Hurghada to Charming Alexandria
We left Hurghada via EgyptAir early one morning. The TSA man was not amused with my slow fingers opening the suitcase lock. “One hour!” he barked, thumping his watch. “Now, sir! You exaggerate…it’s not been an hour. Don’t be dramatic, it’s barely 3:30 a.m., I’ve got old eyes, it’s low light in here, and I haven’t had coffee.” He blustered on, and then barely glanced once opened.
Our 5 a.m flight landed in Cairo 50 minutes later. We piled into a bus about the time the sun was rising. The pyramids shimmered in the distance as we drove out of Cairo in light morning traffic. Our “security escort” settled in for a long nap on this 3-hour drive to Alexandria. Grassy islands in the delta bayou of Egypt’s Nile and pigeon cote towers dotted the landscape.
“Pearl of the Mediterranean”
Legendary Alexandria…imagined by Alexander the Great in the 300s BC, a featured character in the Caesar-Marc Antony-Cleopatra love triangle in the 50-30s BC, home to a Wonder of the Ancient World (the Lighthouse) and the first Library, ravaged by earthquakes and tsunamis, and rebuilt in a grand style in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The city buzzes with a cosmopolitan air and a sea breeze.
Our Egyptian guide says that Alexandrians are “tougher” (“the women will hit you if you get out of line”) and their traffic makes even the chaos of Cairo streets seem tame. That last part, I know to be true.
Of all that history, it was the gorgeous but rundown Belle Epoque buildings with Islamic features, sitting along a malecón corniche to the Mediterranean Sea, and the colorful trams ding-dinging their way down grassy tracks that made me fall fast for Alexandria.
A special room
We broke into groups of 3 to go up to our hotel on the 11th floor of Alexandria’s main street. The ancient elevator held 3–or a skinny group of 4. Once in, you close the door behind you, shut the gate and only then pushed the button. Floors pass and air rushes by as the elevator ropes pull and drop through the shaft.
Lucky us, we got a big room with a bigger bathroom, and a giant balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. What a view up there. What wind out there!
The Essence of Travel is…
What is it about a boiled egg, steaming hot tea, and the sounds of a strange city at breakfast? About that first glimpse out the window on the first morning in an old world city? What is it about eating street food while walking? What is it that wraps around me in old cities like this? That pulls me in, rattles me to a quiver, and lights a mood that is the very essence of travel? I wish I knew. I’d do that drug every single day.
Around today’s Old World Alexandria: Trams and Trianon
The trams had my attention from the moment I saw them. Red ones, green ones, yellow ones, blue ones. They ran on grassy tracks, and passed close-enough-to-touch right by our bus window, men hanging out the doors. They made a sound, of shuttling and whirring. I stopped and stared–transfixed–whenever one passed. One morning, I went out early to photograph at the station before meeting Bryan in Trianon, an old world cafe featuring colorful murals, elegant woodwork, and delicious teas, coffees, and cakes.
Around Ancient Alexandria: Library and the Lighthouse
There once was a Lighthouse –a 300+ feet high Lighthouse– where the Citadel now stands. And across the bay, a Library housed 40,000+ scrolls. That was around 200 BC. Today a new library, designed to look like eyes, holds 8 million volumes.
Living alongside the Antiquities
We took a day to visit museums and Pompey’s Pillar. Lovely day walking under a blue sky. The surrounding homes get a daily look at these ancient places. Time compresses and stretches.
Our days in Alexandria had sun and cold wind. We used all the blankets and listened as the shutters banged through the night. We ate well, and snacked on pistachio yummies with hot tea. Alexandria–you are a different Egypt and I’m smitten!
Thank you for reading
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Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.