Alexandria

The view of the sea from the Citadel

To take advantage of the weekend when some of our friends had off of work, the day we got back from Sharm we also headed to Alexandria. Commonly known just as Alex, it is a beautiful city north of Cairo on the Mediterranean cost. Historically it was a city of much prestige, and now many interesting artifacts and ruins still remain. Today Alex is mainly a coastal city popular for Egyptians to take a vacation to during the summer. Many Egyptians also might have an apartment in Cairo and one in Alex as well as a way to get away from the craziness of Cairo on the weekends.

It reminds me of many cities along the Mediterranean, as it has a long Corniche (avenue along the sea), nice beaches, blue water, and everywhere you can small the sea and feel the salty air. We left very late Thursday night in order to spend Friday and Saturday in the city before returning Saturday night. Luckily, a friend offered to host all of is in his family's apartment for the weekend, so we had a big sleepover and were treated with such amazing hospitality that we felt right at home.

On Friday we visited the most important sites: the Alexandria Library and the Citadel. The Library is a highlight for most tourists and one of my favorite places to visit. Now a huge modern building in the center of Alex along the sea, it is historically famous for once holding all of the ancient knowledge of the world (mathematics, language, history, etc.) and being a home to many scholars. It is not expensive to enter and they even offer free tours. The building is amazing to look at (from inside and out) because each detail was carefully planed in its construction. There are normal collections but special exhibits as well- this time we got to see one on Anwar Sadat (the third president of Egypt). It had a really neat collection of his personal items and information on his life and assassination.

In front of the Library

After a meal of fuul and falafel at the infamous Mohammed Ahmed restaurant, where even the Queen of Spain ate, we went to the Citadel at the end of the Corniche to watch the sunset. It is possible to enter the old fortress, but most people just go to the outside area on the sea to sit, hang out, and in the evening see the setting sun. In Egypt people seem to enjoy sitting outside in really scenic areas (along the Nile on a bridge, in parks, along the sea). Smart sellers create makeshift cafés by putting out plastic chairs and tables and offering drinks and a place to sit. It has always been a funny sight to me to see families sitting on the bridge in Cairo when a million cars are passing by honking and screaming.

The Citadel

The next day we spent on the complete opposite of the city in the Montazah. A friend once compared this area to the Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy and in a way it is- it is in a closed off area where inside are gardens, private beaches, hotels, and King Farouk's old palace, It's such a a nice area and really worth visiting, just even to walk around for the afternoon. We stayed until the sunset but unfortunately had to return to Cairo so everyone could go to work the next day and so we could watch Spain in the World Cup final!!