The nicest things we saw in Alexandria the other day were the catacombs, the seashore, the citadel, the new and modern bibliotheque, and King Farouk's palace which he left behind when he peacefully left for Italy with all his wealth in the 50's and Nasser and his military cronies took over. We spent the night on an overnight first class sleeper train (definitely not the Orient Express) on the 14-hour trip to Aswan from Cairo where we returned to yesterday from Alexandria. The train stopped and started, bumped along, stopped around the time of prayers and started again. We were excited to hang out in the club car but found out the only available beverages were juices, coffee, tea or soda. Looking out the window the landscape has changed. There are many many palm trees and I saw a herd of sheep and a sheperd. Aswan is the very African part of Egypt with dark-skinned people, Nubians. We will be going on a felucca, a typical Nile sailboat. The hotel is supposed to be very nice with free wifi in the lobby. It is difficult to find Wifi here at all and if there is WiFi, it's usually not free. (Egypt, a tourist destination for years, has not caught up to newer tourist destinations like Vietnam and Cambodia, where there is Wifi everywhere and even in the rooms).
[Ed., See pictures of Alexandria in previous post.]
Judy
2 comments:
The native's are restless there hoping to get rid of US-backed dictator Mubarak. Poor Egypt is today's scapegoat like China was once. Heard one Egyptologist claim there was something "unearthly" inside the Great Pyramid. hmmm . .
First of all, sorry to have been out of touch.
I must catch up with your blog.
Secondly, this is a very well written post.
Third, are you safe?
This morning's NYT says US is providing evacuation flights to its citizens. Please stay safe. Looking forward to catching up with you upon your return!
Lots of love,
Karen
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