From Alexandria

A blessed respite this morning. By dispensation from above, we were scheduled to leave only at nine-thirty, bags packed and outside the door by eight-thirty—which meant an extra couple of hours to relax over getting up and going down to breakfast. Now on the bus and starting off along the old Alexandria Desert Road—now no longer mostly desert—and passing the site of a new Museum of Civilization.

We made a lunch stop along the highway at what was perhaps the Egyptian version of a truck stop—though the food was somewhat different from what you’d find at its American counterpart. Here they served pastry, baked in thick rounds, with toppings of molasses, honey, and goat’s cheese. Sounds weird, I know, but it was actually a pleasant enough change from the usual lunch fare. Distressing, though, to find ourselves surrounded by a small zoo, with some quite large animals in some quite small cages. Before lunch was served, on our way back from the toilets, we passed a spherical cage with tight, thick green bars containing a desperately sad looking baboon…

Sitting down at our table, we were approached by a rather sulky man with a lion cub in his arms. The cub was cute beyond words, and a few of us got up to get a closer look, well aware that the man was angling for the photo op, and the change he could pocket. Still, I couldn’t resist when he held the cub out for me to hold. I’ve never held a lion cub in my life before, and the creature was as cuddly as our George (not you, Bush: I’m talking about our three year old King Charles spaniel). So I took it in my arms and held it for a few minutes, while people grabbed their cameras and took pictures. It was, honestly, quite a thrill to be holding a lion in my arms—but not unalloyed: it pained me also to realize that I was contributing to the delinquency of this awful little zoo, and treating a wild animal like a teddy bear. Apologies, herewith, to my consicence.

A good talk with Fadel in the bus as we drove on toward Alexandria, comparing our twenty-first century concept of “civilization”, somewhat unfavorably, with the civilization of the ancient Egyptians. From what we know about them, they seem in many ways so cultured, so advanced in their sense of aesthetics and social structures. Nice for the privileged, I guess. Perhaps not so nice for the workers.

Another half hour’s drive—with commentary from Fadel about the history of Alexandria: I won’t attempt to rehash—brought us to the outskirts of the city, and a good view, as we passed, of the marshes that surround it, including some glimpses of those “bundled papyrus”—the bullrushes—we saw at Imhotep’s temple yesterday. On into the city itself, and a good chuckle as our driver painstakingly, and with our police escorts’ connivance, backed us across a busy one-way street and into a tiny lane to drop us off at the adjacent museum. I could imagine a good number of local folk, stuck in the resultant traffic jam, fuming about these idiot American tourists.

The Alexandria National Museum turned out to be a gem. We met with the Director in the entry way, who explained that the museum is only a couple of years old, and contains many of his own underwater discoveries, about which we had learned a while ago on TV. Some of these artifacts were beautifully displayed on the ground floor, nicely lit and in museum-quality cases (Cairo, take heed), accompanied by a few large-scale underwater color photos of the location where they were found. Great job. Ellie and I especially appreciated some very tall, elegant ampphorae. The floor above was devoted to objects from the later Muslim and Coptic periods, and the below-ground level to some very choice artifacts from pharaonic days. The whole museum beautifully installed and lit, and small enough to enjoy in a single brief visit—though return visits would surely be equally rewarding.

Last stop for the afternoon was the Alexandria Library—also brand new. Conceived as following in the tradition of the great historical library that burned (twice, we heard, from our charming guide, who had difficulty only in working Fadel’s head set for our radios.) A wonderful structure, designed by a team of five international architects, including one Egyptian, it’s a highly contemporary building—and, inside, state-of-the-art in its furnishings and equipment—whose façade is a long, almost circular arc dressed in grey granite, inscribed with large letters from the alphabets of lamguages from throughout the world. But it also pays homage in many of its details to the ancient heritage of the country: the roof lights, for example, designed in the shape of the familiar Egyptian eye, with louvered shades outside the building to evoke eyelashes—beautifully conceived and executed. Aside from that, the whole building had a warmth and a quality of usability that made it one of the finest we’ve seen in recent years.

Driving on to our hotel on the Alexandria Corniche, we passed the library from the other side, where its huge, white, sloping roof takes the shape of the ancient sun disk—or, as Fadel suggests, a contemporary CD. Enjoyed the spectacular view of the port, the new lighthouse, and the Mediterranean Sea as we followed the waterfront, and reached our hotel in time for a nice glass of “hibiscus.” Found our room to be pleasant, our bathroom small, and the street directly outside our window incredibly noisy with the constant hooting of horns. Do they have a curfew?