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| Our guide Mohammed - our driver Sahid - our Hyundai van |
On our first day in Egypt we spent lots of time in Giza - the site of the Great Pyramids. They dated back to 2500 BC. The second day we went to Alexandria along the Med Sea. To do that - our driver and guide sped us through time rapidly.
Our car took 3 hours to get to the important sites in Alexandria. It also sped us through time about 2700 years to around 200 AD. This was the time when Alexander the Great from Greece ruled this middle of the world. He chose this site because he could easily get back to Greece and Rome. They also constructed a water path to the Far East. Boats could come into the harbor and take a distributary south to Cairo. Then they built a canal to connect the Nile River with the Red Sea. Alexandria was its capital city.
The three sites of Alexandria that we visited were -
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| In the Catacombs |
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| Three cultures inside |
1 - The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa - which were used from 200 to 400 AD - were full of art from Egypt - Greece - Rome. Then they were covered over and laid dormant for 1700 years. They were discovered by accident when a donkey fell into the entrance in 1900. We were able to go down into the catacomb - but photos were not allowed. The Catacombs are one of the seven wonders of the middle ages.
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| A model of the original 330 foot Alexandria Lighthouse |
2 - The Lighthouse of Alexandria - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - was built around 250 BC. It was 330 feet tall. It was a real lighthouse - with a fire that could be seen 40 miles away. They used metal to create a reflector. It was destroyed by 3 earthquakes many hundreds of years apart. Parts of it stood until 1480 - when it was torn down and the stone was used to build Fort Qaitbey. We visited the fort that was being pummeled by waves from the Med Sea. The Lighthouse along with the Great Pyramids are two of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
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| Alexandria Library Stacks |
3 - The Alexandria Library - started around 300 BC and was famous through the ancient world. It survived over 300 years when it supposedly caught fire during a battle when Julius Caesar was setting fire to his own ships. Many papyrus scrolls were detroyed in the fire. Today - they have build a new symbolic library - that has become famous in its own light. It is modern architecture and it takes the shape of the sun. Since Lulu teaches library science - this was a must see place for her.
It was a very long day. We started at 6 am - drove 3 hours from Cairo to Alexandria. We had a lovely ocean front restaurant glass room to ourselves. We slept most of the way back to our Cairo Hegeinberger Hotel. When we got back we planned to go out to eat - but feel asleep - and settled for a late supper in our hotel restaurant.
We got to see much of the countryside outside of Cairo. We were in the Sahara Desert - the Med Sea Harbor - the Nile Delta. We cruised on a modern highway that had 4 lanes each way. At one point our guide said the Jerusalem was 5 hours down that highway. I was tempted - but our passports were at the hotel.
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| Fort Qaitbey |
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| Fort Qaitbey |
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| Waves pound the lighthouse site |
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| Fort Qaitbey |
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| Shooting Range |
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| Library tour |
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| Alexandria Library |
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| Sitting on a book |
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| Model of the sun library |
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| University of Alexandria next to library |
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| Nile Delta farming |
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