A Day Trip to Alexandria

Yesterday morning we set out for a day trip to Alexandria, Egypt. Our journey began on the subway to the main train terminal downtown, which was under construction. We had to ask someone to point out which train was headed to Alex and then a second someone to direct us to the right train car. The ride was easy and comfortable in the air conditioned 1st class cabin. We met a man sitting across the aisle from us who was home from the U.S. on summer break from his PhD program at a small Georgian college. A cart came through the cabin several times during the 2.5 hour ride selling tea, coffee and snacks.

Roman Amphitheater

When we pulled in to Misr Station in Alexandria we headed straight for the Roman Amphitheater. It's quite literally across the street.


Roman Amphitheater

These ruins were discovered when the foundation was being laid for apartment buildings scheduled to be built on this site. It lies right in the center of busy intersections, tall buildings and communication towers. Having been here before, Seth walked me straight in to the center of the curved seating where a small, flat, round stone marks the floor. I was chatting away and as I stepped onto the stone I suddenly heard my voice echoing and amplified off the stone seats. It sent chills down my arms. I can't express what an incredible feeling it is to stand in a place like that and wonder what transpired here 1500 years ago or more. Who stood here and spoke? Who sat in these rows and listened or argued? What must it have been like to dig down and unearth this?


Seat numbers?

Look closely and you can make out carvings on the facing piece of these bench seats. Is that a "true trail arrow" on the second row up?

The Corniche

From the Amphitheater we began our walk to the Corniche, the main drag along the Mediterranean Sea. We walked everywhere this day, wanting to take our time and just experience the city slowly. We came upon a coffee shop and ducked inside to investigate buying some beans to take home with us, as our local coffee vendor has been out of coffee the last 2 times I have stopped in to buy (tough business model, no?) We struck up a conversation with a couple sitting at the bar who told us this was the best coffee shop in all of Alexandria. What luck! We seem to have a knack for finding the "very best" things in Egypt (See previous post about the "Best soldiers on Earth"). In truth the cappuccinos were great and we got the man's card. He is a travel agent and tour guide in Alexandria with a good sense of humor.

Before reaching the Corniche we took a quick detour to Cap d'Or, rumored to be the oldest bar in Alexandria. It is a tiny place and at 1:30 pm we were the only patrons, but the beer was cold and the dance music playing on the bar tender's cell phone was like stepping back in time...ehem.


Crowded public beaches lined the waterfront on the Corniche

We wound our way along the coast, slowly making out way toward Fort Qaitbey. The sandy strip along the seas was crowded with swimmers and young Egyptians posing dramatically for photos of themselves. Snack vendors were everywhere and, in an effort to hold us over for a late lunch, we bought two big pretzels from a cart for 2 LE (about $0.25 each). We were both a little surprised to bite in to the hard, dry cracker, thinking it would have been soft and doughy from the look of it. Gradually the flavorless swallows began to get stuck half way down our throats and we gave up, tossing them in to a trash bin.


Cotton candy boys wanted their picture taken

Coffee shops and ice cream stands lined the Corniche. We dodged a few cars and minibuses for a cone of sherbet to wash down our crackers and kept on toward the peninsula of land where Qaitbey looks out over the Sea.


Row boats available for rent


Swimmers hanging off a boat


View of Fort Qaitbey across the marina

Near the entrance to the fort we walked passed the ship yard, where yachts are still built completely out of wood, by hand.



Fort Qaitbey

You may be familiar with the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, that used to stand in Alexandria's harbor before an earthquake in 1303 brought it crumbling into the sea. The Fort was built by Sultan Qaitbey in 1480 on the spot where the lighthouse had stood. The builders incorporated some of the stone and granite form the lighthouse into the walls of the fortress.


Basement tunnel in Qaitbey


Fisherman were perched on the rocks behind the fortress


A police guard offered to snap this photo

Working our way up the stairs to each successive level of the fort, we enjoyed the breezes coming in from the Mediterranean. It was a hot day to be sure. The view from the top was spectacular.


Hall way on the third floor


View of Alexandria's coast from the top of Qaitbey


Some of the red granite in this photo may be from the original lighthouse


Iron railing along the top walls of Qaitbey

Anfushi District

From the fort we walked back along the coast toward Anfushi, the working class district. This is a poorer area of town, and has a more authentic flavor than some of the tourist driven beach front we had walked along earlier in the day. At one time considered the Turkish neighborhood of Alexandria, these streets were lined with fruit & vegetable vendors as well as fresh fish stalls and meat markets.


Rabbits. This is not a pet store.


Again, not a pet store.


Heavy carts were along many city streets selling prickly pears, grapes and mangoes.

We stopped for our early dinner at Abu Ashraf Restaurant in this neighborhood. When we walked in off the street we were first told to pick out our fish from the catch of the day displayed on ice. Then we took a seat and waited for it to be prepared, it would be a surprise since we couldn't communicate very well in Arabic. A waiter came and we asked for a bottle of water and some tomato and cucumber salad. A few moments later our table was covered with plates: beet salad, chickpeas, hummus, babaganouj, pita bread, rice and tomato and cucumber salad. A while later the fish came, split open and stuffed with onions, tomatoes and green peppers, it was a feast. We cleaned the fish off its bones and savored every bite with fresh lime. All the while having a conversation of smiles and waves with two little girls at the table next to us.

From dinner we walked back to the train station and settled in to our seats for the ride home to Cairo. As we rode past corn and rice fields the sunset turned the sky purple. Donkeys pulled carts along the canals and people sat under trees along the water as the day came to an end.

We are lucky. Life is good.

The Citadel & Al-Azhar Park

The Citadel

Last weekend we joined some new arrivals to Cairo for a trip the the Citadel followed by dinner in Al-Azhar Park. This is a favorite stop for visitors to Cairo, but a place that we had not yet made the time to visit.

A view of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali Pasha

The Citadel was home to Egypt's rulers for 700 years. Housed within the walls of The Citadel are 3 mosques, several old palaces that are now used as museums and a couple of terraces with views overlooking the city. Construction began on The Citadel complex in 1176 and many different groups have controlled it since then. The most impressive structure within the walls is the mosque to Mohammed Ali Pasha, who rules Egypt in the 1800s. Made of alabaster, the mosque took 18 years to build.

Inside the courtyard of the mosque we noticed the thick layers of dust and city grime. Scaffolding had been erected, but at the time we were there no one was doing any work on it. We both commented on how this place did not seem to be kept up or taken care of to the level that you would expect for such a famous and important religious cite.

The alabaster inside the mosque was striking:




As were the enormous chandeliers suspended from the domed ceiling:




The next photo is a bit dark, but it captures a moment that happened repeatedly throughout the day. Young Egyptians, from 6 year olds like these to university students, continued to approach us and want to take our photos and speak with us in English or Arabic.



I did not encounter this, certainly not to this extent, prior to the revolution. It was nice to sit and talk with these young people (as best as we could manage in broken Arabic and English).



Sandalwood ceiling that was brought in from India:

The National Military Museum

After spending time in the mosque we walked over the the National Military Museum where we saw this statue:

Yes, that is actually a statue in honor of Egyptian soldiers who are, apparently, "the best soldiers on Earth".

But wait, what's this? Could it be?

Yes, this is "The best soldier on Earth"!

This commemorates the Decoration of the Pharonic Fly, which was given to the soldier who "relentlessly pursued his enemy" (much like the way the flies here in Egypt will not give up!)




Did Washington cross the Nile as well as the Delaware?


Ok, this next may be tough to make out, but that is an actual G.I. Joe action figure in the paratrooper display case:


And finally, while I realize this is juvenile, I couldn't resist documenting the catapult exhibit:




Al Azhar Park

Now on to the truly beautiful part of our day. Al Azhar Park is Cairo's answer to Central Park. A short drive from The Citadel, this park was built on land that once held mountains of centuries worth of garbage. It is an oasis in the city and we found many Egyptians out on this beautiful day enjoying the park.


The large tan building is the restaurant where we ate dinner.

A view of the city from the park.


The park had several fountains and a stream that ran through it.






Another mosque as seen from the park


A typical Cairo view of roof tops littered with satellite dishes

Highlands Sky 40 Miler

A couple weekends ago I ran the longest race/course I've ever participated in.  The Highlands Sky 40 Miler runs up some mountains, runs 8 miles along a road on a ridgeline, continues through the Dolly Sods, into a ski resort and finally back on a road for a couple miles to get you back to the starting line. It was a beautifully challenging course that took over 9 hours to complete.





40 miles seems like a long ways. "How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time." So I guess in this case, it's one mile at a time. There were 8 aid stations along the run. One early section was 8.1 miles long (and had the longest climb) but the rest of them were about 4 miles apart. I thought that seemed a little excessive, but as the day wore on, 45-60 minutes between aide stations became a very nice thing.

Who thinks this looks like a good idea?

Early morning start (6am)

The run went over 5,400 ft of elevation gain, most of which was in the first 10 miles. The weather was about as good as you could ask for -- reasonable temperatures, overcast, and a light drizzle for a few miles in the morning. The trail was rough though. Between ankle turners for large portions of the course, and several sections where the ankle-turners were covered in 3-6 inches of water so you couldn't see them, simply running was challenging. But, as many ultra-distance runners will say, sometimes the hardest races are the ones that are completely runable. In this case, the technically challenging course forced me to a walk in many places and probably made the race much more do-able. Still 9:15 is a long time to be moving. Running at the end required a huge amount of effort just to run 11 minute miles. (Compared to the sub-8's I was easily running at the start, that was quite the change.)

Meg got an early morning run in (where it poured rain) and drove over to see me at the aide station around mile 19. That really helped the spirits as she helped with the logistics of finding my drop-bag to change shoes. Changing shoes to run along the 8 miles of fire road was great. My shoes had been unavoidably soaked early on and 3+ hours of running with squishy feet was wearing on me. Dry shoes made me feel like a new person. However, as soon as we finished the road miles, they dumped us almost immediately into a stream crossing and fixed that. As I shuffled the last few miles, we crossed a road where the organizers warned traffic "Caution: Runners in Roadway." I thought that was pretty generous since I wouldn't describe my shuffling as "running".

Aide Station 4. I swear you can see aide station 5 from here, but at least I have dry shoes on.

As I shuffled/ran/walked the last few miles, there was a sizeable hill before getting into the finish area. I think everyone started running as soon as they could see the spectators, but apparently the spectators could see us much earlier. They saw most everyone switch from walk-to-run mode.

We had a chance to catch up with some friends, Kir & Tom, who has blogged about it and has a lot more photos than I do.

Overall, it was a great run, a great day, and exactly what I was looking for in a vacation. Despite a little sunburn, Meg seemed to have a good day as well.