Alexandria Bibliotheca

Neither of us slept especially well, probably too hot to sleep and the Cairo street noise was loud. We were awake by 2:30 am and tried to get back to sleep for over an hour but eventually gave up and busied ourselves in the room. After showering and cleaning up, we packed for the trip to Alexandria. We went to breakfast around 6:30 and ate with Bill and Nichole From Ontario. We went back up to our room in the Steigenberger Hotel to clear the safe and check out when we discovered that we were unable to get the room safe open. We got the hotel staff up to try the electronic pass key, but it didn’t work. They tried replacing the batteries in the keypad, again with no success. They ended up pulling the safe from the wall, knocking holes in the back of the safe and using a long screwdriver to take the door off. It was quite an ordeal. We tipped the workers, extracted our cash and passports from the safe and headed for the bus to meet the group who had been waiting for us. As in our other Cairo trips, a bodyguard was on the visits with us.  In addition, any time that we entered any hotel or attraction, there were security guards and metal detectors.  The hotels typically have dogs that sniff the bus before we can enter the grounds.

Monastery of St. Bishoy

Mary and Cindy talked and played cribbage on the bus ride to Alexandria while Mark and I watched the passing landscape or snoozed along the way. Our first stop was at a Coptic Christian Monastery at Wadi El-Natron. This church was founded in the 4th century AD, and many of the church’s structures, artifacts and iconography are original to the church and are 1600 years old. Many worshipers come to the monastery to pray at the body of the church’s founder, St. Bishoy.

Worshipers at the body of St. Bishoy

The body is wrapped in an ornamental weaving and located in a place of prayer. A monk from the church gave us a tour of the facility and told us a great deal about the history and beliefs of the Coptic Christians. After we left the monastery, we walked around the bazaar just off the church grounds. A vendor had parrots and monkeys for sale, and one monkey took a liking to Mark and expressed interest in going home with him.

Mark with a friendly monkey

We boarded the bus and continued north to Alexandria where we stopped the Cecil Hotel, an elegant old hotel that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. We had a first course of crepes stuffed with cabbage and other vegetables. The main course was veal tips in a phyllo cup with ornately served mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables on the side. Dessert was a chocolate mousse with dark chocolate shavings on top.

Our next stop was the new Bibliotheca Alexandria. This beautiful new library opened in 2002 and is a state-of-the-art library that replaced the original library that the Ptolemies built thousands of years ago. Guides at the library took us through several of the displays and special exhibits. Everyone was impressed with the library and wished we could have stayed longer.

Alexandria Bibliotheca

Our hotel, the Alexandria Hilton Corniche, is very nice and conveniently located on the Mediterranean. Our ninth floor room has a nice water view, and the bed is comfortable. We were surprised that the rooms all have ash trays and matchbooks on the tables, which is something we hadn’t seen in a long time. We also noticed that each piece of permanent furniture had an arrow on top indicating the direction of Mecca. We saw a walkway along the sea across from our hotel so we went out for a long walk before dinner. We stayed out until nearly 7 pm when we went to the private room in the hotel’s Lebanese restaurant to eat with the group. Dinner was souvlakia, chicken on a skewer, with an assortment of breads and potatoes. Dessert was a plate of assorted traditional Egyptian desserts, many of which are made with honey and crushed nuts.

Mary & Cindy at sunset on the Mediterranean Sea

We are hoping to get a good night’s sleep. Mary and Cindy played cribbage in the room while I wrote the journal and did my German lessons. We are looking forward to going back out in Alexandria tomorrow to see some of the area’s attractions.