Thursday, March 16
1:02 pm CST
9:02 pm Alexandria
I went to dinner. But, it was a buffet so I could quietly exercise my right not to gorge. Hard to resist the dessert table though, especially after getting cheated out of ice cream earlier today.
Well, this is the last night in Alexandria. Have to pack everything up, again. Five-thirty wake-up call tomorrow.
This is also possibly the last time I’ll have internet access. We start our drive towards Libya tomorrow, stopping at El Alamein (site of a decisive WWII battle, I’m stoked for that) en route to Marsa Metrouh for a night’s rest before the border crossing sometime Saturday. No idea what the internet situation, or any situation for that matter, will be like over there. I’ll take notes and tell you all about it in April.
tisbah al-khayr!
P.S. I wish foreign words were admissible in Scrabble: Arabic’s got a shitload of Q with no U words.
Showing posts with label alexandria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alexandria. Show all posts
16 March 2006
I am so sick of eating.
Thursday, March 16
10:27 am CST
6:27 pm Alexandria
Another huge lunch, at the same place actually, just upstairs in the “fish” restaurant (yesterday was the “chicken” restaurant). I thought I had escaped the onslaught by denying the fish to two different waiters, left to munch on mezze (appetizers like hummous, baba ghanouj). Nope. Just as I finished my meal’s worth, the head waiter comes out with a big bowl of pasta, followed by another waiter with a plate of French fries. A vegetarian meal here apparently consists of every dish on the menu sans meat. I intentionally skipped breakfast this morning because I was grossly overstuffed from last night when it was a plate of steamed veggies and rice, spaghetti in tomato sauce, and fries – on top of the soup and mezze everyone else had! Then I get skimped on dessert because they think I don’t eat dairy, so while everyone had ice cream, I got fruit. Probably for the best. I must have gained ten pounds already, despite all the walking. Thinking about skipping dinner tonight and just ordering soup to my room.
Our day ended a little early today, a welcome change. Bus rolled up to the hotel around 4 pm. Unfortunately there really isn’t much to do around our hotel. We’re at the very end of the strip, the Corniche, bound on either side by more hotels or apartments buildings. No shopping. I’ve yet to really experience an Egyptian bazaar. Souvenirs will have to wait for Libya, though I heard shopping kind of blows there, too. There MUST be Qaddafi crap.
First stop was the catacombs of Kom el-Shugafa, a huge burial complex with some fantastic carved and painted tomb decorations. The chambers go on and on, for multiple levels, one room leading to yet another. You could get super lost in there. We weren’t allowed to. (I wasn’t wearing proper exploring shoes, anyway.) Photos were not allowed inside, so I bought a book with some nice shots.
Then we went to Pompey’s Pillar a few kilometers away. It’s a big slab of pink granite about 30m tall surrounded by a couple of sphinxes. I think Heroes’ Square in Budapest is much more impressive. This was a bit boring, like someone just put up a tall column. There isn’t much decoration on the column itself. The pillar is actually a monument for Diocletian, not Pompey. (My Egyptian and Greco-Roman history knowledge has quadrupled on this trip.)
THEN, we got to go the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the new library “inspired” by the great library of yore/lore. Just opened in 2002 in a really neat round building that has letters from 120 languages, ancient and modern, from around the world etched into its outer façade. It’s part of Alexandria’s revitalization project. (Trying to regain its status as a world cultural center.) Our tour guide spat out dozens of little factoids, most of which I remember but probably don’t need to clog up this space with.
The reading room is seven storeys and awesome. Lots of natural light. Perhaps the Norwegian architect wanted to make good use of that precious natural resource that his country lacks half the year. I would never get any work done in there, though.
We already talked about lunch.
After lunch, we only had one site left, Kom el-Dikka. There’s a Roman Odeon with the “sweet spot” still in tact. When you speak from the center stone your voice echoes perfectly through the theatre. Sounds a bit like when you’re speaking into a telephone receiver and you hear your voice echo back at you. (Or what you finally realize is your voice…) While I tested out the acoustics to confirm this, I refrained from exclaiming, “Are you not entertained?!?” Saving that one for the Libyan amphitheatre. The site also had a mosaic museum, called The Villa of the Birds, and some more artifacts that have been excavated from Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor. Water erosion is creepy, faces just melt off.
Oof. It’s almost time for dinner and I can still taste lunch. What to do… I should go socialize for a bit, given that I’m working and all. Hisham keeps covering my bar tab so maybe I’ll take advantage of that while I still can: no alcohol in Libya!
10:27 am CST
6:27 pm Alexandria
Another huge lunch, at the same place actually, just upstairs in the “fish” restaurant (yesterday was the “chicken” restaurant). I thought I had escaped the onslaught by denying the fish to two different waiters, left to munch on mezze (appetizers like hummous, baba ghanouj). Nope. Just as I finished my meal’s worth, the head waiter comes out with a big bowl of pasta, followed by another waiter with a plate of French fries. A vegetarian meal here apparently consists of every dish on the menu sans meat. I intentionally skipped breakfast this morning because I was grossly overstuffed from last night when it was a plate of steamed veggies and rice, spaghetti in tomato sauce, and fries – on top of the soup and mezze everyone else had! Then I get skimped on dessert because they think I don’t eat dairy, so while everyone had ice cream, I got fruit. Probably for the best. I must have gained ten pounds already, despite all the walking. Thinking about skipping dinner tonight and just ordering soup to my room.
Our day ended a little early today, a welcome change. Bus rolled up to the hotel around 4 pm. Unfortunately there really isn’t much to do around our hotel. We’re at the very end of the strip, the Corniche, bound on either side by more hotels or apartments buildings. No shopping. I’ve yet to really experience an Egyptian bazaar. Souvenirs will have to wait for Libya, though I heard shopping kind of blows there, too. There MUST be Qaddafi crap.
First stop was the catacombs of Kom el-Shugafa, a huge burial complex with some fantastic carved and painted tomb decorations. The chambers go on and on, for multiple levels, one room leading to yet another. You could get super lost in there. We weren’t allowed to. (I wasn’t wearing proper exploring shoes, anyway.) Photos were not allowed inside, so I bought a book with some nice shots.
Then we went to Pompey’s Pillar a few kilometers away. It’s a big slab of pink granite about 30m tall surrounded by a couple of sphinxes. I think Heroes’ Square in Budapest is much more impressive. This was a bit boring, like someone just put up a tall column. There isn’t much decoration on the column itself. The pillar is actually a monument for Diocletian, not Pompey. (My Egyptian and Greco-Roman history knowledge has quadrupled on this trip.)
THEN, we got to go the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the new library “inspired” by the great library of yore/lore. Just opened in 2002 in a really neat round building that has letters from 120 languages, ancient and modern, from around the world etched into its outer façade. It’s part of Alexandria’s revitalization project. (Trying to regain its status as a world cultural center.) Our tour guide spat out dozens of little factoids, most of which I remember but probably don’t need to clog up this space with.
The reading room is seven storeys and awesome. Lots of natural light. Perhaps the Norwegian architect wanted to make good use of that precious natural resource that his country lacks half the year. I would never get any work done in there, though.
We already talked about lunch.
After lunch, we only had one site left, Kom el-Dikka. There’s a Roman Odeon with the “sweet spot” still in tact. When you speak from the center stone your voice echoes perfectly through the theatre. Sounds a bit like when you’re speaking into a telephone receiver and you hear your voice echo back at you. (Or what you finally realize is your voice…) While I tested out the acoustics to confirm this, I refrained from exclaiming, “Are you not entertained?!?” Saving that one for the Libyan amphitheatre. The site also had a mosaic museum, called The Villa of the Birds, and some more artifacts that have been excavated from Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor. Water erosion is creepy, faces just melt off.
Oof. It’s almost time for dinner and I can still taste lunch. What to do… I should go socialize for a bit, given that I’m working and all. Hisham keeps covering my bar tab so maybe I’ll take advantage of that while I still can: no alcohol in Libya!
15 March 2006
footnotes, addendum, etc
Wednesday, March 15
1:41 pm CST
9:41 pm Egypt, Alexandria
i'm mostly writing these entries on the bus, on the go, so i'm not too keen on spell checking. hanging up my grammar police hat for this one.
also, all the photos are uploaded at low-res so i don't exceed my bandwidth. so they look really crappy, but trust me they're only a little crappy. hi-res full photo album (over 600 already...) will come once i get back home.
i just ate a five-course meal and i wasn't even hungry. egyptians take it personal when you don't finish what's on your plate.
1:41 pm CST
9:41 pm Egypt, Alexandria
i'm mostly writing these entries on the bus, on the go, so i'm not too keen on spell checking. hanging up my grammar police hat for this one.
also, all the photos are uploaded at low-res so i don't exceed my bandwidth. so they look really crappy, but trust me they're only a little crappy. hi-res full photo album (over 600 already...) will come once i get back home.
i just ate a five-course meal and i wasn't even hungry. egyptians take it personal when you don't finish what's on your plate.
amazing alex
Wednesday, March 15
9:50 am CST
5:50 pm Egypt, Alexandria
I know I've well exceeded my limit on the use of the word "amazing" to describe something. But, it just is! I suppose you could easily insert awesome, stunning, breathtaking, cool, neat, etc at any point.
i'm sitting on my balcony watching and hearing the waves crash ashore, and it's amazing. I've taken the same photo at least ten times. It's a view, but more a feeling, that I don't want to forget. Something about being in Alexandria. This city is oozing with history, you can (well I can) just sort of feel it in the air, yet its odd in its lack of physical proof. What city is more fabled than the legendary Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, stage of the Cleopatra, Caesar, and Antony saga, home of the world-wonder lighthouse and the greatest library in the ancient world? But there's virtually no remaining evidence of any of it, and what does remain lies at the bottom of the harbor. Except for this statue of Isis, recently brought up fom the depths and believed to be from Cleopatra's Palace:
There is totally different vibe in this city from Cairo. I wouldn't even know they were in the same country. On the whole, Alex is more, for lack of a better word, cosmopolitan. Cleaner, by far. I actually saw trash bins. More orderly, less overt poverty, though I did see homeless for the first time. (I think everything is run down enough and everyone is moving so fast in Cairo that you can't tell.) The walkway along the sea is awesome. Alex is a very long city, not very deep, so the bulk of the development is just off the shore. Five million people live here. Another six million show up in the summertime to escape the heat of Cairo and cities further south. It also rains here, which helps to clean up the streets, which are paved, not dirt.
We started the day at the Fort of Qaitbey, which is believed to be the site of the Great Lighthouse. Well, let's back up a smidge. After a lovely sunrise, the skies turned the most fantastic shade of blue; pure cerulean, not a cloud in sight. The drive to the fort took us right along the shore line and through centuries of architecture. The fort is a bright beige stone that just GLOWED against the blue sky. It was pretty cool in an of itself, but the building and the views out into the harbor and around the whole city were just, well, amazing.
As usual though, it was the people around the site that made it memorable. There were dozens of schoolkids running around the fort, probably on a field trip. They all shouted out hellos to us, and tested their one phrase in English, "what is your name?" The more advanced of the group delved even further with, "where are you from?", "how old are you?", and --yet again -- "are you married?" Like my own attempts at throwing out a phrase or two of a totally foreign language, they did not understand any response beyond yes or no. They all knew the word for camera though. Hams, all of them! Kids are kids are kids, no matter where you go. I got a lot of really cute shots of them all, cuz of course as soon as one kid started to pose they all came a-runnin'.
After the fort, we went to a tomb (the first of many...), this one was the Necropolis of Anfushi, 300 BC or so. Pretty neat stuff, death's not really my thing though. What was intriguing is that we saw that the fine art of trompe l'oeuil, or its current incarnation as "faux finish", is by far not a modern innovation. The folks designing this tomb were a little short on marble and other fine stones, so they just painted the rock they had to look all fancy. What's even more interesting, is that in this particular tomb, the faux finishers were not even the first to come up with that idea: they painted over an even earlier wall pattern lined to look like rectangular slabs of granite.
The National Museum of Alexandria was next. Very well labeled in contrast with the Cairo Museum. Also housed the bust of Akhenaten that I find so striking. I didn't know it was there, so that was a bonus. Bought the catalog.
Again, made friends with the Egyptian schoolchildren outside. (Oh, that's their other stock phrase: "I am Egyptian.") Took a few more photos of the kids posing with some of our people on the tour. One of the girls spoke impeccable English, asked us the usual questions and went on to welcome us to Egypt and wish us a good journey. She asked for my email address, which I responded to with a total blank look cuz I had no idea what she was saying. How often does a 10 year-old Egyptian girl ask for your email address? And she pronounced it, "emmel". I ended up giving it to her once I deciphered the request. It'd be cute if she wrote, my little Egyptian email pal. (Is that creepy?)
My little friend is the older girl in the pink sweater
Lunch was three courses of pure indulgence. Just as I was nearing the unbuttoning point from the main course, out came the dessert cart. Yes, cart. At lunch. There's a patisserie just next door to the restaurant, and they deliver. Profiterol in dark chocolate sauce, holy crap.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up by tomb after tomb after tomb BUT, and this is where I got kinda into it, we made a little side trip, not on the agenda, not advertised to the public, not even open (more paper persuasion) to a tomb that may, according to reputable sources based on logical assumptions, be the proposed tomb of Mr. Alexander the Great himself. It's a phenomonal structure of solid, as in one piece, fine alabaster, located just on the outskirts of an Italian Christian cemetery where some texts indicate he may have been laid to rest.
There is no way to prove the hypothesis right or wrong. The evidence put forth by the proponents of the theory posits that, because of the extremely fine and high quality nature of the material used for the tomb, the fact that the stone was hauled up 900 miles to Alex from the area of Luxor, and the general story about his death and subsequent burial, this is a tomb that most *certainly* housed a person of great stature for all of eternity, and *possibly* could have been the man himself given all the location and other variables. Pretty effin cool, eh? The tomb sits in a little backlot overrun with weeds. No one goes there.
View from the bus: Fishermen walking along the Corniche at sunset
So now, back at the hotel, watching the sun set over the Mediterranean. I love the sound of waves. Missing all of the people I wish could be here to see this, too. I don't get the feeling of the trip flying by, which is good and bad. I was told once I reach "hump day" (halfway point), time will fly. I say, that may be the case usually, but we will be in the Libyan desert at that point, and after three weeks away from home, camping in the sand might be the last thing anyone wants to do. I'm taking bets on who in the group is going to break first.
9:50 am CST
5:50 pm Egypt, Alexandria
I know I've well exceeded my limit on the use of the word "amazing" to describe something. But, it just is! I suppose you could easily insert awesome, stunning, breathtaking, cool, neat, etc at any point.
i'm sitting on my balcony watching and hearing the waves crash ashore, and it's amazing. I've taken the same photo at least ten times. It's a view, but more a feeling, that I don't want to forget. Something about being in Alexandria. This city is oozing with history, you can (well I can) just sort of feel it in the air, yet its odd in its lack of physical proof. What city is more fabled than the legendary Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, stage of the Cleopatra, Caesar, and Antony saga, home of the world-wonder lighthouse and the greatest library in the ancient world? But there's virtually no remaining evidence of any of it, and what does remain lies at the bottom of the harbor. Except for this statue of Isis, recently brought up fom the depths and believed to be from Cleopatra's Palace:
There is totally different vibe in this city from Cairo. I wouldn't even know they were in the same country. On the whole, Alex is more, for lack of a better word, cosmopolitan. Cleaner, by far. I actually saw trash bins. More orderly, less overt poverty, though I did see homeless for the first time. (I think everything is run down enough and everyone is moving so fast in Cairo that you can't tell.) The walkway along the sea is awesome. Alex is a very long city, not very deep, so the bulk of the development is just off the shore. Five million people live here. Another six million show up in the summertime to escape the heat of Cairo and cities further south. It also rains here, which helps to clean up the streets, which are paved, not dirt.
We started the day at the Fort of Qaitbey, which is believed to be the site of the Great Lighthouse. Well, let's back up a smidge. After a lovely sunrise, the skies turned the most fantastic shade of blue; pure cerulean, not a cloud in sight. The drive to the fort took us right along the shore line and through centuries of architecture. The fort is a bright beige stone that just GLOWED against the blue sky. It was pretty cool in an of itself, but the building and the views out into the harbor and around the whole city were just, well, amazing.
As usual though, it was the people around the site that made it memorable. There were dozens of schoolkids running around the fort, probably on a field trip. They all shouted out hellos to us, and tested their one phrase in English, "what is your name?" The more advanced of the group delved even further with, "where are you from?", "how old are you?", and --yet again -- "are you married?" Like my own attempts at throwing out a phrase or two of a totally foreign language, they did not understand any response beyond yes or no. They all knew the word for camera though. Hams, all of them! Kids are kids are kids, no matter where you go. I got a lot of really cute shots of them all, cuz of course as soon as one kid started to pose they all came a-runnin'.
After the fort, we went to a tomb (the first of many...), this one was the Necropolis of Anfushi, 300 BC or so. Pretty neat stuff, death's not really my thing though. What was intriguing is that we saw that the fine art of trompe l'oeuil, or its current incarnation as "faux finish", is by far not a modern innovation. The folks designing this tomb were a little short on marble and other fine stones, so they just painted the rock they had to look all fancy. What's even more interesting, is that in this particular tomb, the faux finishers were not even the first to come up with that idea: they painted over an even earlier wall pattern lined to look like rectangular slabs of granite.
The National Museum of Alexandria was next. Very well labeled in contrast with the Cairo Museum. Also housed the bust of Akhenaten that I find so striking. I didn't know it was there, so that was a bonus. Bought the catalog.
Again, made friends with the Egyptian schoolchildren outside. (Oh, that's their other stock phrase: "I am Egyptian.") Took a few more photos of the kids posing with some of our people on the tour. One of the girls spoke impeccable English, asked us the usual questions and went on to welcome us to Egypt and wish us a good journey. She asked for my email address, which I responded to with a total blank look cuz I had no idea what she was saying. How often does a 10 year-old Egyptian girl ask for your email address? And she pronounced it, "emmel". I ended up giving it to her once I deciphered the request. It'd be cute if she wrote, my little Egyptian email pal. (Is that creepy?)
My little friend is the older girl in the pink sweater
Lunch was three courses of pure indulgence. Just as I was nearing the unbuttoning point from the main course, out came the dessert cart. Yes, cart. At lunch. There's a patisserie just next door to the restaurant, and they deliver. Profiterol in dark chocolate sauce, holy crap.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up by tomb after tomb after tomb BUT, and this is where I got kinda into it, we made a little side trip, not on the agenda, not advertised to the public, not even open (more paper persuasion) to a tomb that may, according to reputable sources based on logical assumptions, be the proposed tomb of Mr. Alexander the Great himself. It's a phenomonal structure of solid, as in one piece, fine alabaster, located just on the outskirts of an Italian Christian cemetery where some texts indicate he may have been laid to rest.
There is no way to prove the hypothesis right or wrong. The evidence put forth by the proponents of the theory posits that, because of the extremely fine and high quality nature of the material used for the tomb, the fact that the stone was hauled up 900 miles to Alex from the area of Luxor, and the general story about his death and subsequent burial, this is a tomb that most *certainly* housed a person of great stature for all of eternity, and *possibly* could have been the man himself given all the location and other variables. Pretty effin cool, eh? The tomb sits in a little backlot overrun with weeds. No one goes there.
View from the bus: Fishermen walking along the Corniche at sunset
So now, back at the hotel, watching the sun set over the Mediterranean. I love the sound of waves. Missing all of the people I wish could be here to see this, too. I don't get the feeling of the trip flying by, which is good and bad. I was told once I reach "hump day" (halfway point), time will fly. I say, that may be the case usually, but we will be in the Libyan desert at that point, and after three weeks away from home, camping in the sand might be the last thing anyone wants to do. I'm taking bets on who in the group is going to break first.
i was right
my ass is sore from climbing all those rocks yesterday. makes me feel a little less gluttonous for making second and third trips to the buffet tables. (most of our meals have been buffet so far.)
off for our first day in alex. first stop, the fortress of qaitbey.
off for our first day in alex. first stop, the fortress of qaitbey.
14 March 2006
I stand corrected
3:14 pm CST
11:14 pm Egypt, Alexandria
Egypt is a forward thinking country when it comes to internet access. Free for all! Including me. Well, not exactly free. But available. Wireless in my hotel room in Alexandria. Woohoo! Awesome time for my voltage converter to go on the fritz.
Since the last entry, we made a couple more stops on our very long voyage to A. Stopped at the monastery, very interesting. Then at the site where the Rosetta Stone was found. The fort was actually closed, but some paper persuasion got the guards to open up the gates for us. Very interesting and all, but my favorite was meeting the little kids playing around the fort.
Arrived at the hotel at about 7:15pm, just in time for our 7:30 dinner. My hotel room is a vast improvement over last night, despite being much smaller. Little balcony on the 6th floor overlooks the beaches and the Mediterranean Sea along the Corniche, sort of like Alexandria's version of the Riviera.
It is now past 11, and though we have a 7am wake up call (it's been 5:30 for the past two days), I need to get some sleep.
11:14 pm Egypt, Alexandria
Egypt is a forward thinking country when it comes to internet access. Free for all! Including me. Well, not exactly free. But available. Wireless in my hotel room in Alexandria. Woohoo! Awesome time for my voltage converter to go on the fritz.
Since the last entry, we made a couple more stops on our very long voyage to A. Stopped at the monastery, very interesting. Then at the site where the Rosetta Stone was found. The fort was actually closed, but some paper persuasion got the guards to open up the gates for us. Very interesting and all, but my favorite was meeting the little kids playing around the fort.
Arrived at the hotel at about 7:15pm, just in time for our 7:30 dinner. My hotel room is a vast improvement over last night, despite being much smaller. Little balcony on the 6th floor overlooks the beaches and the Mediterranean Sea along the Corniche, sort of like Alexandria's version of the Riviera.
It is now past 11, and though we have a 7am wake up call (it's been 5:30 for the past two days), I need to get some sleep.
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