3 November

Today was a moving day, so it was up at 0600 and pack (making sure the suitcase was out before 0700) and then down for breakfast at 0630. The breakfast room/restaurant we used today was the public one, so we were assigned the “smoking area”.
After breakfast it was back to the room, finish packing and do the last check (something I will not miss when I am back home) and out to the lobby.
Here we have to check our bags are out and are ours before they are packed on the bus. Any unidentified luggage doesn’t come. The only problem for our part was that Bob’s luggage hadn’t come yet, and we were into the third day.
On our way out, we called in to visit Saladin’s citadel, where the main thing we saw was the Muhammad Ali Mosque, which is still being used. Here Hesham went through a number of points abut the Muslim religion. We had a little time to photograph the old city from here before we went back to the bus, this time under David’s supervision. He lost a few, so promptly lost that position).
Then it was through old Cairo and into the Coptic area, to see the first church there, the Virgin Mary crypt (where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were reputed to have sheltered during Herod’s proclaimed period) and then onto a synagogue (no photos at either), which had also been a church before being restored to use.
The logic of photos or no photos escapes me at the moment, but I may understand it later (or at least rant more about it later).
We headed off to Soiree’s for lunch. While waiting in line, a woman upstairs kept gesturing that the food wasn’t very good. However, once we were in and seated, then examined the buffet, it was okay. A feature is that mos tof the places we have eaten have mainly western European food, perhaps because of their clientele, though some of our number would like to taste authentic Egyptian cuisine. I’m not fussy because I haven’t had a stomach upset and will try not to have one.
After lunch we set off through Cairo and to a papyrus institute, where we got a demonstration of how papyrus is made and then a show of what sorts of papyrus are available.
Once we finished there, it was off to Alexandria along the “Desert Highway”.
There was a lot of development beside the road and I couldn’t believe how much water was going to be used there. Also, unlike Turkey, there didn’t seem to be a lot of use of solar power, although our guide assured us it was being used extensively. We drove into darkness after seeing the setting sun and arrived at Alexandria about 1930. After identifying the luggage, we went to our rooms for me to do some washing. It was down for dinner at 2000 and then I walked to the supermarket for a look around, with Bob and Devika. Bob’s luggage still hadn’t come, so he was looking for clothes and a temporary bag. Soon it was back to the hotel and I enquired about the Internet, but I decided it was a no-no because of the cost and time (if the connection cuts out before all the photos load, then none load!).
Back in the room, I processed all the photos, did some more washing and then went to bed too late to write my blog for the day (it got done in Mansa Matrouh).