Alexandria - April 25/26/27

Her dressing room star!

The day that Becca returned home from Paris was the same day that Brianna had her big opening night at school for 42^nd Street – April 19th. She was honoured to play Dorothy Brock and we are all so proud of her.  She had a large group of family and friends come to see and support her. I am very thankful to each of them for being there for her on that milestone in her life that I only have a photo of. There is a rumor that we’re going to be able to see a taped dress rehearsal when we come home for the summer. My fingers are crossed for that for sure.

Brianna was thrilled and surprised to see
her Great Grandma Ruth at the show. 

On April 25^th, Egypt celebrated Sinai Liberation Day. We decided to take advantage of having a long weekend and headed to Alexandria so we could put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a longer drive than we hoped with construction and more speed bumps than I could count to slow us up. It was at least nice to see some vegetation along the way instead of just desert. We saw lots of grape vines, palms, banana, apple and orange trees. Our first view of Alexandria was refreshing. The sea was beautiful and the main highway for the city runs right along the coast so you can always see the water and feel the refreshing cool breeze. We found our hotel and were pleased with our room. We actually booked a 2 bedroom suite – and it was very nice.

Once we were settled, we went out for a very late lunch and Becca and Mike ordered a pasta dish that came in a bread bowl.

Becca's pasta bowl.
mmmmm delicious!!!

After our lunch it was finally time to put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty cold – but that didn’t stop the locals from swimming. Most of the women in the water were swimming fully clothed, veil and all. We walked down the beach for a bit then took to the sidewalk. It didn’t take too long to notice that we seemed to be the only tourists in all of Alexandria. It’s not as culturally diverse as Maadi. It was nice to be able to walk and not be hounded by too many people for money (only the odd one – which was much better than some places we’ve been). We stopped to watch the sun set and Mike started talking to a guy who spoke some English. Before we knew it, he was asking to have his picture taken with Becca. On the walk back to the hotel we ran into a man who was on his way to have a beer by himself and he invited us to join him. His English was strong and he seemed very nice so we decided to take a chance and make a new friend. The bar that he wanted to take us to was closed but he spoke, in Arabic, to someone and before we knew it, we were sitting on the shore drinking beer and wine and snacking on peanuts and popcorn. It was strange but nice. We learned that Alain was born in Cairo but grew up in Germany, and owns a flat in Alexandria. After our drink, we exchanged phone numbers with a plan to possibly meet for coffee the next day and went back to our suite.

The next morning, we had a traditional Egyptian breakfast delivered to our room including falafel which I love. We decided to start our sightseeing with the closest venue – the Montazah Palace. It is set in extensive gardens and overlooks a truly beautiful stretch of coast. It was built at the beginning of the 20^th century by Khedive Abbas II, a relative of King Farouk (the last Egyptian King). The palace itself is closed to the public but we enjoyed the grounds and view of the sea.

Next, we met up with our new friend Alain for coffee and then rode a public bus (for the first time in Egypt) all the way to the library. We thought we would just get a taxi but Alain told us that taxis in Alexandria do not run on a meter. The driver would take one look at us and try to get top price (as much as 80LE) and then some. The bus was only 1 pound! And actually, the bus that stopped for us wasn’t even open for business. The driver was on his way to the terminal but saw us and took us beyond where he needed to go so we could arrive safely at the library. The outside of the library was very interesting but we were shocked to find out that it was closed that day. So, we took a photo from the outside and moved on to the Citadel a.k.a Fort Qaitbey. It looks like a castle and has a great view of Alexandria and out to sea. We toured the fort which was just a bunch of stone walls, floors and stairs with exception to the mosque in the middle (the oldest in Alexandria) which had a marble and alabaster tile floor.

After the Citadel, Alain took us to the Greek Club overlooking the harbour for another very late lunch. When lunch was finished, we took the bus back to our hotel and with the heat of the day beating down on us, we were ready to be in for the evening.  Mike and I did take a walk down to a convenience store for some beer and snacks a while later but other than that, we relaxed in our suite. We enjoyed watching a couple old Woody Allen movies on TV.

On Saturday morning, we went to the restaurant suggested by the hotel for breakfast before heading back to Maadi. Breakfast could have been better … I’ll just leave it at that. 

Our time in Alexandria was too short! There are lots of sites we didn't get time to see like the Roman Amphitheater, the Graeco-Roman museum, Pompey's Pillar and the Royal Jewellery museum not to mention the INSIDE of the Library. If there is ever a next time in Alexandria for us, we know where to start.