egypt: alexandria

When I arranged my tour I made sure it included a visit to the port city of Alexandria. Though not as famous as it once was, I still wanted to see the city.

Tamer and the driver picked me up at 0815 and we started driving. Along the way we stopped to get petrol, and I have to admit I loved the rest stop. There were two reasons to love the rest stop: one, an advert for a product(s) named after me; and two, a branch of a coffee bean shop. I was thrilled, to say the least. Tamer had never heard of Coffee Bean, I told him how much I love the chai lattes from this particular chain. Seeing a CB in the middle of a rest stop in Egypt was definitely not what I expected. When I saw people walking out of another shop with a multicolored drink, I asked Tamer what it was, so I could buy one myself. I didn't need it, since I'd already bought a chai latte, but it was yummy.

We continued the drive, during which I dozed off. (Thank goodness for cup holders in the van!)

Our first stop in Alexandria was a set of catacombs. If I remember correctly, the exact person buried in the individual tomb isn't known, though they do know the general time in which the burial was done. In another area we saw a number of areas where soldiers had been buried in close proximity.

Tamer told me the entire area has not been excavated, but it is unknown if it ever will be, due to the humidity and higher water table of the area. Since Alexandria is on the coast, it has a different climate than the rest of the country. I have no idea if this is true, but it also seemed much more like a small town to me. Less formal.

While we drove to the next stop I took photos through the window of the van. Tamer told me he had told the driver to take the slow route, and go through the 'normal' areas of the city, because he knew I liked to see these areas. I liked them so much that I knew immediately I wanted to come back to the city and walk, walk, walk.

Our next stop was a fortress on the water. I didn't go in the fortress, I was more fascinated by the water itself and all the people around than I was by the fortress. Like everyone else, I was enjoying watching the water crash onto the rocks. I also liked the clouds quickly rolling in, and the way they made a couple photos look better.

While we were here, Tamer pointed out the spot in which one of the ancient seven wonders of the world used to be located. This was the statue of ........., which was said to be big enough that ships sailed between the legs to enter the port. When you see the area you realize just how big the statue must have been.

Our next stop was lunch. It was decent food, with fish and veggies. It was a whole fish, and I didn't love the eyes staring back at me, hee hee. I was able to look out one of the windows to a lovely view of the port.

I walked along a little of the port so I could take photos, just because it was a pretty area. I wanted more time to walk around. Next we stopped at a nearby, tiny shop to get ice cream for dessert.

Our next and last stop of the day was the main reason I'd wanted to come to Alexandria: the library. Obviously, it isn't the ancient library that was once world famous, but it is still totally worth visiting.

The people that designed the modern library took into account the world renown of the ancient library. The front facade has words written in a whole bunch of modern languages, with different alphabets. You go through security to enter the library, and no bags are allowed. The no bag thing was a challenge, as I had to stuff my wallet, camera, and iphone into my pockets.

Once I got into the library I just wandered around and took photos when it seemed like a good idea. The modern library is beautifully designed, with books in many different languages. I saw a lot of Arabic, English, and French in particular.
It would've been fun to try to research a specific topic while in there, and look around in that way. There is a pretty extensive rare books collection, I wish I'd had time to look through that.
The modern library is actually used by students, most of the tables and computers were filled with students. I discovered there is free wifi, which was fun. I was able to send messages to my parents telling them I was in the library of Alexandria!

After this, we drove back to Cairo for the evening of New Years Eve. I definitely want to come back to Alexandria to explore more of 'normal' life in the city.