Day 6 – The Other Side of the Mediterranean
The destination today was Alexandria, a place 2h30min away
from Cairo. The later destination was Cairo airport (shockingly also 2h30min
away from Alexandria) en route to the final destination that was Luxor. I had
to work this all by going backwards from my 10:10pm flight to Luxor, knowing I
wanted to have dinner at Bab Al Qasr, a tidy 15 minutes from the airport, and
had to get there from Alexandria. Honestly, had I realized Alexandria is so far
from Cairo (not that it took much effort to do so), I probably would have spent
a night there as well, but instead I got up at 6 and headed off North with the
aid of an Uber driver and cajoled and convinced into driving me for the day.
The drive to Alexandria was fairly routine; I mostly slept
during the 2.5 hours. The little part of it I was awake for I got to see
Egypt’s fairly first world highway system, with well paved, multi-lane roads
(and drivers adhering to lane markings more than in other countries). We rarely
encountered any traffic on the way, and before I knew it (mostly because I was
asleep) we were in Alexandria.
Very quickly you realize this is a different place than the
bustling Cairo. There was less traffic, more open air, the great Mediterranean
in the background, and condo buildings on the other side of the street. It
wasn’t as idyllic a view as Nice or other European Mediterranean towns, but not
too far from it either. Alexandria also covers a much larger expanse of area
than I thought, meaning seeing the four different sights that I was planning to
hit (Library, Citadel of Quitbay, Manzatah Palace Grounds and the Royal Jewelry
Museum) with a lunch with be nigh impossible. I had to re-calibrate and with
that drop the Montazah Palace grounds as it was the furthest out of the
different stops.
The first, and most important, and probably best, was the
Bilbiotheca Alexandrina (Library of Alexandria), a stunning modern re-build of
the ancient library that drew in scholars from far and wide. The building is an
active library, which was well used by local students at the University, but
behind the rows of books was a testament to the history of the building.
The building itself is built on a slope that leads down
towards the coast-line, with six levels (two above the entrance, four below).
Each has special exhibits that essentialy make up a well fit out paid museum
inside the library. Few of the exhibits
are included in the price of the regular admission, such as a history of
printing presses through the years that are placed in the grand atrium. A guided tour gives a good review of the
various touches inside the building that harken back to the Ancient Library.
The paid exhibits are essentially a history museum with
various artificts of Egpytian and Roman times, as well as modern art by Egyptian
Artists. The best exhibit was probably the collection or rare scrolls and
manuscripts – which like so many other places in Egypt don’t allow photographs.
The library as a whole was a tremendous place to just get lost in. Through all
the exhibits and the open space is a beautiful modernization of one of
history’s great buildings.
Lunch followed, a spot called Zephere restaurant on the
Mediterranean. Zephere was well reviewed, but is more of a dinner spot as there
were only about three other filled tables during the meal. The restaurant also
serves only fresh fish that you buy in a set-up ‘fish market.’ I got fried
Calamari, which was perfectly cooked and lightly dusted, and a fish of whose
name I don’t know that was grilled nicely, again dusted with some excellent
spice mix. The restaurant was a bit out of the way, but the food was quite
incredible.
After food, there was limited time to see the remaining two
spots so it was all a bit of a rush, all the way through to the flight at
10:10pm, so it was a bit touch and go through the rest of the day, with a few
nice sites and food along the way. The first stop was the Citadel at Quitbay,
which was a fortress castle at the tip of Alexandria, furthest out into the
Mediterranean. The castle is now empty, but it is a well kept structure with
lookouts and turrets and frescoes inside where the mini-mosque once stood. The
final stop was the Royal Jewelry museum, again on the coast, again with a hefty
photo fee that stopped me from taking many photos of the excellent jewelry
displays in the museum.
From that point, we ended our mini-jaunt through Alexandria,
a power-packed six hours seeing some of the main stops of the city. Alexandria
is a good looking town, with the main city center having really nicely laid out
their coastline. It would have been nice to be a little closer to Cairo, bit
again I probably should have spent a night and more of a fuller day than I did.
The most stressful part of the day was getting dinner at Bab
Al Qasr and making it to the airport in time for the flight. Bab Al Qasr is a
top rated restaurant by Tripadvisor, though it is far out from Cairo city,
situated inside the beautiful Royal Maxim Palace by Kempinski (apparently some
5-star European hotel chain). The hotel was stunning, so much so I was
immediately worried I had gotten myself into some ultra-expensive place.
Luckily, that was not the case, most apps were $5-9, and mains $10-25,
basically a decent US restaurant. The setting was great, low chairs, low lighting,
a stage set-up for live entertainment that starts 10pm nightly. I may have a
similar window to grab dinner here when I fly back to Cairo before I head to
South Africa, and that one may coincide with the live show.
I got kofta as a starter and a lamb shank with saffron
spices as a main, both great; the lamb in Egypt can be cooked so well, so
delicately. I had to rush through dinner, probably to the annoyance of the
staff at the restaurant, but it was the situation I was on. In the end I made
it to the airport and checked my bag in at 9:26, a minute after boarding
started. Was naver once asked why so late, or given any trouble, but it was
definitely closer than it needed to be. In the end, trying to get in four
sites, five hours of driving, two nice meals, and make a flight is a lot to ask
for, and just getting it all by the skin of my teeth made it all the better.
The flight to Luxor was uneventful, as the issues with
Egyptair that are so obvious on long-haul routes (e.g. no alcohol), don’t
really make a dent on domestic service. Luxor is a very different town than
Cairo, in that it is a town, the Nile is right there, and it is built nearly
purely on tourism as economy. The cool air was a nice surprise as well, far
less dust in the air than the more urbanized Cairo. We reached the Hilton
Resort around 11pm, a beautiful resort that sadly I would spend barely any time
in, having to board the cruise down the River Nile early tomorrow. The 2nd
phase of this trip will start in earnest when I board that little ship.
