Welcome to Alexandria, Egypt!

Alexandria. A beautiful coastal city that lies on the north coast of Egypt. The sparkling aqua colored Mediterranean Sea crashes along it’s coastline.

By train from Cairo it’s only a mere two and a half hour ride. We’re glad we purchased our second class tickets for 37 EGP ($6.51 USD). From the outside the train looked like it survived World War II.

Inside was another story. Clean, comfortable reclining seats and a breakfast cart that passes by two times through out the short trip. Liz claims it’s the most comfortable train she’s ever been on, and we’re on second class? We sit and wonder what first class is like.

Once we arrive in Alexandria we step off of the train and we’re blasted with a refreshing cool breeze. I ring my friend Mohamed so that he can explain to our taxi driver where we want to go. In Arabic, of course! He explains and hangs up. I ask the driver how much to the Corniche? He says “50 Pounds”. I laugh, knowing that there’s no way this ride should cost 50 EGP ($8.80 USD). That’s outrageous, I say. He replies “Salaam”, (goodbye in Arabic) and leaves us in the dust.

I ask a few men for directions to the Corniche (an area along the Mediterranean coast that is home to a lot of budget hotels, hostels and cafes. One man points us in one direction, another in the opposite direction. There’s a cool breeze, yet the sun is blazing. We’re carrying our 25lb packs with our day packs in our hands. All we want is a place to drop our bags. After asking a few more locals, they seem to be directing us in the right direction. Within 15 minutes walk we arrive at the Corniche and we’re 50EGP richer. Later we find out that the taxi ride should cost 5EGP ($0.88 USD), which is ten times less than what we were quoted by our taxi driver. Welcome to Egypt!

We stop into a few budget hotels along the water, but none have availability. If they do, they’re asking too much. We are feeling tired now and we just need to settle down and get our heads straight. Out of nowhere comes a young man named none other than Mohamed. He approaches us and his english is half decent. He excitedly asks us what we’re looking for, and that he could probably help us. He had been sitting inside of a boardwalk cafe and saw us wandering around aimlessly lugging these giant bags on our backs and figured we could use some help.

Within minutes we arrive at our new home for the night, the Swiss Chalet Hotel located just one block from the sea. We head upstairs to check out the rooms before we make any reservations. The room is spacious, clean, and even has Air Conditioning, a queen sized bed, a mini refrigerator, a TV and an en suite bathroom. Total price for the night… 123 EGP ($21.65 USD). Perfect.

I ask our new friend Mohamed if he would like to get together later on so we exchange numbers and he disappears. An hour or so later we meet up with him and his friend Doha at the cafe. Mohamed explains that he wants to take us to a restaurant in Alex called Elite. We head there and consume an excellent dinner before heading back to our hotel for the night.

[mappress]