Alexandria

 We drove  2 1/2 hours straight north of Cairo to Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea for a weekend getaway. Our friend's brother-in-law reserved a hotel room for us right next to the water. Between the long line of apartments and hotels and the Corniche (the strip of beach) is a 6 lane highway. Here is our view of the water, the beach, and this highway:

Happy on our balcony.

 The desk in our room.

Alexandria has a population of 4 million people, so it is a bustling place. The Egyptians love to spend holidays here, especially in the summer, so there are hotels galore, restaurants, cafes, shops ...

Alexandria is also a favourite destination for weddings. As we returned to our hotel we saw 2 wedding parties complete with party frocks, drummers, and musicians. Shop windows are full of wedding related items. Here is the window display of a wedding cake store that caught our eye:

Of course, Alexandria has a long, long, long history. We only had time to browse one National Museum which turned out to be a real treasure with artifacts beautifully displayed stretching from the pharoahs, through Roman and Greek take overs, and finally those from the many other countries that have all conquered Egypt for periods of time - French, English, Turks...

We strolled through Montaza, an expansive park which was once the grounds of deposed (late) King Farouk's Summer palace.

We saw this mystery tree. Does anyone know what it is?

Even in this beautiful place, there was graffiti...

We took time to get to know this more manageably sized city by wandering around. The most fun was strolling up and down a shopping area called Al Rami. We saw shop after shop of bags, shoes, cell phones and cell phone accessories, video games, toys, and clothes.

 Even the cats like to shop.

Egyptians are crazy about anything with English letters - whether they make sense or not.

For lunch, it was recommended that we eat Egyptian food of foul (beans with onions and spices) Egyptian pita (so fluffy and so good), hummus, spicy eggplant, falafels, potato salad, and tahini.

 This is our mezze.



You always know that you are strolling in an Islamic country because the numerous mosques have loud speakers delivering the call to prayer 5 times a day. Here is what this sounded like as we walked in downtown Alexandria.

We stopped for a Turkish coffee (of course!) at an intersection near a new, gorgeous library (to visit on our next Alexandria trip), with a view across the water of the famous Fort Qaitbey, built in the medieval period to protect the city (also to be visited on a future trip). Take a look at our 'quiet' coffee perch:

As we were leaving Alexandria we spotted this street light painter, strolling through traffic with his ladder and bucket.

Clearly we fell in love with Alexandria and we look forward to many more agazas (weekends) there.

on the Alexandria Desert Road

Back in Cairo and eager to try our hands at Egyptian traffic, we chose Alexandria for our first road trip.

Alexandria is a 2 1/2 hour drive north to the Mediterranean Sea... but this blog is not about the destination, it's about the journey!

First we gassed up.

The Alexandria Desert road is a toll road; 5 Egyptian pounds ($0.90 Canadian) each way.

Although the road runs through the  desert, there are many places to stop for a drink,

or to pray..

Vendors selling pottery

and scarves.

This farm is raising pigeons, a favorite Egyptian  meal.

Egyptians love to decorate their trucks,

 and load them up,

and ride in the back.

230  kilometers later, we arrived.

Saqqara: the Step Pyramid

With Peter still in Canada, I hired a tour guide to show me around the Saqqara Step Pyramid site. My adventure started with my drive to our meeting spot, the furthest distance that I have driven so far in Egypt. I was focussing on my driving so much, that I didn’t look up to see where I was! Watch this video clip to see the 6 lanes of traffic that I crossed as well as my surprising view!

Heba, the tour guide, brought her friend, Nahlia, to drive our car the ½ hour trip through the chaotic Cairo streets and a pot-holed, farm-lined road beside a branch of the Nile.

 Along the way we saw farm families…

(This woman posed and we stopped to pay her some money. I love the paintings showing the pilgrimmage to Mecca.)

... and farm animals - passing right beside the car!

Saqqara has a wonderful museum and we saw a video about the Step Pyramid site (thankfully in English). This is what I remember. History buffs, please correct any errors. The Step Pyramid was the first pyramid built in Egypt and was the brain child of the commoner, turned architect, Imhotep. He constructed this 6 step stone monument to commemorate the pharoah of the 3rd Dynasty, King Djoser. The stones are stacked, not attached to each other in any way. Amazing.

The tourist site consists of a temple (the building at the left of this photo) through which you enter the plateau with the enormous Step Pyramid to your right at one end, and steps leading to the underground burial chambers (not open the public) at the other, behind the temple.

Here are some details that captured my interest. 

The outer walls of the temple had indentations where the commoners, who were not allowed inside, laid offerings.  This man is wearing the everyday attire for men working as servants, farmers, or those without education or position.

The stone temple ceiling was made to resemble the palm logs of the king’s palace ceiling. This way King Djoser would feel right at home after his death.

Inside the temple, sanctuary alcoves contained golden, jewel encrusted statues of Egyptian gods. Needless to say, these were all stolen.

The temple columns, like the pyramids, were stacked - no adhesive material!

The columns of later pyramids and temples used fewer, larger pieces of stone.












At both ends of the temple are fake hinges made of stone. These created the illusion of doorways allowing the spirit of the deceased to find the sarcophagus chamber (I am not 100% sure of this detail.) 

And when you step out from the temple, there is the  Step Pyramid!  This quick video might give you a bit of this sensation.

Straight across the plateau from the temple are cobras protecting the entrance to the sarcophagus, the chamber where the mummified body was laid undergrouond.

The cobras glare from a spectacular perch.

 ...and the stairway down to the burial chamber is equally spectacular in the opposite direction. This area is not open to the public.

We walked across the plateau to take a closer look at the pyramid. The Step Pyramid is the only  pyramid with a flat top. Later pyramids added the peak, a symbol of everlasting life and power.

Restoration is ongoing as new limestone is being laid over the original stones.

Heba wanted me to see some chambers under the nearby Pharoah Ti's pyramid involving a 10 minute trek down a narrow, deep, dark tunnel. I declined. Claustrophobia won.

The drive back retraced our path through the lush Nile Delta farmland.

I  saw Cattle Egret...

some straw houses ...

decorated houses ...

and a factory. 

And what would a day with a tour guide be without the mandatory goofy tourist picture?