Alexandria

Alright, so quite a bit has happened/been observed since the last writing. I will try to cover most of it without droning on…if you get sick of it, stop reading. First of all, a couple of friends and I took a weekend jaunt to the Egyptian city of Alexandria which is along the northern coast. The city was founded by Alexander the Great and is home to the Library of Alexandria (rebuild because of the destruction of the original), the Mediterranean Sea, a pretty fantastic castle that was for warding off pirates, a bunch of little Egyptian style shops and the Catacombs. We got to see/experience all of these things except the last which we plan on hitting up during another trip. We took the train up which took a little over 2 hours and cost about $9. We stayed in a little hotel called the Normandy which had a balcony overlooking the sea and its own little charm. Sure it was right next to the main drag so there were car horns honking until 4 in the morn but it was pretty fantastic for a mere 20 L.E. or $4 a night.

The view from our balcony

During the day, we pretty much had to eat Pizza Hut the whole weekend as it was the only establishment open until after about 8 p.m. since Alexandrian citizens are apparently pretty darn strict about the whole Ramadan business. At night, for dinner we went to a market where, I didn’t eat because it was pretty much all meat but the rest of the group chose fish/shrimp out of a basket, brought it to a man grilling stuff and had it cooked right there. Looked fantastic…dirty but authentic.

We got some sobia and tamarind juice which we drank out of plastic bags. The locals we had met and that were showing us around were making fun of some of the group saying it looked like they were drinking breast milk…guess we need to work on juice drinking techniques. The guys got dress shirts and some pants made by a local tailor which was pretty fun. One night we went to a fantastic sea food place where the people were extremely friendly and the atmosphere was very much worth the $5 we spent for a huge meal. The place was packed when we got there with locals eating their iftar meal, they cleared a place for us and everyone got a platter filled with different kinds of fish, shrimp, salad, rice, and pitas. I can't really put into words why this place was special compared to the other fish markets around but trust me when I say it is worth visiting. During our stay, we frequented a bar called the Spitfire which had a very interesting story. It was a family owned place, passed down from generation to generation. It was an ex-pat establishment that originated for the British airmen, then became a place where mostly German military men would go and now mostly serves foreign travelers. The owner will ask were you are from and put on music from your home county. While we were there we heard an interesting selection including Johnny Cash, the musical Cats, Bob Marley and more. It was just a good place to sit and talk, relax and learn a little about the history of the place. On Saturday, when we were about to buy a return ticket at the train station a guy who looked pretty trustworthy convinced us to ride the bus instead as it was cheaper and still air conditioned. We figured why not and the 6 of us got in a 15 passenger van filled with Egyptians also making the trip back to Cairo. It was an experience as we blew a tire, waited while the driver fixed that (the guys all getting out and standing around him watching in typical male fashion), stopped at a mosque to pray, made another stop at a gas station, finally paid the man 22 L.E. and returned to Zamalek.

There are some things that bridge cultures...

Overall it was a great trip and we decided Alexandria is definitely a place to return to. The air is much cleaner than in Cairo, the sea breeze is relaxing and they have "the best juice place in Egypt." What more could you ask for.