As we leave Cairo, our destination is the port city of Alexandria. Founded near a Mediterranean fishing village by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, Alexandria rose to fame during Cleopatra's reign, when visitors from across the ancient world came to view the splendor of the grand port city.
Before the Nile reaches the Mediterranean Sea, it breaks apart into many different forks, forming a delta, a part of a river that branches out before reaching a larger body of water. With its fertile soil, the Nile Delta is a rich agricultural region.
As we drive along, we see many trucks loaded with produce headed to the port city.
About an hour away from Alexandria, we stopped at the St. Bishoy Monastery. The monastery's history goes back to the 4th century AD.
We went inside where we joined a group listening to one of the monks talk about the Coptic Orthodox church. The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the first century.
On top of the Coptic Orthodox church next door is the coptic cross. It is considered a sign of faith and pride to the Copts.
We continued on to Alexandria and checked into our hotel, the Cecil Hotel Alexandria. Forgot to take a photo of the room, but here's one from the hotel's website that was very similar.
This hotel is said to have been built on the very spot where Cleopatra famously took her life with an asp and ended 2,500 years of Pharaonic rule.
We have a room with a balcony that overlooks the bay and a very busy street.
It's been Tarek's goal for us to try various means of transportation while in Egypt. So far we have ridden in/on a mini-van, a bus, a tuk tuk, a pickup truck, a dehabeya, a ferry, a hot air balloon, a camel, a horse-drawn carriage, and today we will ride on a city tram!
We ride the tram and watch out the window as the locals are heading to work and school.
Our destination is the Royal Jewelry Museum, a restored palace filled with precious jewels, art, and royal artifacts.
We need to put on shoe booties before entering.
The history of the museum starts in 1919, when it was originally the palace of Princess Fatima Al-Zahraa Haidar, of the Egyptian royal family. Fatima had a love of art and beauty and decorated the palace with statues, paintings and stained glass, all with a European flair.
The highlight of the palace are the stained glass panels found in the main hall. Famous French artists were commissioned to create these masterpieces, which recount the tales of famous European love stories from the couple's first meeting to their wedding.
Even the bathrooms are true works of art.
Since this building is called the Royal Jewelry Museum, there are many displays of royal jewelry. About 11,000 items.
This is the one that I liked.
After the museum visit, we were back on the bus and headed to the bay where we relaxed under an umbrella with some water or soda.
It was fun to watch some children play in the surf...
and a local mother keeping an eye on her children enjoying the sand and water.
In the afternoon we visited the modern Library of Alexandria. It sits some 400 yards away from the original Bibliotheca Alexandrina. During Cleopatra's time, that library held some 700,000 scrolls and was considered the greatest library of the ancient world. It was destroyed, possibly by Julius Caesar who ordered the burning of the library as part of his strategy to overthrow the city,
This modern library opened in 2002 and can accommodate 8 million books.
The outside wall is carved with random letters, but not words, from roughly all 70 written world languages.
Inside the library has the most up-to-date technology and can accommodate 5,000 students at one time.
There are interactive screens. With the swoop of your hand, this screen goes inside a mummy's sarcophagus.
It certainly was the biggest, most impressive library I've ever been in....and the only library I've been to that charges admission!
The next morning we traveled to the fishing village and former port city of Rosetta. We passed by many fishing boats under construction or being repaired.
And people working. We recognized those reed crates that are used to transport produce.
And there were many brick making facilities.
We stopped at an old fort, which played a very important role in history. The fortress was built during the 14th century to defend Alexandria from the advances of the Ottoman Empire. But that's not why it it is famous.
In 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovered a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing while reinforcing this wall in the fort. He found the Rosetta Stone!
There's a replica of the stone enclosed in glass in the fort. The real Rosetta Stone is on display in the British Library in London. The Rosetta Stone became the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
We went into the town formerly named Rosetta, but now known as Rashid. There were groups of school children there. When they saw our group, they stopped and stared.
But soon realized we were friendly and then wanted their photo taken. Our Trip Leader said that these kids live in a poor, rural area and we are probably the first non-Egyptians they have seen. Tourism had pretty much stopped from 2012 when the revolution took place until very recently.
I think the teachers had their hands full keeping the kids in line while we were there.
While in the town, we walked through the local market.
And watched the locals at work. This one is making those reed baskets.
Then we toured the Rashid Museum.
The museum is located in a restored 18th-century house. Four stories high, it is typical of the tall, brick houses of wealthy Ottoman merchants.
Every time we turned a corner, there were kids fascinated by our group and wanting their photo taken.
We ended the day by stopping by Montazah Palace for just a photo op. It was built in 1902 and has 233 rooms. The gardens surrounding the palace are beautiful.
Back at our hotel, we entertained ourselves by watching the traffic down below from our balcony.
This is how the locals cross a busy street. They don't bother with finding a stoplight (of which there are few). They just cross anywhere. Watch the group of 3 people behind the yellow/black car cross this very busy street.
1. Just get out there and cross the first lane of traffic just ahead of a bus...
2....then meander your way across the 2nd lane of traffic between the oncoming cars...
3. casually walk across the 3rd lane of traffic and you made it!
The next morning we went to one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World...the Catacombs of Kom ash-Shuqqafa.
The catacombs (or tombs) were discovered accidentally in 1900 when a donkey hauling stone stumbled and disappeared through a hole in the ground. These catacombs make up the largest-known Roman burial site in Egypt and one of the last major works of construction dedicated to the religion of ancient Egypt.
The catacombs consist of three tiers of tombs and chambers cut into bedrock. Entry is through a spiral staircase where we descended over 100 steps.
and entered the principal tomb chamber. When it was constructed in the 2nd century AD, it was probably a tomb for a wealthy family.
But over the 300 years that the tomb was in use, more chambers were dug out until it had developed into a hive that could accommodate more than 300 bodies.
To end our exploration of Alexandria, we headed over to the National Museum.
The national museum is located in a restored palace and contains about 1,800 artifacts that cover the history of Alexandria throughout the ages, including the Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras.
Some of the artifacts are 2,500 years old; they were excavated around Alexandria and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Mummies are shown in a special underground chamber.
The next morning we travel back to Cairo, where we finish up our Egypt adventure.
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