Alexandria/Iskandria

I promised an update after our Alexandria trip, then realized when I got back to Cairo that I was more pumped to talk about food... typical.

But there were some things of note in Alexandria, such as the amazing amazing library there.  Silly me, I was not aware enough of history and thought maybe there was still a small bit of the original library still in existence-- there is not, but the rebuilt modern library was still extremely awesome to see.  It's built (they think) about 200 meters from the original site, and is a huge complex that includes the actual library with a million books (literally... they have capacity for 8 million, but since the library was only finished 7 years ago, they have "only" one million so far), connected to a planetarium, connected to a huge conference center.  All of these connecting passages are filled with artifacts from all throughout Egyptian/Middle Eastern history, set up museum-style so that you basically have no idea where you are going to come out next.  I would have gotten myself thoroughly lost, except for the fact that we were limited to 45 minutes of free exploring.  Was this enough time for the biggest library in the world?  Definitely not.. so obviously I am going to have to come back some day. 

Next we visited Pompey's Pillar, which I'm pretty sure I read about in my Art History class.  And in comparison to most of the ancient sites we have seen so far, I have to say it was not all that impressive.  The issue was mostly the hot September sun, which made it hard to rally group spirits-- especially considering the growing number of monuments we've taken in, in a short span of time.  (I'm reminded a bit of my complete lack of appreciation for geysers and hot springs after stopping at about the 34th "point of interest" in Yellowstone Park that one vacation... ahem.) :)  We slugged our way up the slope and did the necessary poses by the pillar and the sphinx, but I think all of us were a lot more excited about climbing underground into some catacombs, which is what we did next...

I don't have my ticket stub in front of me so I don't remember the exact name of the catacombs, but there were 90-something steps leading down into a space that was carved full of hieroglyphics and Greek/Egyptian imagery.  That's one of the most interesting parts of Alexandria--the fact that you can still see how much Greek culture has intertwined into the architecture, the religious symbols, the monuments, etc.  The statues from this time period look like normal Pharaonic style, until you look at the faces and hair that are completely Greek, curls, bow-shaped lips and all.

That was about it for our sight-seeing, after which we had a seafood dinner and roamed the city, then spent the night in a hotel close to the sea.  Another opportunity to get really confused by a new and different shower (so far I have struck out three times with getting the water to actually come out of the shower head), and another opportunity to hear some new call-to-prayer recordings through the night.  The next morning we visited the Alexandria museum and then concluded the trip with a couple hours splashing around in the Mediterranean.  This would have easily been the biggest highlight, except for the huge conundrum we faced upon arrival at this beach... where absolutely none of the other women there were dressed in less than a fully covering pants outfit and hijab.  Very self-consciously we ladies finally decided to swim with shirts and shorts over our swimsuits, though this still drew a lot of attention to our group.  And also led to some pretty awkward tan lines.

And now as I'm finishing this update, I've actually just returned from another trip, this time to Upper Egypt (Aswan and Luxor). More stories to come in the next post!