I’ve been to Alexandria a few times, and generally I like it. It’s sort of a strange place to visit, because all the things the city is famous for – the Lighthouse, the Library, Durrell’s Alexandria – don’t actually exist anymore. I’ve talked many guests out of making a pilgrimage up to Alex, because I suspect they’ll be disappointed. Now that said, there are quite a few things that Alex does have to offer – like scrumptious fresh seafood, some excellent Greco-Roman ruins, and a break from Cairo. I never say “no” to a free trip, so when my boss offered an Alex trip, I went ahead an signed up.
The first immediate benefit of staying on someone else’s dime was our lodging – we got to stay in the famous Cecil Hotel right on the bay. These days the Cecil is run by Sofitel, so the days of glamour and intrigue, Justine and Durrell are long over. All the same, when I ran into a digestive upset on our second day, after a huge seafood lunch at the famous Zephyrion in Abu Qir, I was perfectly happy to spend the afternoon in a comfortable bed, watching television.
The second benefit of touring Alex with my boss was his intimate knowledge of incredibly obscure things to see. We started our trip with the tombs of Moustafa Kamel, a set of Greco-Roman tombs with interesting mixes of Greek and Egyptian decorations. Our second stop the first day was to something even more obscure – an alabaster tomb buried deep within the French military cemetery. Now, I ask you, what Alexandrian luminary would merit a tomb constructed entirely out of rare alabaster, and just so happens to lack an identifiable resting place? No way of proving it, of course, but it’s just possible this tiny but incredibly expensive tomb belonged to Alexander the Great.
After (my) traditional calamari and Stella at Cap D’Or, which came with additional fried mystery fishes gratis, followed by an enormous dinner at Fish Market, I hit the sack; these AUC-sponsored trips are never restful. Our bus left early the next morning for the very edge of Egypt and the end of the Nile: the coastal cities of Rashid and Abu Qir.
Coincidentally, I’d just finished reading a book about Napoleon’s aborted invasion of Egypt and the scientific expedition he left behind, so I was well-poised to see the shores of Abu Qir. And Rashid, of course, is also known as Rosetta; the river fort in Rashid is the site of the discovery of the famous Rosetta Stone, which provided the key information necessary to begin deciphering hieroglyphics. Rashid is an old town with somewhat swampy streets. As the only tourists around, we enjoyed walking around the Ottoman town, looking at the architecture of houses, mosques, and madressas.
We even visited a lovely old bath house, a much needed haven for a few moments peace and quiet. Rashid doesn’t seem to get many tourists, so the locals were happy to engage in the national sports of staring at foreigners and harassing women. I actually yelled at a young man in the bazaar for his dreadful manners, and our security detail came and ran him off.
From Rashid we headed down the Nile (north), first to the Rashid Fort of Qaitbey, where the Rosetta stone was unearthed in the foundations of the Fort. Yet again I had the odd experience of Egyptians insisting on having their picture taken with me. This was a very nice family from Alexandria who spoke very good English and apparently just wanted a bit of a chat and a snapshot. Never ceases to surprise me.
(Just so we're all on the same page, the image above right is not the real Rosetta Stone. To Zahi's eternal fist-shaking rage, the Rosetta Stone is in the British Museum - where, I dare say, it's being taken excellent care of. Unlike in certain other museums I could name ....)
We had a splendid view of the river from the Fort, but actually had farther to go: the very end of the Nile, the place where the river finally meets the Mediterranean. On the shore we ran into a party of Egyptian security men who seem to think that the Israelis are planning, any minute now, to invade Egypt by sailing into the river at this point. They forbade us from taking any pictures of their “security measures,” a series of concrete jacks (like the kids’ toy) piled up near the river. You can see these, by the way, on Google Earth, but far be it from me to criticize the oh-so-professional Egyptian intelligence ministry. However, it was possible to turn your back to the jacks and photograph the actual mouth of the river, so that’s what I did. I found myself wishing fervently that KC and I had decided to go to Uganda, so I could’ve seen the head and the mouth of the Nile within a few weeks of each other.
I’d waited for ages to try the place we went for lunch – Zephyrion, a small restaurant right on the water in Abu Qir. But a few misplaced shrimp later (or maybe it was the calamari … or that one fish … or that other fish …) I was in gut-wrenching agony, and I managed to get the bus to slow down on the Corniche just enough for me to hurtle myself back into the safety of my hotel room. Apparently the others got stuck in a lot of traffic and didn’t actually end up doing any more organized sightseeing that day.
The next morning, bright and early we headed out to see the Alexandrian Fort Qaitbey, built on the site of the old lighthouse. And wouldn’t you know it? I was accosted by a group of girls who insisted on having their pictures taken! Can anyone explain this? And check out the attitude on the teeny hejabi with the red veil!
We hit the tried-and-true sites of Kom Al-Dikka and the Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa, both of which I like quite a bit. Since I’d been to both places multiple times before, I managed to spend some time playing with my colleague’s kids, both of whom had slept with their heads in my lap the previous day.
Rather than heading back to Cairo after a full trip (the prudent thing to do), we dashed back to the coast for a few more activities. We visited the Taposiris Temple in Burg Al-Arab, and absolutely enormous temple in relatively good condition that just sits by the side of the road. No tourist police, no tickets; just a short scramble up a hill away from the highway. Apparently there’s a Greek “archaeologist” (ie, woman with a little education and a lot of money) who’s convinced herself that this is where Antony and Cleopatra met their ends before Octavian could do them in. I find the evidence a bit lacking, although I read an article in Horus by Zahi Hawass where he shows a picture of a statuette “he” found there that looks exactly like Liz Taylor. I’m not kidding; he actually had that in the article about the site.
There’s also a lighthouse in Burg Al-Arab (“Burg” means “Tower”) that seems to be the last remaining pharonic lighthouse. It’s this lighthouse, and a single piece of pottery in a museum, that give scholars an idea of what the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria actually looked like. This lighthouse is terrifyingly high (although shorter than the Alexandrian one, probably), unbelievably dangerous, and completely exposed to high winds.
Of course, we climbed it. I found a broken stair most of the way up the rickety wooden staircase that gave me palpitations when the person in front of me stepped on it and it sank 6 inches; I dashed up the stairs as quick as I could onto the ledge. Here’s a picture of some friends on the tower; there must be a picture of me on this thing on someone’s camera, but I haven’t come across it yet. Anyway, how many pictures of myself in mortal terror do I really need?
Then we headed for one last place I’d never heard of: the Coptic monastery of Abu Mina. Abu Mina is a functioning, very large monastery, but we were there to see something far older: the ruins of a vast early Christian pilgrimage site, complete with cathedral and supporting city. Abu Mina is one of the 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Egypt. In case you're keeping score at home, I've seen 5 - I'm still missing St. Katherine's monastery and Abu Simbel.
The vigilant monastery security attempted to prevent us from accessing the site, despite our formal permission to do so. Their reason? Mud. I kid you not. They refused to let the bus pass the gates because they were convinced it would get stuck. Fine, we said, we’ll hike. This precipitated agitated hand waving and hands indicating mud levels on thighs. The only way we could get past them was to loudly and publicly accept full responsibility for our own actions. Can you imagine? People here don’t jump up and down to accept responsibility for any actions – either someone else’s or their own – so I guess that somehow got through to them.
There was a little mud. Like, you had to take a big step to get over the two or three puddles we passed. While we were hiking we came up with an elaborate mud-related practical joke to play on the security guards, but in the end we were too tired to perpetrate it. Probably a good thing.
The Abu Mina visit was really fun. We were all exhausted, but it was good to stretch our legs and push ourselves up and down hills. Over every crest was something to be discovered – a fallen-down wall, a column, a capital, some bricks. The kids were having a good time, and I was enjoying myself quite a bit too. The weather was good and the air was clean – both prime reasons for escaping Cairo. We enjoyed ourselves for a few hours … and then it was time for the long haul back to the crowded streets of Cairo.
1 comment:
We went to Alex last week with my parents. I almost turned into a prawn i ate so much sea food. LOL
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