Our drive via bus from Cairo to Alexandria was a three-hour drive, mostly on a modern highway, through several different governorates (states) where we had to stop very briefly for clearance. We passed many modern gated communities where developers (aka Mubarak cronies!) received land grants at little or no cost from the previous government. Housing developments, shopping centers, apartment developments, retail sites, all the trappings of modern suburban life were interspersed with agricultural areas. Frequently we saw the gates to gated communities with no related development! We passed a huge Nissan plant and the traffic immediately subsided ... apparently the plant creates a great deal of activity in the area. Not much farther along we passed the Smart Village, a town (or city, perhaps) filled with modern office buildings with labels of all the western high tech companies plus housing and shopping. Very interesting!
On the outskirts of Alexandria we began to see autorickshaws like we saw (and rode in) in India. These are three-wheeled engine powered vehicles that serve as taxis or other means of transport. Mohamed told us that they are being imported from India and are not generally used elsewhere. Indeed we did not see them in downtown Alexandria, only on the outskirts, and we did not see them elsewhere in Egypt.
Our first visit in Alexandria was to the Alexandria National Museum, a relatively small mansion with a history as a former king's palace turned US Consulate turned national museum. Its three floors included pharonic art including a mock tomb, Greek art, Islamic art, and Coptic art - virtually a mini-history of Egypt. The presentation and exhibits were excellent. It was nice to be able to focus on the smaller scale after the enormity of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Our primary reason for going to Alexandria was the history but we also had made friends with Bassem Fayad, an Alexandria native who emigrated to the USA, when we were vacationing in Sunny Isles FL in October. He and his family shared their favorite foods and places in Alexandria and the Library was at the top of their list. And so it was with great anticipation that we went to the Alexandria Library. Despite a demonstration in front of the library by activists demanding the ouster of the library's director who was a part of the Mubarak administration, we were able to spend about an hour in this astonishing facility.
Historically the Library was established in Alexandria by the pharoahs who charged each ship coming into the harbor with a copy of any books onboard. Hence, the library became the largest and most extensive library in history until its demise in modern times from an earthquake and fire. A decade ago or so the world heritage effort provided for most of the countries of the world to reconstruct the library and the result is an extraordinary facility and complex which any country would be proud to support ... fortunately the USA did! Go to the web site at www.bibalex.org to get a taste of the resources available.
Our luncheon location was a beautiful hotel on the grounds of the Montazah Gardens of King Farouk's castle (also on Bassem's list of places to visit in Alexandria). King Farouk was deposed by what became Nassar's communist government of Egypt in the late 1940's. His castle definitely is worthy of a king! Our luncheon was fish - first time in Egypt and totally appropriate given our location on the Mediterranean Sea where we dipped our toes and picked up stones for souvenirs after lunch.
One last stop in Alexandria was El Citadel at the site of the famous ancient lighthouse, the first in history to use mirrors as the beacon for ships. The light house was destroyed in the same earthquake that destroyed the library. We walked along the seawall amidst lots of vendors, enjoying the sea air and purchasing several little leather camels for the great grandsons (shhhhhh again) and a watch for Harold.
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