Egypt - Alexandria

At the Citadel, built where the lighthouse once stood

First day we’ve seen clouds.   Lol no rain and said clouds were entirely decorative, but we did, technically, see some!

I will forever love being by the water

Today we ventured to Alexandria.  We have a new guide as this was not connected to our Insight tour, and, well, definitely a different level of tour, but it was still fun and interesting.   Again a private tour - this time on purpose ;).  We were picked up at our hotel and drove the 2h to Alexandria with a brief stop midway at a decidedly touristy road stop. 

A pretty touristy rest stop - but shockingly nobody trying to sell us $1 trinkets

The first place we visited was the catacombs of Alexandria.  Interesting combination of Egyptian, Greek ,and Roman cultures.  Far more people than we’ve experienced at other points on the tour so far; likely a combination of partially the later start and partially the guide’s choices; we’ve learned on this tour how useful having an amazing guide really is ;)  

Our guide told us about some of the greek, roman, and egyptian symbolism in the art

This is multiple levels, not all of which have been excavated yet, we went down a few to explore - both some grander tombs and the more normal-life ones. 

Looking up from part way down into the catacombs

There was a small temple right next to it which we also visited.  Again vibrant colours and interesting combination of art.  Alexandria is a city whose layers of history work together somehow in a unique and fascinating manner.  Egyptian, Greek, Roman - all left their mark.

In the temple

We did get to see more statues - and another Sphinx, but Alexandria gets rain so nothing was in as good a condition as those in the dryer regions.

There was a space marked - not quite centred but close,
where if you spoke even quietly your voice was naturally extremely amplified

Next up was the amphitheater.  Smaller than expected but still interesting.   The voice amplification if you stood in just the right place was very cool.   Less cool- the thing about loose pants being cooler than shorts?  That’s only true with zero humidity.  As soon as there’s even a little, I’m wishing I’d worn shorts.

Roman Ruins - this uwas once part of a school

At the same site are also the remains of an old school, a Roman Bath that was used to store gunpowder and, well, I’m sure you can figure how that ended, and a few mural fragments that have somehow survived the ravages of time.   And all this came about because they started digging in the dirt for a new construction project and accidentally uncovered history.  I can only imagine how annoyed they were ;-P

Remains of the Roman Baths

We visited St Mark’s church which would have lots of significance if we were remotely religious.  We did listen to the story and take the tour, but I think both of us have had enough religious components of this tour - we opted to skip the Mosque which was next up in favour of more library time.  The only thing that was mildly interesting to me is it’s the same St Mark as the one in Venice, and I have fond memories of all the life happening in the square out front of it when I was there a lifetime ago ;) 

What the lighthouse used to look like

Next up was the lighthouse - or, where the lighthouse used to stand ;). In the 15th century they repurposed some of what was left to build a citadel built on the site of the original lighthouse.  The British bombed it in the 1880’s so much of it is a restoration.   There was further restoration work being done as well.  Some great views though and a fun time wandering around - esp once we got outside where, again, very few people were.

Kinda love the combination of elements here:
war window in the citadel, harbour view, city on the other side...

We had lunch at a fish market.  The views were lovely, the food was okay, but the experience was kind of awkward as it was just us, but a pre-paid menu so we weren’t really selecting anything, and we weren’t told drinks weren’t included - which we happily would’ve paid for, except nobody was interested in taking our order because, of course, it had already been submitted.   But was interesting to look out on the water - one small portion had even been roped into swim lanes.

Chris in a green section of the citadel

After that, the Library.  Yes the original is long gone, but a new one has been rebuilt in its spirit and is fairly incredible.   The outside is visible from quite a distance - including the fish market where we had lunch.

If you look closely, it's covered in writing in a number of different languages

The main portion of the library had stacks (of course), copious reading/studying areas, and random history components such as printing presses.  There was an art area, and an area with models, and all sorts of other components. Far more than I generally expect in a library.  

Printing press - you may be able to slightly see some stacks / reading area in the background

We also added on entrance to the Manuscript room once we discovered it wasn’t included cause, well, I couldn’t not ;).  

I spent a disproportionate amount of time in the Manuscript room;
Esp considering only one or two books in English ;)
I've always been fascinated by marginalia, and how it impacts the text -
they had an entire display of it.

After the library the tour ended fairly abruptly as our ride pulled up on a busy street, and we were off back to the hotel.   Again we wandered over to the area where we knew we would find food and selected another location.  We almost went inside since they had AC and it was hot and extremely loud (horns/traffic/etc), but one step in we remembered abruptly that smoking indoors is acceptable here, and chose to take the outdoor chaos instead.   

A long day, a very different experience from what we’ve done so far on this tour, but still good and fascinating to see.  It made me realize how much I’ve missed greenery!

Greenery at the site of the Roman Amphitheatre 

More random photos:

Cobra's played heavily into the catacomb motif

The less-grand part of the catacombs

Chris heading down into the catacombs

In the catecombs

You could walk the embattlements;
Almost nobody else chose to.

In the Citadel

Wider view of the Amphotheater for scale and context

The temple near the catacombs

Wandering the embattlements of the Citadel