There is a truly wonderful house in Cairo to which only a few lucky tourists find their way. Most do so with no knowledge of the extra-ordinary people who lived in, and left this enchanting jewel behind. The building – actually two buildings, is now owned by the Egyptian nation, having been left in trust to it by Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson Pasha. How he came to live in the house is proof for me that we never miss the boat, that what we want will come to us, that it is not the big decisions we make that change our lives but the little ones. In 1906 R.G took a small decision to visit the 9th century mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun. A pretty young Egyptian girl leaned out a mashrabeya (lattice) window of a beautiful old building he was gazing up at and invited him to see the house – he declined. On 23rd. Feb 1925 he took another small decision to revisit Ibn Talun. The same old house was going through the final stages of restoration. R.G. jus...