2 Days in Egypt

Port Said, Egypt, November 6, 2011

We woke up this morning docked at the entrance to the Suez Canal. The city of Port Said (pronounced “sigh EED) was founded in 1859 at the time of the construction of the Suez Canal. In 150 years Port Said has become one of the largest cities in Egypt. Our arrival in Port Said coincided with the beginning of the second most important Muslim holiday. This Festival occurs a month and 10 days after Ramadan and lasts for four days. The first day is when the wealthy share with the poor. We were warned as we left the ship that we might see animals being slaughtered on the street. The rich people bring their animals, slaughter them and then give the meat to the poor. Fortunately, we did not witness this however are dinner companions, Jerry and Sue saw carcasses hanging in the street as they were taking a tour bus to the Pyramids. We did, however, see cars with blood on them and animals in pickups being taken for slaughter.

We opted for a two hour tour of Port Said in a horse and buggy. Our tour actually consisted of eight horse drawn carriages with a tour guide. We noticed as we left the terminal area and headed for the carriages that policemen were loading rifles in the back of a couple of jeeps. Turns out they followed us on our entire two hour tour. There were lots of cars on the street filled with young people, honking their horns, creating a festive atmosphere. The tour was a bit disconcerting because our guide seemed to be re-writing history, in particular in regards to Egypt’s wars with Israel. We planned to stay on the ship the rest of the day, however, Tim was having problems with the computer and the posting of our blog. In frustration, he called reception to find out if there would be an internet café open in Port Said. When assured that there would be he set off. Fortunately, he did not feel the least bit threatened while on the street and the man in the internet café was very friendly. Unfortunately, there was no WiFi in the café so the blog still did not get posted.

In the evening we had dinner at the pool grill. At night the pool grill becomes what the ship calls a hot rocks grill. You order your meal from a selection of meats and then a lava rock which has been heated to 900 degrees Celsius for 24 hours is brought to your table and you cook your dinner. In actual practice, your meal is partially cooked and then it is finished at the table. We both had filet mignon which melted in our mouths. It was a beautiful evening and we had interesting dinner companions which made for an enchanting night.

Alexandria, Egypt November 7, 2011

Alexandria is a major shipping port so we once again docked in a commercial area with lots of freighter traffic about. We had arranged a private tour of Alexandria before we left home and upon leaving the boat our guide, Mustafa, was there to greet us. Our first stop was the Royal Gardens, also the location of the Royal Palace. The Gardens encompass an area of 450 acres. While Mustafa called the gardens “beautiful” we thought them less than. We both commented to each other that the British would have them looking pristine. The Palace is a large building of over 50 rooms that was the vacation home for the Kings of Egypt up through King Farauk. Since the revolution in the 1950’s when Nasser became the President, the Palace has been used to host visiting dignitaries. There is a staff that maintains the Palace even though it is seldom used. Mustafa thought it would make sense to open it as a museum. When we first greeted Mustafa this morning we told him that one of the things we needed to do was find a place with WiFi so we could get our blog posted. On the grounds of the Royal Gardens there was a luxury hotel built by King Farauk where we posted our blog in royal opulence. For lunch we were taken to a restaurant that was very famous and had been open for over 100 years. It turned out to be a Greek restaurant with a nice view of the Mediterranean Sea. We could not decide if it had once been an opulent restaurant that had turned a bit seedy or if Alexandrians still considered it to be the ultimate in fine dining. Lynda had chicken which she thinks was actually chicken and Tim had fried calamari. We were also served soup, each of us getting a different kind, neither of which we could identify but were actually quite tasty. One thing we have neglected to tell you is that at all of the off ship restaurants we have been taken to we have had hummus and pita bread that is out of this world, including our restaurant in Alexandria.

The highlight of the day occurred after lunch. We were going to visit the catacombs and our route took us through the old town of Alexandria. The streets were narrow and not well paved with little sign of anyone observing traffic laws. We ended up in a monumental traffic jam with three lanes of traffic, on a street built for two lanes, all headed in the same direction with a trolley car coming towards us. There was much yelling and gesturing with passerby’s trying to help direct traffic. In the middle of all of this we heard a siren behind us. At first we thought is was an ambulance but Mustafa told us it was a funeral procession. The “ambulance” was followed by 8 or 9 men who were friends of the deceased and who also were trying to direct traffic. Women are not allowed in the funeral procession. They meet the procession at the cemetery. We followed the procession to the entrance of the cemetery where we watched the friends remove a stretcher with the body wrapped in sheets. We were told that there is no coffin. The body is placed in a vault in the ground and than a cover is put on the vault. Lynda asked if we could visit the cemetery but Mustafa said we could not because we were not Muslim. Of course Lynda tried to tell Mustafa that her Uncle Ahmed lived in Cairo and was certainly a Muslim but to no avail.

The catacombs were over 1800 years old. We climbed down 99 steps to see rooms with square openings where mummies in sarcophagi had been placed. Really quite fascinating. From the catacombs we visited the Pillar of Pompeii. According to Mustafa this pillar is the tallest in Egypt and the two sphinx guarding the pillar are the third largest in the country. During our discussion with Mustafa about Egyptian antiquities, the name Zakari Hawas came up. He was the former head of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities whom we had heard talk on our Around the World Expedition a couple of years ago. Mustafa became a bit agitated, calling Hawas a tomb robber and if it had been a choice of removing Hawas or Mubarak, Hawas would be the one to go. We don’t know if this is a widely held belief in Egypt or just Mustafa’s but we were certainly surprised.

Our route back to the ship again took us through old town and it was an exhilarating ride. There were lots of people out on the streets in a celebratory mood. Shops and grocery stores were open with their goods on display and we passed many cafes with men sitting at tables smoking hookah pipes.

The one thing we noticed both days in Egypt and which our friends on board the ship also commented on was the filth throughout the city and countryside. Everywhere you look there is litter and trash which the locals seem oblivious to. This is most unfortunate because Egypt has a very exotic feel to it and the people we have met have been very friendly.

Tonight the ship hosted a barbecue on the pool deck. We mistakenly thought it would be an American style barbecue with ribs, chicken, potato salad, etc. How wrong we were. It was a lavish buffet with many wonderful appetizers, salads, grilled meat and shrimp, as well as a carving station with beef and fish. There was also a fresh pasta station. It was another gorgeous evening. We may never get use to having to cook for ourselves again.

Tomorrow we spend the whole day at sea on our way to Crete so we probably won’t post a blog. See you in a couple of days.