Two Weeks in Egypt - October 2012

Day Seven: Alexandria

Sunday was offered in the original tour itinerary as a chance to return, yet again, to the El Alamein area and perhaps visit some of the inland areas where the battles had raged. This of course proved impossible for two reasons, first the ongoing security concerns in the area and second the difficulty of driving a large tour coach on substandard desert tracks. Instead, we agreed to have a quieter day in Alexandria, to visit the large citadel at the harbour entrance (Fort Quaitbay), a leisurely lunch in the harbourside restaurant and then a tour of the city.

Quaitbay's Citadel

The citadel at the entrance to Alexandria Harbour was built in 1477 by the Sultan Al Malek Quaitbay Alzahiry, on the site of the original Pharos Lighthouse. It was built to defend the town during the Crusades.

Quaitbay's Citadel from across the harbour at Alexandria

The layout of the citadel

Queuing at the gate to pay our entrance fee

Once inside the outer wall

the main citadel building inside, from the entrance,

and from on top of the outer wall.

The passage through the inner wall.

Old sign explaining the tower.

One of the corner features.

The citadel from the seaward side

and with some of the rather excitable locals.

On top of the wall.

View of Alexandria Harbour through a gun port,

and the same view without.

The breakwater extending out from the citadel.

Looking across to Alexandria, left....

centre....

and right..

The western side of the citadel and harbour entrance

with divers in the water - fishing I guess.

Safer to fish from the wall....

Or the other side of the entrance.

Highrise Alexandria beyond the walls.

THe gardens within.

Alexandria does have some modern buildings.

The Hotel Cecil is somewhere in the centre.

More locals on the walls.....

and a foreigner..

Salt fretting of the sandstone blocks.

Our group waiting in the shade.

Lunch at the Fish Market

After a hot morning strolling around the Citadel we drove the short distance around the harbour to the Fish Market Restaurant. This is a highly regarded group of restaurants serving a range of classical Middle-East cuisine. Today we dined upstairs on classical Middle-eastern breads and dips followed by char-grilled chicken. Despite our collective unease at the thought of what might accompany the chicken, we were able to watch the grilling process and all agreed that the food was indeed excellent. Nobody suffered any ill effects from that meal....

Ready to climb onto the bus again....