Welcome Spring - Alexandria

Despite never being in Alexandria before, my first visit felt nostalgic.

Alex is a short 2.5 hour train ride north. It is a much smaller city than Cairo, only about 3 million people. I found it more manageable as it appears to be planned on a basic grid-system. It’s cleaner and quieter. And it hugs the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It reminded me of so many coastal cities I have lived before – Boston, San Diego, Honolulu, Portland, Old Orchard Beach.

I shake my head every time I try to figure out how the heck I end up in one of the biggest cities in the world in the middle of the desert. ??? And yet here I am, making the best of my crazy life.

I had a nice visit in Alex. Thankfully, I had a local guide to show me around to the sites, the cafes, and the local fish restaurants - where they cook everything in the street. I thought their citadel looked an awful lot like Castle Island in South Boston.















I was there for the first day of Spring which is a national holiday here. The beaches and boardwalks and parks were PACKED on this day and except for the clothing it look a lot like San Diego or OOB on the first warm day of the season. The streets are full of cruising cars and everyone is joyous and festive.

The only difference is the sunbather’s costumes. Muslim women will sit on the beach fully dressed, head scarf and all; if they swim at all they will do so also fully dressed or wear a bathing suit that looks like a full-length diver’s wetsuit. Men wear whatever they want, of course.

At these city beaches it was almost exclusively Egyptians. Not wanting to be the only foreigner in a “normal” bathing suit, I chose not to swim. I get too much unwanted attention as it is - no need to add more skin to the equation. But no worries.

Instead, I learned that they don’t really like swimmers at 1 am. It’s “forbidden” apparently. But in Egypt a little baksheesh – tipping – goes a long way; and I blissfully frolicked in the Mediterranean Sea in the cover of darkness, and under the glaring eyes of only one security guard instead of hundreds.

It was chilly but TOTALLY worth it.