Bibliotheca Alexandrina (7 levels of books and reference materials - 4 levels above sea level and 3 below sea level). We could not believe the number of people waiting to get in - we've never seen lines like that in the US, Canada or Britain! Amazing structure and worth revisiting.
Jean, I will give you the website so you can check out the incredible online photos!
I will never, ever, complain about how crowded the Upton Hill pool is after seeing the people at Montaza Palace Gardens!
Qaitbey Fort (built between 1477-1480)
One of the guards came up to me and offered a personal tour of the mosque, the lighthouse artifacts. He went off in a huff when I gave him only 1 pound for his tour.
The marketplace outside Qaitbey Fort.
The ruins at Pompey's Pillar.
Pompey's Pillar (actually erected for Diocletian) in A.D. 293. This red granite column is 30 ft. around and 100 ft. tall. It was transported from Aswan by boat along the Nile, and erected by humans building a sand slope to angle the bottom of the column; then attaching ropes at the top that were pulled in the opposite direction by camels, mules and horses until it was upright.
The pillar is flanked by a pair of sphinxes from Heliopolis.
This was a great day! No classes - 1 long week down and hopefully 3 quicker ones to go. We had a great day tour of Alexandria with Mohammed & Ahmed.
One last story for the day...We had a really nice buffet lunch at Athineos, an Egyptian/Greek restaurant. I went to use the ladies room after the meal,and realized, too late that there was no toilet paper in the stall. I was not in a position to drip dry, and I was alone in the bathroom, so I checked the other 2 stalls with the same result. Then I checked the paper towels - none to be had. So, I used some precious paper that was lying on the floor. When I got outside the door, I saw an Egyptian woman sitting there, passing out all the toilet paper from the restroom in return for money. To say I was livid was putting it mildly. I grabbed a couple of handfuls and took them into the stalls where they belonged. I think she could tell from my actions that it would not be a good idea to ask me for money.
2 comments:
Good to see that you can get out and take advantage of the free time. What great photos!
So, does the Alexandria library have a good collection of DVDs?
Thanks David. Apparently the library has everything. Most of the physical samples are older. What's most amazing is the digitizing and globalization of all types of media - books, video, photos - accessible from your home computer.
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