February 10th
To add a final bit to the Alexandria story for yesterday, we got to see the new great library at Alexandria. This library is very modern and gorgeous complete with a highly sophisticated roof that not only regulates heat and sunlight but unless makes it so that there is never any shade on your reading papers. This roof in the main gallery is also supported by columns that feature a remote destruction device where the roof will collapse in order to create a cocoon to save the manuscripts from another fire. We also needed up renting chairs and buying some tea and just sat by the Mediterranean Sea watching the tide roll on in. You could also see the stars above the beach. It was a scene right out of a Otis Redding song. It was pretty awesome.
Today we went out and hit all the other major sites. We traveled around in a three big coaches and stuck out for miles like tourists. In fact, when we first got into America we got a police escort because apparently whenever Americans travel in this large of a group, the law requires us to have a police escort. I really didn’t see the point of it as the escort really didn’t do anything and turned around as soon as we got into the center of the city. The amazing thing about this bus was the ability of the driver to move it around corners. He knew his turning radius down to the inch and would often make u-turns in the coach that I would hesitate to make in my truck. My favorite maneuver was the U-turn on the main road that took of 4 lanes of traffic. It was incredible. I also found out that when people park there cars so close together and 2 wide into the street, they leave their cars in neutral, this way people on the street can move it to either allow a car (or in our case a bus) to get by or to let a car get out. It’s really quite a system
The sites we hit were the Roman Amphitheatre, the Pompeii Colum, the catacombs, and the Qaitbay Castle. The best part was definitely the Qaitbay Castle, which was a beautifully preserved or restored Castle overlooking the docks and harbor of Alexandria. It was a picturesque day and the castle was fun to explore, despite its lack of decorations or informative data. This seems to be a pattern in Egypt. They have these amazingly old sites that date back to the time before Jesus in some circumstances and that are considered important as every tour guide comes to them but there is no American style reading material or even guards or even signs telling you not to climb all over everything. Trash litters the site and potentially priceless materials lie out in the open for all to play with and destroy. I found a part of a clay pot just lying on the ground that was just left out and looked to be several hundred years old. It’s rather sad that these, some of the most famous ruins in the world are being taken care of so poorly.
I have also discovered another one of my Pet Peeve’s that annoys me about being/being around tourists. It seems that every single person who got off our buses walked 10 feet and immediately started taking pictures. They didn’t even take the time to soak it in to experience it for themselves. Tourists are so caught up taking pictures in order to remember the experience that they forget to even have the experience.
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