Alexandria, Egypt

We took the train to the city of Alexandria, the ‘greatest historical city with the least to show for it.’ Our intent was to dive the remains of the ancient city, which are now under the Mediterranean Sea. Ironically, we never dove (read poor reviews of the ONE dive shop in town) and our highlight was our time spent with the Hash House Harriers! A small group of wonderful hashers drove us out into the countryside where we ran between fields and saw what no tourist every really sees!

Nothing like encountering a herd of goats, sheep and donkey on your running path! We passed farmers, crossed rickety bridges, jumped across drainage ditches and crawled under irrigation pumps spewing water. I shocked them all by wearing running shorts (women must hide their knees and shoulders…well, and preferably everything else.)

Self photo with a farm horse…also took one with a donkey. I was the official photographer…so had to include myself in a picture! Afterwards we went back to Phil’s (Scottish expat) apartment for a homemade dinner and then on to Dave and Desiree’s (New Zealand expats) for a round of cards. The highlight of the night was throwing paper airplanes off their high rise apartment deck…

The centre of the city arcs around the Eastern Harbor. We spent part of the day wandering around the city…having breakfast at a famous old café, drinking fresh mango juice at the “king of mango” and sipping Turkish coffee (and I mean sipping…strong stuff).

For lunch we headed to Mohammed Ahmed for “fuul”, an unassuming peasant dish of slow-cooked fava beans cooked with garlic and garnished with parsley, olive oil, lemon, salt, black pepper and cumin. Definitely a local hangout…the place was packed…and we were the only tourists. Right up my alley!

That evening we again met up with the hashers. We started with a rooftop Chinese dinner looking over the harbor…and ended with beers at the famous Spitfire bar. We learned so much about Alexandria from our new friends…the good and the bad!

We decided we should be good tourists, and go sightseeing. First stop, Pompey’s Pillar and the Temple of Serapeum. The pillar is a massive 30m column that rises out of the ruins. It is one of the only ancient monuments remaining whole and standing today in Alexandria. The best part is that it is right smack in the middle of a dilapidated neighborhood. One minute you feel like Indiana Jones, and then you notice the flapping laundry on the neighboring patio.

The ironic thing is that my favorite part of the day was our walk between tourist sites. Most people go by tour bus. We passed donkey carts, children playing, and old men smoking their sheesha (water pipes).

The catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa, discovered accidentally in 1900 when a donkey disappeared through the ground. These catacombs are the largest known Roman burial site in Egypt. This picture shows loculi, the holes in which the bodies were placed.

Our taxi driver took us down streets packed with rabbits, ducks, geese, etc. Some came without fur or feathers if you know what I mean. Desiree told me that she got to witness the recent “Feast of Sacrifice” which as the name suggests includes the sacrificing of animals…and that the streets were running with blood. Glad we missed out on that part. On to Aswan and the Nile river!