Alexandria

     We caught a nice early flight (had to leave the hotel at 4:30 am) back to Cairo and then from there up to Alexandria. Bryan got to see the Mediterranean Sea for the first time. Since we had the time,  I guess it was as good as place to go as any, but it there isn't really much to see there.  You always hear about the great library that was there but the remains don't look like much. You can see the niches where they kept the scrolls though. There I am with our guide and driver.  The new library, across from the University is much better.

      One of the ancient wonders of the world; the lighthouse of Alexandria, used to be here but not any more.  They do have a fort that they just reconstructed and the Pillar of Pompeii is still standing. It is quite impressive. Bryan was actually in this picture but he only come up a little past the bottom of the base. The pillar is not made of drums but is one large piece of red granite from Aswan and the monument is about 60 feet high.  We met a girl there from Brigham City who was traveling on her own.

     You get quite a view of the city from the pillar spot. Let me see if I can get the videos to work today.

We liked that you could shop for fresh fish from you car. The fish market is just by the side of the road.

   They have a nice mosque but they were having prayers so we couldn't go in.  I didn't have a scarf so I had to wear my hoodie to go on the grounds.

At the fort with many locals out enjoying the nice weather.

 We went to a nice restaurant overlooking the sea and then our guide and driver wanted us to go see the favorite summer vacation spot for the locals. It is just a little beach under this bridge but it has all these small rooms that you can rent and they said it is wall-to-wall people on a nice weekend. To get to it we had to do the Cairo Shuffle to cross the street: stop and run and stop and watch for the side mirror and run again.  That is how you get across the street when there are no crosswalks. Just take it one lane at a time and pray.

We got back late to the Mena House but were welcomed with a wonderful little chocolate cake since we were taking this trip for our 30th anniversary.  Slept in the next morning and spent an hour or so at the pool  - Olympic size and gorgeous and we got to enjoy it pretty much by ourselves. Then it was a late afternoon flight to Jordan.