Dalia

There's been a nagging doubt all week that the dress I brought with me to wear to the Queen's Ball tomorrow isn't quite formal enough. Nothing to do with the fact that it might be a tad tight with not sticking to my 2 day diet these last two weeks. I wandered out after work from our flat and saw a tiny little shop with a bride's dress in the window and went in to discover an Aladdin's cave! 1hr 30 mins later I left with two lovely full length skirts, both of which had been taken in on the spot to fit me and one had also been cut and hemmed! I can imagine getting a lot of wear out of them - always a good sign. And they cost me a fraction of what I'd pay in Barcelona.

Dalia, who you see here, started this business 10 years ago. She's s lawyer, but now runs this business with a friend. The tailor has his own independent workshop across the passageway, but they often work together. While I was waiting to get the skirts adjusted, she told me about the predicted demonstrations for Sunday 30 June and how she fears there will be 'big problems', but something has to be done to show they don't want Mursi to be in control - one year on from having been elected, she says. She wants him out, but doesn't know who can stand in, while her husband wants him to stay. She looked genuinely sad when she told me that Egypt has many wonderful things, but with no tourists at the moment, it's struggling.