Egypt and Alexandria



West meets Middle East.



Our arrival in Alexandria was about two hours late for unexplained reasons.  We met our guide Christina at the dock.  She quickly pointed out that she wasn’t wearing a headscarf because she is an Arab Roman Catholic.  We were surprised to hear that about 20% of the population of Egypt is Christian, primarily Coptic.  But from looking at the streets, it seems that all the women have their heads covered.  Probably only 5% are completely covered with a burka. 

About 80 Million people live on 5% of the land – the Nile valley is where the water is and where the people thrive.  Alexandria sits just west of the Nile Delta on the Mediterranean.

The highlight of our time in Alexandria was a visit to the largest mosque in the city, Abu Al-Abbas.   Men and women enter through different doors, having first checked their shoes just outside.  Once inside, we were able to see each other over a movable wooden screen—running right through the middle of the HUGE open mosque.  There were stacks of loaner Korans available.  We didn’t spend much time, but were thrilled to have the experience.   It was clear that many women come and spend  their morning there camped out in chairs watching the comings and goings.

Carpeted throughout



Korans to Borrow



 Since we had only just arrived the in country hours before, would we get our shoes back without a tip to the “handler” since we had no Turkish lira as yet?   Our guide spoke to the handler and retrieved our shoes without incident.  Jon wasn’t so lucky.  He gave what odd pocket change he had, but it wasn’t enough…. the handler  wanted 1 Euro.  Jon just took his shoes and left, leaving his disgruntled handler behind.



Trams given to Egypt in the 1800s.  Still running



 After a trip to where the 200 BC Pharos lighthouse USED to stand, we drove along the bay visiting the new  Bibliotec/Planetarium, going inside neither.   The Royal Palace built by King Farok as a vacation home was at the far end of the bay—we were offered a photo stop of the outside, but it is closed to the public.  Then we entered the market neighborhood and were able to get our eyes full while we were stuck numerous times in traffic.

The garbage, the burned out cars, the old taxis from Russia,  the numbers of pedestrians  wandering through traffic to get to the deals  offered on the streets.   We laughed as a clothing merchant  heaved a huge pile of ladies clothing in to the air, letting it land on the table  to make the offerings look new to the ladies standing around him.  Then the pawing began….and the scene was repeated up and down the streets.



Shopping in Alexandria



We were surprised how drab and dirty the housing was in the areas we visited.  Some streets were so narrow, there was no daylight between the buildings.  Most windows were closed and shuttered –is there no fresh air available or is privacy more important?