Italian influence on Alexandria's architecture
by Tijavi
Alexandria is an interesting architectural canvas. The city is littered with 19th-early 20th century European architecture that seemed to reflect the bygone days of economic prosperity of those times. Some of the most interesting buildings are found along the Corniche, Alexandria's waterfront promenade.
These eye-catching Italian-inspired buildings (in the pictures) are some of the most interesting structures I've seen in Alex. They reveal strong Gothic Italian and Florentine influences which make for a pleasing visual contrast to the art noveau and belle epoque buildings that dominate the downtown area.
I wish I have more information on these buildings (have been scouring the Net, but still unlucky) on these interesting buildings. If you know anything on these buildings, please feel free to leave a comment.
Alexandria lions
by uglyscot
I enjoyed looking for lions- not real ones- but statues. Ir's amazing how many there are. There are headless Egyptian sphinxes in the museum, and at the catacombs. But the ones I liked most were at Montazah gardens.
Out by the summer house are a pair overlooking the sea, those at doorways and at most of the roundabouts are white marble lions, some sleeping, others couchant.
The ones I liked best were as in the picture- out for the count! I love being beside the sea, watching the changing colour and listening to the sound of the water as it creeps up the shore, or crashes onto the rocks.
Even the smell of the sea reminds me of my Scottish fishing village roots.
One of my fondest memories is wandering about with some other women who were accompanying participants at a conference. We didn't have a common language but had great fun. I could communicate with an American, who in turn could talk in Spanish to a South American. I could also speak to Egyptians in Arabic.
At one point they decided they wanted tea, and we were in a quiet area off the tourist route. There was a cafe with a few men in, so I went and asked if we could have tea. The owner looked at us [4 women], shrugged, and indicated a table. Somehow we felt so daring sitting on the pavement with our mint tea, communicating in our different languages.
juice shop
by TomorrowsAngel
We stopped at a juice stand. And bought the freshest and most delicious juice of our whole trip.
First we had mixed fruit juice which combined: pomegranate pulp, mango, banana, lime, pineapple and apple.
Then, we had a glass of fresh mango juice. Which you can also buy by the bottle!
although ALEXANDRIA is one of...
by music_egypt
although ALEXANDRIA is one of the most famous cities in the world but the numbers of tourists that visit alexandria is less than any city in egypt. certianly it's off the beaten bath.. alexandria is the only city in egypt that u wouldn't get hassled or harrassed by sell-men that wanna sell you any thing but alexandria is full of locals.it's impossible or rare to see tourists ....also the taxi drivers there are not spoiled yet like in cairo.
meeting the local people
by uglyscot
A walk along the promenade from one end to the other and you'll see all of Alexandria' waterfront. I was given the task of escorting two women who had accompaned a husband and a sister to an International Conference. We did all the sights, walked along the promenade, and on the last day they asked to do something different after we visited the Catacombs.
When we finished our underground exploration which was interesting, we wandered around the few artefacts in the garden while our Egyptian guide was chatting to a young guy who'd 'picked us up'. He claimed to be Sudanese and a student of archaeology.
My two companions were getting thirsty , so went out in search of somewhere to get water and possibly tea.
Across from the entrance to the site was a small cafe with a couple of small wooden tables and chairs on the pavement. I went in and asked the owner if we could have some bottles of water, two cups of mint tea and a cup of coffee. He looked very surprised, looked at the 4 old men playing dominoes in a corner, and they all shrugged, Taking that for agreement, we sat outside until our order was brought to us.
Soon after this the guide, the young man and our driver arrived and promptly joined us, ordered more for themselves, and soon everyone was chatting and laughing. I was translating from Arabic into English for the American, and she then translated into Spanish for the Chilean. The owner and the old men seemed to find this hilarious.
In the end the two women decided this had been a great experience interacting with the locals. So decide they wanted to find a traditional place to eat. The driver took us to an out of the way barn-like place in what might have been a warehouse. We sat on rough wooden benches at a long trestle table and ate fanastic food that the driver and guide chose. The young guy who'd come with us then paid for everything.
It was truly an adventure for my two companions, at least a change from typical hotel food and fancy restaurants.
hallway leading to my room
Fisherman in Alexadria
Library, Alexandria
Hallways and doorways inside the Citadel
