Hi All,
Getting the train ticket at the Cairo station was remarkable easy. There were tourist police who helped. Waited out the side of the station as no seats outside after watching a crazy man dancing around trying to catch what appeared to be the sun and give it to people. We just hoped it wasn't us. Onto the train to Alexandria which was amazingly comfortable and clean and I lasted for about 2 seconds before falling asleep leaving Vanessa to guard the bags next to me.
We got to Alexandria in the blink of an eye. Well that was all I saw. Lovely looking station and walked out and over to some old roman ruins before heading to our hotel of choice the new capri. Was a bit expensive at 134EGP or AUD$40 but the view was fantastic over a park and the Mediterranean sea and the harbour that supposedly once hosted one of the seven ancient wonders of the world the lighthouse of Alexandria. The city is really tired and doesn't look like much maintenance has been done since the Egyptians booted out the french (or was it the english) but it still retains some dignity and is pleasant. We walked along the waterfront where a broken footpath needed repair and enjoyed not being bothered too much by taxi's beeping us and locals generally ignoring us and were particularly pleased by the discovery of lots of gelato stores along the way. What were we to do? get icecreams. One on the way out and one on the way back.
We walked out the fortress at one end of the harbour which also had many temporary selling tables of sea shells, egyptian tourist gifts and of course lots of sets of shark jaws. It was friday, muslim weekend, so many families were there just enjoying the seaside and eating lots of fairy floss which could be bought from sellers carrying it around in bags grouped on a stick held above their head. The sales trick was to carry one bag of fairy floss in the hands and twist it to make enough noise to catch peoples attention. There were of course the cheeky children in groups gathering up the courage to say 'hello' to us and 'what is your name?' with smiles. It was nice and the weather was moderate. We figured that the sea air would be good for our colds.
More good new. Back near the hotel we discovered a Kushari takeaway. For 3EGP or AUD$1 each we got a filling container of pasta, chickpeas and a tomato based sauce topping. Mmmm.
Next day. Decided to walk to pompei's pillar. Another roman ruin. Had a quick look from outside then walked to the catacombs. Took a while to find it as there were minimal street signs and we had a very basic map. Didn't stay for long and then tried to figure out the tram but gave up.
Booked a plane ticket to Morocco for the 22Feb and then a bus ticket to Port Said.
