Alexandria, Egypt
One of the things I did for all my new roommates when they moved in with me in Amman was take them on a trip with Tareef Cycling Club. So it was only karma that my roommate here in Cairo should propose a cycling trip with a Cairene excursion club to Alexandria. We met the
Weekend Trips group at the crack of dawn for the long bus ride to the North Coast and Alexandria, second biggest city in Egypt.
We started at the east end of the Corniche, the road and promenade that runs all the way along the coast and separates the city from the beach.
It was a nice flat ride, easy going except for the part where you have to either dodge crazy Egyptian drivers, or unsuspecting Egyptian pedestrians. Cycling is rather new to Egypt....
We ended our trip at the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina, commemorating the largest library of the ancient world, one of ancient Alexandria's major claims to fame. (The other was the Alexandria Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.) As we finished the 13km, there was a round of applause for each cyclist. They're an excellent group. There were also lots of group pictures in front of the library while they loaded the bikes back on the truck.
After our cycling trip, we had lunch at a lovely little Indonesian restaurant. The owner's daughter is a frequent flier on Weekend Trips, so when she offered lunch, we arrived with twice as many customers as she had tables.... The food was excellent!
Then we spent some time in Montaza Park, and along the seashore before heading back to Cairo. I'm really looking forward to more trips with this group!
No comments:
Post a Comment