Day 13 - Alexandria

We sleep in and then plan our return trip.  I am done and ready to go home after two weeks and really would like to end the trip here in Alex (what the locals lovingly call the city) instead of back to Cairo and the noise and dirt and baksheesh.  We go down to breakfast and run into a group of six female students  They are very quiet and I joke about it with them . They say they are language students from Cairo that are just up here for the weekend.  The breakfast is bread, hard boiled eggs, meats, cheese, etc... and soon the girls leave for their day at the beach after discovering that they would need to wear a t-shirt over their suits.

We head back to the room, and I book the flights online with United as Mister goes to the train station to get new tickets. Buying the new tickets is simple, but Mister wants to see if he can return the tickets we had purchased yesterday. He goes to the counter to try and explain, and the man says to come back in 5 minutes. Mister walks around and returns to the man who shakes his head no and waves him away. He wants 5 more minutes and goes back to find a new man at the counter. This man calls behind him and the original guy comes out and hands him the money for the tickets. A successful trip.  We pack up the room, leave our bags in a storage room at the hostel, and leave to wander for awhile.

We head back to the El Anfushi area for a late lunch/early dinner at Samakmak, another fresh fish restaurant.  Mister orders Calamari and I can't decide, so the server takes me outside to the fish cooler to pick out my fish.

We also order a salad and everything is so good -- living where the fish is fresh sure has it's advantages.  As we leave the restaurant, we see a dry dock for large boats and are invited in to see one of the boats.


They are happy to show us around and everyone smiles and shows what jobs they are doing. Mister gives them some money.  We walk back into town heading towards the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque, which was built over the tomb of a 13th century holy man.

As we approach, the mosque is in a residential neighborhood, we see kids playing pool on tables all around the gates.

It seems odd right outside a mosque, but they are having a good time.  We walk around the exterior and come upon a herd of sheep right in the street and around the grounds of the mosque -- odd again.

We continue up the street and come across some very old carnival rides that have been set up as a little park for kids and they are hand operated.  The kids look like they are having a great time, but we are getting very strange looks --- pretty sure most tourists don't venture over to this area.

We are back on the Corniche soon and stop in at El Koubeze one last time for fresh juice - Banana for Mister and Strawberry for me.  We just sit and people watch for quite awhile before walking back towards the hostel.  We pass a few old guys playing backgammon on the street and visit with them for awhile -- they are thrilled to talk and we tease back and forth with them over who is going to win the game.

We say goodbye and head on our way again and as we turn a corner, we come across a shop that sells Egyptian rugs and I have wanted to get one so bad, but haven't wanted to cart it all over the country.  Now I only have to worry about airports and so go in to look.  Mister and I find one that we both like, but decide to pass as we are not sure it will qualify as a carry-on and certainly don't want to check it.  Perhaps we will order one from home and so I get the website from the store owner.

We go back to the hostel and sit and visit with Vicky, the manager, for awhile.  She is Greek and has her opinions on the country and the people and asks us about ours.  We agree on many things and she does answer a few of the questions we have been asking ourselves the past two weeks.  She is gracious and offers us a restroom to refresh in and change clothes along with some water to drink.  We head out and walk a few blocks before getting a taxi to the train station and when we arrive, Mister tries to give the driver 10LE and he says it is way too much and only takes 5LE - Alexandria, we will miss you.  The train is on time and we board for our 3 hour ride into Cairo.