Sorry, your room will not be ready until 1pm. AAH!

Trip Start Oct 22, 2010

Trip End Nov 10, 2010

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Where I stayed

Metropole Hotel Alexandria (aka. Le Metropole)

(Alexandria hotels)

Flag of Egypt Alexandria, Egypt
Tuesday, November 2, 2010

With our train arriving in Cairo at 5:00am we met Mohammed, the very first agent who greeted us in Cairo and it was great to see a familiar face. He informed us that our driver would be Ashraf, who also drove us around in Cairo. First stop would be "On The Run" to grab some Gatorade, Sprite & food. The three hour car ride seemed to go by fairly quickly as we both conversed with Ashraf and also caught up on sleep. We learned he loves more bad music beyond his admission in Cairo that he loved Celine Dion. He also loves Michael Bolton, Boney M, ABBA, Donna Summers, etc. Jen loves it! The Police stopped Ashraf at a checkpoint and he handed them some money. We asked why, and he said the Police claimed he was speeding and he should pay the fine. He knew without a doubt he was going below the speed limit, and this is just the system that exists in Egypt. The Police only make 500 Egyptian Pounds a month ($100), and heavily rely on subsidizing their pay through other means. He says you must accept it, and carry on.

Upon arriving in Alexandria, Ashraf took us to the Montazah Palace & Gardens

Montazah Gardens - We look not too bad!

Comments!

. WOW! We are certainly not in Cairo anymore. Right on the Mediterranean coast, it was great to breath the sea air! We snapped some photos of the former King's Palace, the Gardens and coast line. We dragged our feet as fast as they could go and longed for the Hotel bed. Ashraf made one last pit stop at a sweet shop and bought us some sweet cake as a present (his wife always wants him to buy some in Alexandria, so he leaves with a Kilo or two for her each time, haha).

Upon checking in at the hotel at 10:00am, Le Metropole, the staff informed us the hotel is fully booked and our room would not be ready until 1:00pm. The look of defeat on our faces must have looked incredibly sad; we were gutted by this news. So tired, we sat in the lobby as we could not bear the heat, sun & noise of the city. They brought us a welcome drink, and we sat in two chairs watching traffic go by. We both nodded off plenty of times. The hotel restaurant was still serving breakfast, and would not being lunch service until guess what time? 1:00pm. One of the restaurant staff offered to order me a chicken sandwich as long as I ate it down in the lobby. I managed to eat half of it. Good news came shortly before 12pm as a room was ready for us, oddly enough it was room 321, the same room number we had at the Zayed Hotel in Cairo. I am sure having not showered in 36 hours or so might have gotten us the room faster along with our puppy dog faces when we arrived

Montazah Palace

.

We slept for 5 hours and it was already dark. The best bed we’ve slept in thus far and it couldn’t have come at a better time! We ate the cheapest meal we’ve had yet in Egypt, and pound for pound, easily the best. Less than $5 bought us all the ingredients to make Falafels, and we also had bottled water and two juices. Typically you might pay more like $20 each for this at most Gringo restaurants.

Later we crossed a couple streets to make it to the main Corniche street which is right along the coast. We walked along here to get our bearings for tomorrow. Feeling much better now, though we are still in need of more sleep. My illness is subsiding.

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