Hello Alexandria
Today we began the next phase of our journey - a 3 day tour that will take us to Alexandria and El Alamein before we say goodbye to Egypt. We were up early, packed, breakfasted and down in the lobby to meet with the wonderful Mustafa who has been a constant throughout our trip. He introduced us to our guide for the next 3 days - Marwa and our driver Saad. Both Marwa and Saad are young and enthusiastic so we are feeling ready for the days ahead.
Onto the road and heading out of Cairo passing though Giza which allowed one last glance of the pyramids before we moved onto the tollway that would take us the 250 km to Alexandria. The tollway has 4 lanes each way and each lane has a different speed limit ... 120, 100, 80 and 70 km/h although really that doesn’t mean a great deal with many cars travelling well above the limit and not always in the dedicated lane.
We passed new housing estates that are being built in a bid to move people out of Cairo and Giza. The medium density estates contain facilities like pools or golf courses in a bid to encourage people to move there. We passed acres of farm land growing a range of crops like bananas, tangerines, olives and grapes. We saw pigeon houses that are used by locals to house their pigeons that are bred to eat rather than race. It was a fascinating drive with a stop along the way at a road stop that had any number of shops from coffee shops to clothing, music stores and bookstores. Driving into Alexandra we saw the huge oil refineries, warehouses and factories that help keep the economy of Egypt alive.
We glimpsed the Mediterranean Sea briefly as we made our way to our one designated destination for the day - the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This is a huge new library that commenced being built in 1995 and was inaugurated in 2002. As Ian and I work with public libraries in Victoria, and increasingly in other states of Australia, we were excited to see this space and see how the library is serving its community.
The library building is an architectural marvel. Spread over 20,000 square metres and made up of 11 cascading levels it is one large open space and yet it has a feeling of peace, quiet and tranquility. It houses a range of books collected by the Bibliotheca and some donated by other libraries and benefactors around the world. It has hundreds of work desks, computers, private study rooms, display galleries for art and antiquities and an incredible digital space that has hands on technology tables that allow you to look at and manipulate digital images - such as the depiction of the mummification process.
We were given a guided tour by the library staff and then allowed rime to explore on our own. Marwa was willing to give us all the time we needed and when we exceeded our allocated time was happy to relax and wait for us to explore more. We wanted to see as much of the library as we could including the children’s and young people sections. These areas are generally not available if you don’t have a child with you or you are over 16 but we asked if we could see them, explained what we did back in Australia and was allowed access. We met the children’s librarian Alia who was fascinated with what we do and more than happy for us to wander and take photos.
After we had explored all we wanted inside ... including our mission in all libraries we visit which is to find a Jane Austen, an Agatha Christie and the most obscure books possible we met up with Marwa again and spent a little time admiring the building from the outside which includes a planetarium and some exhibitions and statues. We then headed back to meet Saad who would drive us to our hotel. Marwa left us at the Bibliotheca as she is staying with family in Alexandria and will meet up with us tomorrow at our hotel.
Saad drove us expertly through busy afternoon traffic telling us there is only one road rule in Egypt ... that there is no rules! The cars did their regular dance through the traffic with the beeping of horns to inform others that you were cutting into the traffic or switching lanes. Our hotel is a little out of the city centre and is in a gated complex with guards, gates and sniffer dogs ensuring we are safe. We made our way to the lobby via the lift and upon walking out of the lift were greeted by a horseshoe of staff holding welcome banners and love signs ... unfortunately this was not for us and whilst we were embarrassed I think the staff were more embarrassed! At that point we didn’t know what all the fuss was about but we were to find out later.
Having been given a room upgrade (this seems to be the norm in Egypt) we were escorted to our room where we promptly dumped our bags, stopping only to put some washing in the bath, and headed back out to explore the neighbourhood. Our hotel is located in one of the largest shopping complexes in Egypt so we had an opportunity to wander the shops, explore the local supermarket, try and explore the local private university where we were denied access (sad face). We walked down side streets, came across abandoned railway lines and eventually looped our way back to encounter the Al Zahraa ballroom building which was a stunning replica of a Roman pantheon. Finally back into the shopping mall and the entrance to a hotel where staff were once again gathered ... chanting, cheering, holding farewell signs ... obviously for some dignitary. We were told by some locals also watching this paparazzi-filled extravaganza that it was the Regional Head of the Hilton hotel chain.
So then back to our room to grab iPads and reading material. Now we are sitting in the Executive Lounge ... with access to free food, soft drinks and wine! It’s like being granted access to an airport lounge ... a bonus for our free upgrade. We have watched the sun set and are now looking at the lights of the cars and street lights on the 14th of May Bridge Road. Not a bad way to end the day.
Addendum to today ... we were approached by the restaurant manager in the Executive Lounge and informed that as his VIP guests we could use the dinner buffet for free and that he was here to assist us. He escorted us around the buffet telling us what each dish is and insisting that he load up our plates. He plated dessert for me ... waaaaayyyyy too much but ah well ... what are you going to do!
Onto the road and heading out of Cairo passing though Giza which allowed one last glance of the pyramids before we moved onto the tollway that would take us the 250 km to Alexandria. The tollway has 4 lanes each way and each lane has a different speed limit ... 120, 100, 80 and 70 km/h although really that doesn’t mean a great deal with many cars travelling well above the limit and not always in the dedicated lane.
We passed new housing estates that are being built in a bid to move people out of Cairo and Giza. The medium density estates contain facilities like pools or golf courses in a bid to encourage people to move there. We passed acres of farm land growing a range of crops like bananas, tangerines, olives and grapes. We saw pigeon houses that are used by locals to house their pigeons that are bred to eat rather than race. It was a fascinating drive with a stop along the way at a road stop that had any number of shops from coffee shops to clothing, music stores and bookstores. Driving into Alexandra we saw the huge oil refineries, warehouses and factories that help keep the economy of Egypt alive.
We glimpsed the Mediterranean Sea briefly as we made our way to our one designated destination for the day - the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This is a huge new library that commenced being built in 1995 and was inaugurated in 2002. As Ian and I work with public libraries in Victoria, and increasingly in other states of Australia, we were excited to see this space and see how the library is serving its community.
The library building is an architectural marvel. Spread over 20,000 square metres and made up of 11 cascading levels it is one large open space and yet it has a feeling of peace, quiet and tranquility. It houses a range of books collected by the Bibliotheca and some donated by other libraries and benefactors around the world. It has hundreds of work desks, computers, private study rooms, display galleries for art and antiquities and an incredible digital space that has hands on technology tables that allow you to look at and manipulate digital images - such as the depiction of the mummification process.
We were given a guided tour by the library staff and then allowed rime to explore on our own. Marwa was willing to give us all the time we needed and when we exceeded our allocated time was happy to relax and wait for us to explore more. We wanted to see as much of the library as we could including the children’s and young people sections. These areas are generally not available if you don’t have a child with you or you are over 16 but we asked if we could see them, explained what we did back in Australia and was allowed access. We met the children’s librarian Alia who was fascinated with what we do and more than happy for us to wander and take photos.
After we had explored all we wanted inside ... including our mission in all libraries we visit which is to find a Jane Austen, an Agatha Christie and the most obscure books possible we met up with Marwa again and spent a little time admiring the building from the outside which includes a planetarium and some exhibitions and statues. We then headed back to meet Saad who would drive us to our hotel. Marwa left us at the Bibliotheca as she is staying with family in Alexandria and will meet up with us tomorrow at our hotel.
Saad drove us expertly through busy afternoon traffic telling us there is only one road rule in Egypt ... that there is no rules! The cars did their regular dance through the traffic with the beeping of horns to inform others that you were cutting into the traffic or switching lanes. Our hotel is a little out of the city centre and is in a gated complex with guards, gates and sniffer dogs ensuring we are safe. We made our way to the lobby via the lift and upon walking out of the lift were greeted by a horseshoe of staff holding welcome banners and love signs ... unfortunately this was not for us and whilst we were embarrassed I think the staff were more embarrassed! At that point we didn’t know what all the fuss was about but we were to find out later.
Having been given a room upgrade (this seems to be the norm in Egypt) we were escorted to our room where we promptly dumped our bags, stopping only to put some washing in the bath, and headed back out to explore the neighbourhood. Our hotel is located in one of the largest shopping complexes in Egypt so we had an opportunity to wander the shops, explore the local supermarket, try and explore the local private university where we were denied access (sad face). We walked down side streets, came across abandoned railway lines and eventually looped our way back to encounter the Al Zahraa ballroom building which was a stunning replica of a Roman pantheon. Finally back into the shopping mall and the entrance to a hotel where staff were once again gathered ... chanting, cheering, holding farewell signs ... obviously for some dignitary. We were told by some locals also watching this paparazzi-filled extravaganza that it was the Regional Head of the Hilton hotel chain.
So then back to our room to grab iPads and reading material. Now we are sitting in the Executive Lounge ... with access to free food, soft drinks and wine! It’s like being granted access to an airport lounge ... a bonus for our free upgrade. We have watched the sun set and are now looking at the lights of the cars and street lights on the 14th of May Bridge Road. Not a bad way to end the day.
Addendum to today ... we were approached by the restaurant manager in the Executive Lounge and informed that as his VIP guests we could use the dinner buffet for free and that he was here to assist us. He escorted us around the buffet telling us what each dish is and insisting that he load up our plates. He plated dessert for me ... waaaaayyyyy too much but ah well ... what are you going to do!
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