Day 91 - Alexandria, Egypt

 

Date:  April 9

 

Location:  Day 91 - Alexandria, Egypt

 

Next Port:  Rhodes, Greece, April 10

 

Quick Summary:  Our early morning tour of the highlights of Alexandria included visits to Abu El Abbas Mosque, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Citadel of Quait Bay, the Montaza Gardens and Palace, the Catacombs of Kom El Shuquafa, the Alexandria National Museum, the new Alexandria Library and lunch at the Fish Market.

 

Report:  We were on the buses at 7 a.m., a very early start for a very special visit to Alexandria.  Known as the “Pearl of the Mediterranean,” this ancient city is the second largest in Egypt and is located on the Nile River delta at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. It is the principal port and economic-commercial center for Egypt. The city has a much different feel from Cairo in ambiance and cultural heritage. Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and was the capital of Egypt under the Ptolemaic pharaohs until the arrival of the Romans in 30 B.C.

 

We began our tour with photo stops at the Abu El Abbas Mosque, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Citadel at Quait Bay. The mosque is an ancient building rebuilt in 1767 with a rich and imposing architectural structure, said to be built over the burial ground of the thirteenth century saint. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a beautiful monument of white Carrara marble. Quait Bay is the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria.  Built by Ptolemy I Sorter, it was the last of the seven to be built and the last to be destroyed (thought to be by an earthquake). The lighthouse was begun by one of Egypt’s last pharaohs, Ptolemy I Sorter, and was the only “wonder” that had a practical use in addition to its architectural elegance.

 

We continued our drive along the Mediterranean coast to Montaza Gardens, 115 acres of gardens surrounded by great stone walls.  Inside the walls is the Montaza Palace, built in 1932 by King Fouad and inherited by his son King Farouk, the last of the Egyptian kings. This palace is as it was when the king was dethroned in 1957 and does not allow visitors for fear of vandalism by some still unforgiving Egyptians.

 

Our next stop was to the amazing Catacombs of Kom El Shuquafa, an ancient Roman cemetery discovered in 1900. This site is three levels cut 90 feet deep into existing rock and accessed by a series of descending steps. We saw many of the crypts that once held 300 dead.

 

We then headed to the Alexandria National Museum which features artifacts from the Pharaonic and Greco-Roman times to Coptic and Islamic times. It also houses many items found at the bottom of the sea due to the subsiding of the coastline of this part of Egypt over the centuries. There are plans to use submarines to take tourists down to the bottom of the sea to observe the wealth of artifacts remaining there.

 

A major highlight of today’s tour was our visit to the Alexandria Library. This library’s history began in the third century BC with a collection of thousands of texts collected from every known continent.  The ancient library also held a museum and a school. Just about its entire collection was destroyed by fire in the fourth century A.D. Today, a magnificent new 21st century library has been built to continue the ancient tradition. This Norwegian architectural design includes a circular complex linking glass and Aswan granite into a façade etched with letters in many languages to symbolize the world of learning that lies within. It was a spectacular design that houses handwritten manuscripts, printed matter and stored computer data. It was a most impressive stop.

 

We then headed to a beachfront restaurant, The Fish House, where we enjoyed a wonderful fish lunch and steaming hot pita breads and hummus. The surrounding beaches were jammed with Greek families enjoying the First Day of Spring holiday known as Sham El Nessim or “Breath of Air.”

 

Our last stop of the day was the Roman Theater unearthed during excavations in 1960.  This well-preserved theater includes galleries, sections of mosaic flooring and marble seats for up to 800 spectators. We enjoyed exploring the site and testing the acoustics of this ancient theater.

 

We joined Capt. Dag and six other guests in Compass Rose for dinner. We appreciated the second invitation, since Karen was not feeling well as wasn’t able to attend the first time. The conversation was lively and Capt. Dag is a verygracious host. Following dinner we had a great time at the cabaret show by our singers. 

 

It’s hard to believe that we only have three weeks left in our world journey.

 

Karen and Larry

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

Photos of our visit to Alexandria have been added.