While it was supposed to be a sightseeing day trip for me, Theo had a press conference to cover, so we went with plan B. Lining the curbs outside of Ramsis are dozens of "microbuses", and with the hundreds of other hawkers, the drivers of these vans aggressively hawk passages to Alexandria. So, with fifteen other Egyptians (many looked as though they were dressed to be going out, including one teenage boy who was in metro bar-hopping clothes--and about a pint of lip gloss...it was 9:15 am), we piled into the back of this cramped and sweaty microbus, and set off onto the desert highway.
Three hours and forty Egyptian Pounds later, we pulled up outside the train station in Alexandria. We got in a cab and drove directly to the library (where the press conference was), which looks like some kind of spaceship. The main part is shaped sort of like a large oblong dome, and its glass and silver exterior stands out from the rest of the grimy Egyptian buildings. I walked for about a mile east along the corniche, exploring a quiet neighborhood filled with walk-up apartments and street vendors. It doesn't really feel like Cairo; the cars don't honk as much, people are more laid back, and everyone is very helpful and nice.
After a nice walk, I found a beautiful seaside cafe with palm frond umbrellas, and within a spit's distance to the ocean. On this cloudless day where the temperature was in the mid-70's and I was getting surf spray on my face, I could not have asked for more. After a tea and a shwarma, Theo's press conference got out (it started an hour and a half late, lasted fifteen minutes, and was largely in Italian... meanwhile most of the Egyptian reporters spent the night before in Alexandria... it seems like the standard for organization here is pretty low), and we went and found a street-front seafood cafe.
At this cafe, you walk into this little room with piles of different kinds of fish, shrimp, and squid. You point to what you want, they put it in a basket and weigh it, take it back, and fry it up. We went and sat at a table on the sidewalk while they brought us this massive seafood feast, complete with veggies, seafood soup, hummos, whole fish, shrimp, and wonderfully crispy and fresh fried calimari. Best meal so far, and I don't really even like seafood.
After a few beers in the Softel as the sun set, looking over the corniche and onto the Mediterranean Sea, we set off back to the train station. The train, even though we couldn't catch it by running after it, is still a colonial experience. The forty-five pound (8 dollar) first-class tickets bought us seats in a cabin that was at least sixty years old. The rickety train, which in comparison to some of the other commuter trains in and out of Cairo is state-of-the-art, was not great to look at, and the ride was at times harrowing. It was, however, comfortable, and included beverage service. Besides the teacart man begging us incessantly for help in attaining an American visa, the two hour train ride back to Cairo was overall a pleasant experience. I just wish we had caught it on the way up, as I missed some of the more picturesque countryside in the darkness.
Alexandria is a beautiful and pleasant city. It is similar to Cairo in ways, but the streets are wide, the air is clean, and the constant bustle seems to have drifted off to sea. In a city dominated by its proximity to the Mediterranean, none of these things come as a shock. Not counting our little adventure to start the day, Alexandria is a perfect day trip from Cairo, one that I plan to take several more times during my stay in Egypt.
No comments:
Post a Comment