Epicuriosity

We took the early morning train to Alexandria. We got to see some of the countryside. People working their farms (no machines), riding their donkeys through town and lots of ducks and cows eating along the bank of the Nile.

Alexandria was somewhere Mark really wanted to go. He’s fascinated with ancient Rome and Alexandria is the closest we would get so far. We found an ancient Roman theater. Still had original mosaic tiles, marble columns and even what was left of crumbling walls that once used to be homes. It was SO cool.

We wandered through town and found the seaside. We decided to walk to find lunch and we ended up walking about 2-3 miles along shore to an old fort that used to be the site of an ancient lighthouse that was used for over 1,000 years. Alexandria’s seen a lot of wars and natural disasters, so many of it’s ancient monuments are no longer standing or are laying at the ocean floor. Every day divers are still finding statues and relics of Cleopatra’s palace.

Ah, finally….lunch! I had so been looking forward to lunch overlooking the Mediterranean. As soon as we ordered I felt sick. Oh no….that darn stomach junk Mark had finally caught up to me. Luckily I was able to finish touring for the day, but needless to say, my lunch went to waste and I was highly disappointed to miss that. On the other hand, I was so very grateful I wasn’t bed-ridden for a day like Mark had been.

We hired a cab driver for a few hours and as he drove us through the busy streets of Alexandria, he told us about the monuments, the people and the culture. He was from there so it was an added bonus. We hit the museum next. This museum is really well organized. It had three floors. The first one – ancient Egypt. The second – Egypt when the Romans began to move in. The third – Roman Alexandria. It was so fascinating to see the transformation of the images of Kings and Pharaohs to the deities of ancient Rome.

Next, the catacombs! Very creepy. These are tombs under Alexandria that used to house Egyptian mummies and Roman bodies. Eeewww! Some of the parts were flooded and you had to balance on a plank to cross. I told Mark, “gross, ancient mummy water!” I couldn’t help but wonder what was really floating in that water. Blah!

Carved into some of the more elaborate tombs were hieroglyphs AND Roman images like grape vines and deities. What a total mix of cultures and yet it worked beautifully.

A stop off at Pompei’s pillar (the tallest standing monument in Alexandria) and then back to the train station for our journey back to Cairo.

Today’s seaside walks and Roman views was so wonderful and yet so different from the desert and ancient temples just a few hours away.