Alexandria!

Oliver flew in on Thursday, 19 March (I have to write it like that, it is part of the assimilation process. I have also switched my daily weather update to Celsius). He brought me peanut butter and licorice- oh, how I miss licorice. The plan was to have Oliver pretend to live in the dorm, avoiding the overnight-guest fees, but as it turns out, the guards are incredible with faces. They knew he did not live in the dorm without even asking.

I was able to showcase my mad Arabic skillz to Oliver as the cab driver took us to the Ramses Hilton instead of the Ramses Train Station. In my defense, the word for 'station' in Arabic sounds similar to 'Hilton' when pronounced incorrectly. We (Oliver, Jessica, and I) got on an afternoon train to Alexandria.

(Reminder: all of the pictures can be viewed larger if you click on them)

Train station:

This was the first time I could remember being on a train other than the one at the Columbus Zoo. I am a fan. The train ride was only a few hours long and was fairly inexpensive. It went right through the Nile-delta region (hipsters simply refer to it as 'the Delta'). I really enjoyed the scenery- it was nice to see other colors than sand and sandstone. Almost all of the land we went through was farmland.

Scenery from the train:

We arrived in Alexandria in the early evening. We walked around trying to find our bearings and then walked towards the coast where a number of cheap hotels were. We went through what I assume is the main shopping-drag in the city and saw some interesting signs.

Signage (props to Oliver for discreetly taking these):

A gun shop with what looks like a quail-hunting Englishman on the sign - Also, the store name translates to 'Business World'

We kept walking until we saw the Mediterranean. This was my first time seeing it! We found a cheap hotel and decided to stay there. One of the rooms had a balcony.

Here is the view from it:
The Mediterranean!

We walked around the city at night. There was a big mosque, which Jessica and I tried to analyze (we had been studying for several days for an architecture midterm the day before). As we were pointing out the clear Mamluk design and influences, we looked up the mosque in the Egypt guide book and found out that it had been built in the early-20th century- several hundred years after the Mamluks. Defeat.

This is a guide map to help make sense of things and how the city is set up. A number of things are more inland, and therefore are not on the map:

The next morning we set out to see the sights. We started with croissants in Saad Zaghloul Square- I learned about him in my Politics of Egypt class!

Then we walked to the Roman Amphitheater.

We were the only people there at the time, which was very cool. In the actual amphitheater portion, there was a circle marking where the speaker would stand. From that spot, you can speak in a normal volume and be heard just fine anywhere in the amphitheater. It was impressive.

Oliver demonstrates:

There were also a number of statues that were found under the sea (pretty much all of ancient Alexandria is under sea at this point):

The random-cat-thing is not limited to Cairo:
Heiroglyphs:
The texture of these are incredible

Jessica had been to Alexandria before the semester started so she was the official tour guide. She suggested going to Pompeii's Pillar after the amphitheater. We consulted the map. 'Pompeii's Pillar' was not on it, but Khartoum's Column was- must be the same thing! We set out for that. We (really, just me) got mixed up looking at the map and we ended up taking a scenic walk of inland-Alexandria.

A beautiful park:

As we approached the spot on the map, we saw column in a mini-park, but Jessica said it wasn't it. After some deliberations, we decided that Khartoum's Column is not the same as Pompeii's Pillar. We later found Pompeii's Pillar on the map, we were not even close.

Deliberations:

Khartoum's Column (no idea what it is or its significance):

From the column, we took a cab to the citadel.

A look back at the shipyard:
Mediterranean and Religious Graffiti:
Windy:

You can see the amazing library in this picture. It is the building on the right that sticks out horribly.
They had what we think is an old concussion mine just sitting around:
This is my Al Gore tribute (http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0506/al_Gore_VietnamImage1.jpg - it should be noted that there is not a magazine in the rifle!)

Walking back to the hotel:

After a little break, we walked over to the library. I was told it was really cool. It was.

Outside on the walls, there are characters from every language ever known to man (that sounds a bit dramatic, but that is what they claim):
Random knowledge courtesy of Oliver: The 'A' originates from this deer head:
The interior of the library is very- futuristic.
They even have an Espresso Book Machine!!
..well maybe they will have one in the future- whatever it is.

A view of the harbor:

That night, we went to a bar, Cap d'Or, and hung out. It was a fun place. I tried Sakara, a better beer than Stella, I suppose. It costs a little more, but it did taste better. Then again, I am really not a beer drinker.

We slept in the next day. Whenever we woke up, we went to the train station and bought tickets. The next train would not leave for three hours, so we decided to get lunch. I have never had such a difficult time finding a place to eat as I did in the ensuing hours. We walked around for a very long time and could not find anything. Eventually we ate at a Little Caesars. They do still exist! After lunch, we took the train back to Cairo.