Trips

Next event was a stroll through Rosetta's crowded market streets where the variety of things for sale is staggering.

Making shredded wheat - 1	Making shredded wheat - 2
Interesting neck warmer	Proud butcher
Pigs' feet	Parts of a cow
Shaving a sheep's head - to be used for a decorative dish	Family baking project
If you buy them this way, I guess you know they are fresh.	He was all alone awaiting an uncertain fate.
Sign for a barber shop	Shoemaker
	Variety of rutabaga
Beautiful strawberries
Fruit stand	Quite a feat, especially in the crowded market
	Bakery
The lady on the right was pretty sure of what she wanted!	Mobile vendor
Mon., 3/14/22 - Alexandria This morning at breakfast we learned that after three days in this freezing hotel they finally fixed the heat problem and turned on the heat yesterday afternoon - nobody told us until today. This morning's excursion was to the new Library of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The original Library of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, like the Pyramids. It was built in 208 BCE by Demetrius of Phalerum. The library began to decline around 145 CE and whatever remained of the original collection probably was destroyed in the 270s CE invasion of the city. Another story is that flames from a sea battle during Julius Caesar’s civil war caused the library to burn down. There are other possibilities for the ruin of the library that once held between 200,000 and 700,000 papyrus scrolls (or books.) All the papyrus writings of the ancient world were destroyed except for one index which is now in Italy. The new library is phenomenal. It was opened in 2002. The entrance is through the “cultural plaza” containing a conference center (for lectures and meetings); a planetarium, shaped like a black ball (the earth); and the main library, representing the rising sun and the light of knowledge. The library has three separated reading rooms for: ages 6 to 11; 12 to 16; and adult. There are eleven floors with books in 80 languages. There is a map room, rare books collection, 1400 French books, Braille, and Special Needs sections. The walls are made with niches representing how the papyrus scrolls once were stored but also the holes dampen noise in the new library. The roof lets in indirect sunlight so as not to produce glare or fade material. There are special exhibits in galleries on the ground floor: printing presses and drawings by the scholars Napoleon brought with him to Egypt in 1798. Our library guide (a 17-year old high school student) showed us the elaborate computer program called “inside explorer” that shows what is inside a mummy’s coffin right down to the skeleton - like “x-ray vision.” The library web page allows scholars to research all kinds of library information.
White Sails Statue - across the street from the Bibliotheca	Outside wall
	Model of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The roof is designed to let in indirect sunlight so as not to produce glare or fade materials.	Courtyard wall
Reading room - there are enough desks, tables, and computers for 2,000 people.	Printing presses
	The Library has several exhibition galleries: art, antiquities museum, manuscripts and rare books, impressions of Alexandria, Shadi Abdel Salam (a historian who designed accurate Egyptian clothing and costumes for movies), and the Coptic and Islam exhibit.
Meaning of some hieroglyphics	Kind of catapult - a crossbow that shot softball-size stone balls. It was found on Nelson Island, a 4th century BCE Greek settlement.
	Floor mosaic Pottery strainers
Wooden Naos
“Wall of Knowledge” - a papyrus writing from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Mosaic floor
Alexander the Great	Planetarium
Our last stop of the day was to the Roman ruins of Kom El-Dikka. In 1960 an expedition from Poland and Egypt was looking for the burial site of Alexander the Great when they uncovered some Roman ruins. There is a theater or odium and some brick foundations for a large Roman bath but little is known about the purpose of the site. This site was in use between the 4th and 7th century CE.
On a wall	Incense?
	Overview of the site of Kom El-Dikka
Auditoria or Lecture Halls	Roman baths area
	Roman Theater
In a corner (lower right on the map) of the site, beside the habitation area, is an area called the Villa of the Birds. Inside this structure are some wonderful mosaics devoted to birds.
Other mosaics, as well	Tues., 3/15/22 - Royal Jewelry Museum; Alexandria to Cairo This morning we had our PCR COVID test (for reentry into the U.S.) taken at the hotel. On the way out of Alexandria, on the way back to Cairo, we stopped at the Royal Jewelry Museum, located in the 1919 palace of a former princess. (Link - click your way through the photos.) Only 5 to 10% of the jewels are on display, but still they represent the astronomical value of what the royal family owned while the workers and citizens lived in poverty. The bathrooms in this palace were excessive. The wife’s bathroom has a marble mosaic floor and marble tile pictured walls, an adult tub and one for a child, a sink, a second sink for pedicures and a third one for manicures, a sauna, and of course a toilet and bidet. A separate elaborate room was for the man. The floors were parquet and we had to wear booties to walk on them. The ceilings were like in the Hermitage - high, vaulted, and painted with designs and pictures. The collection included a chess set of jewels with painted porcelain pictures on the bottom and little porcelain coffee cups that sat in gold stands. There were gold desk sets and gold hair brush/mirror/comb/nail items. No photos allowed.
	Royal Jewellery Museum
After the Jewellery Museum visit, we started the long drive back to Cairo. Lunch was Egyptian pie - a flaky, greasy crust that we dipped into cream cheese and tomato or tahini with molasses. Back at the Cairo Marriott, we reorganized for tomorrow’s early flight back to the US. Dinner was at a place across the busy street from the hotel - our fourth Farewell Dinner. It was a short night - up at 2 AM for our 6:50 AM flight	Fancy highchair

Wed., 3/16/22 - Cairo to London to Los Angeles to Tucson

The Marriott provided large boxes of “early departure breakfasts” - about the best we have ever had. The drive to the airport was uneventful and relatively quick. Not too much traffic at that hour. The OAT representative again walked us through the airport and all of the security checks.

The British Air flight was on time and 5 1/2 hours later we landed in London. After a 2:20 layover, it was off to Los Angeles (11 1/2 hours). The LAX layover was 4.5 hours the flight to Tucson 1 1/2 hours. Finally, we arrived in Tucson at 11 PM. By the time we drove home (a mere 25 minutes), did some necessary chores (start the water heater, etc.), and got ourselves to bed we had been up for more than 30 hours. Kind of hard on old ladies.

As always, it is wonderful to travel and just as wonderful to be back home.

This was really a great trip. Egypt is just such an historical place and its temples, monuments, and art work really need to be seen first-hand to be completely appreciated.