a camel." Some of his aides did just that.
Here's video of some raw footage of President Obama touring the pyramids.
At one point during the tour, Obama is reported to have spotted a hieroglyphic of a large-eared man, spurring the remark, ""That looks like me!" Look at those ears!" ABC News reports.
According to MSNBC, the character in the hieroglyphic represents esteemed qualities:
Dr. Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities -- who played tour guide to Obama and his entourage -- went on to explain to the president, his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and others the history of the tomb of Kar, who was a priest, a scholar and a judge.