“I’m like a good cheese. I’m just getting mouldy enough to be interesting.”
-Paul Newman
Go-Date: Day 60, Saturday. March 23
Lesson Learned: Sunday is Monday in Egypt. Of course we all know, Sunday is the first day of the week in America. So it is in Egypt, but Egyptians actually start their work week, or school week on Sundays. Friday is the Sabbath for Muslims (which evidently they are actually expected to worship in a mosque as opposed to taking time out of their day to pray) and a lot of shops are closed.
Saturday is a day off just like in the US, shops are open but offices and schools are closed, and Sunday, the grind begins again.
Regrets: We are having hotel issues in Cairo. The first hotel (Sonesta) was close to the airport but not near any cafés, or stores, so it was a bit of a hike to anything. Their pool was under serious repair and the deck closed, they had a casino that was almost like the ballroom in a tired Holiday Inn in Dumas, Texas, and the restaurants in the hotel were very pedestrian.
Next we moved to the New President Hotel. It was in a crowded, but interesting neighborhood with lots of embassies, the American School, half a block from the Nile, and a nice pizza café connected to the hotel. The room was nice, the beds great, and it had a nice view of the street. We thought we were set, until at 10 PM we heard loud, loud music with a base beat that vibrated throughout the room (think of T-Rex footfalls in the movie Jurassic Park). I went down stairs to inquire about this and was told the music would end in one hour. Three hours later, as the beat goes on, we knew that there was a night club on the floor directly above us. This would never do. We complained to the hotel and to Booking.com and thankfully (while we were in Alexandria) the hotel agreed to release us and refund our money, so on the fly we booked another hotel. We really hated that we had to leave this hotel, we really liked it. I tried to talk Ellen into hanging out in the bar until 2 each night, and oh the looks I got from her.
Finally, we moved to the Pyramisa Hotel, which was right over the city line in Giza. It was close to the Egyptian Museum, and shops in the area (notably a Vodafone office), and it looked good. It was OK, a little tired, but we managed.
Road to Alexandria
Since we now live in Alexandria, Virginia how could we come to Egypt and not visit the original Alexandria? Initially, we planned on going to this sea-side city (about 7 million people I’m told by the locals, though Wikipedia says its 5.2 million). But after talking to people and looking at the sights online, we decided to make it a day trip from Cairo.
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. Why not? If you conquer a country, you can make your capital anywhere you want, and I’m sure Alex had a nice sea-side condo. Rumor has it that a few months after the tossing up the first temple, Alexander left Egypt and never came back to his city because he had things to see, countries to plunder, and stuff to do.
During the next century, Alexandria became the largest city in the world and, for some centuries more, was second only to Rome in size and importance, so of course we had to go see. Also, it was a damned good reason to get out of Cairo. All-in-all, I’d say Alexandria merits only a day trip. There were things we could have seen, but there was no “Must See” item that I researched. While there we visited:
- Alexandria Archaeological Museum
- Pillar of Pompey
- Catacombs (no photos allowed -because they were really boring)
- The Citadel of Qaitbay
- A very average but expensive seafood place on the waterfront
Its also a big city, crowded and busy. I was disappointed and thought the city could have been better presented for visitors.