we took a weekend trip north from cairo to alexandria, once one of the most important cities in the world! now it is not even close to holding that kind of title, but is still solidly egypt’s second city. we took an early morning train and got there at about 11 am. we were staying at the a-crap-hole hotel but a few of us decided to come back the same day because we were starting to get sleep deprived at the time. first we went to the catacombs which are ancient underground burial chambers. very cool. then we tried to go to a newly built $300 million us funded library but it was unfortunately closed. the library was built in honor of alexandria’s famous library of antiquity.
note to self: a friday during ramadan may not be the best time to visit alexandria because almost everything was closed. the only place we could find any food was the kfc. it was nice to get away from the busyness of cairo and see the mediterranean sea. we walked for kilometers along the cornish, which is the main road along the waterfront. we walked out to a point where a famous lighthouse used to be. we finished the day with some chicken dinner in a back alley. a great day in alexandria!
