Day 11 – Alexandria: The Mini-Cairo

My first day in Alexandria was an exploratory day – I just wanted to get to know the city. And my first impression: it seems very similar to Cairo, though on a much smaller scale. Rather than holding a population of 22 million people, there’s “just” 4 million … still a big city. The city as a whole consists of about a 20km stretch along the Mediterranean Sea, though I stayed within a 3km stretch in the central part of the city.

Aside from the noticeable size difference, a lot about the city felt very similar to Cairo. These are a few of the commonalities I observed: lots of people; lots of traffic; lots of local restaurants, but some western ones planted here and there (McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, and Baskin Robbins seem to be the most common throughout Egypt). Both cities have an important body of water – the Nile River going right through the heart of Cairo, and Alexandria built along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. There’s a definite big-city feel to both places – lots going on all the time, even (and especially) late at night. Both cities have some historical places, as well as some very new and modern ones, too. There are some tourist attractions, but also many hidden, local gems. (For this, I’m thankful I had the Lonely Planet guidebook to point out a few for me.) As I spent more time in Alexandria, I learned that it does have a bit of a different feel than Cairo, more of a European influence to it. But all in all, they are both great cities, unique in their own separate ways.

So, now to my day. I slept in, enjoying the comfort of my king-size bed and my sea-view in my $20/night room. It was amazing! (P.S. For any of you who want to travel in Egypt, you can definitely do it at reasonable prices. It’s getting there that’s the hard part … and why I had to take advantage of being so close!) After a relaxing breakfast at the hotel looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, I took a taxi to the Alexandria National Museum. There was so much history to look at in here. The basement floor gave a review of Pharaonic times in Egypt. It was basically a summary of everything I saw in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The ground floor was focused on Greco-Roman history, filled with lots of statues and artifacts. And the upstairs was concerned with the Coptic and Islamic era, dating from the 800s to within the last century.

After getting museumed-out, I walked down towards the water to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This building had some amazing architecture. It reminded me a lot of the Seattle Public Library. It was a beautiful structure from the outside, worthy of many pictures. It had a very unique-looking roof that had a disk-like shape like the sun. And the inside was beautiful as well, with huge arching ceilings and large open rooms. There were many different levels with so many books, and even the entire bottom floor devoted solely to maps! Plus, there were exhibits, sculptures, and paintings all through the library. And of course, crowds. After being out of the touristy-feeling places for a couple days, I was right back in the thick of it, though not as bad as Cairo or Mt. Sinai.

After my sightseeing was done for the day, I walked along the water back towards central Alexandria. I had some Egyptian pizza, called fiteer, for lunch, and then went to a coffee shop to read and relax. I made a brief stop in at the hotel before heading out for the evening, which consisted of walking along the water, watching the sunset, enjoying a delicious Chinese dinner at a rooftop restaurant, and some amazing cheesecake and a desert shop not far away. While traveling alone may not be the most fun way to see the world, I didn’t have too much to complain about today.