Alexandri-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

*this blog was written on August 2*

We spent most of our time in Alexandria relaxing.

We got up our first full day there and went down to the beach.  Our hotel had a private beach area and we got a neat little cabana on the beach with a server and everything.  We had a few bevys and enjoyed the beautiful 85 degree weather and beautiful skies.  The water was basically the perfect temperature so we enjoyed a swim in the Mediterranean.  It was such an amazingly beautiful and relaxing day that it’s really not interesting to blog (or for that matter read) about.  Suffice to say, THHHHHHHHHPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTT!

We enjoyed the weather.  We enjoyed each others’ company (at least I did – I can’t speak for Julie in this matter).  We walked around a bit.  We ate at a restaurant looking out over the Mediterranean’s rocky shores.  I’m really not doing this place justice.  I’m sorry, Alexandria.  Dear readers, trust me when I say you have to sea Alexandria for yourselves.

On Monday we went to see the Kom El-Shouqafa (meaning, “pile of shards”) Catacombs.  They date back to the first century A.D. but were not discovered until 1900 (when a donkey pulling a cart fell through the ceiling).  It was a tomb initially built for just one family.  The place was huge with around 20 different rooms on three levels.  Each room had numerous individual tombs.  The whole place was strangely decorated with a variety of Egyptian and Greek themes.

Dude, the place was creepy!  There were all kinds of weird little pathways this way and that and holes that led to old dark crevices, not to mention all the places where there were dead people.  I kept expecting scarab beetles to come out and eat me or some crap like that.  Part of the catacombs is still underwater so we had to walk on planks over the water to see those sections.  The planks ran across blocks of stone, weren’t nailed together or nailed down, and didn’t have hand rails.  Safety last, kids!

When we finished at the catacombs we hopped a train back to Cairo.  We’re planing on catching the Egyptian Museum before flying out tonight.  I can’t believe after almost 11 weeks I am leaving Africa tonight.  Crazy.