Egyptian Butchers and Disco Balls

Our cruise ship stayed docked two nights in Alexandria. I don't think spending two nights in a port is a particularly common practice. But virtually everyone on this ship (and I assume any ship that stops in Alexandria) wants to visit Cairo. It's three hours each way, plus the time it takes to visit the Giza/Cairo sites. We didn't get back last night until 9:30. So the solution is to spend two days in this port.

Some people took tours of Alexandria today. We chose not to do so. Instead, we slept in a bit, and relaxed this morning. After lunch, we walked over the bridge, through the gate, and into the city of Alexandria. Oh my.

I consider Bill and myself to be fairly competent travelers. We have visited big cities throughout Europe and the United States, and have always remained nonplussed. I was simply not prepared for my visit into Alexandria. It was a very quick visit.

It was easy to get off the ship. We had no trouble with the Egyptian police. We walked with ease past the line of persistent vendors. And we enjoyed the walk over the bridge to the port exit.
But then – we were in Alexandria! It started immediately. We were surrounded by Egyptians wanting to take us on tours, wanting us to ride in their taxi, wanting us to buy their goods. They were in our face. They wouldn't listen to no. They surrounded us. They touched us. We kept walking and saying no, thank you. I finally looked at one man and literally shouted “NO” at him. He finally gave up.

Once outside the port gate, we had to walk across a traffic circle. We went near where an Egyptian policeman was directing traffic. Now, that's a laugh. We watched him raise his hand to stop traffic, and stepped out into the street. Cars kept coming. That really didn't astound us. That happened in Italy as well. The difference is, in Italy, the cars won't hit you. They may be assertive, but if a pedestrian is in the street, they will stop before they hit you. I nearly got hit by a car, because the driver had absolutely no intention of stopping, despite the policeman's raised hand. I jumped back and saved myself from being hit.

Once we were across the street, we began to walk down a city block, past stores. The city, at least the part of the city near the port, is filthy. It is, without a doubt, the dirtiest city I have ever seen. Even the store windows were dirty. The shops are very tiny, and it seems like what they sell is mostly used goods. But it looks like they have never cleaned their windows or swept their floors.

Much to my horror, I saw a man selling meat out on the street. He had fresh meat set out on a table. There was no refrigeration and no cover over the meat. It just sat out in the hot air, while the man sat on the ground, carving more meat on a towel lying on the sidewalk.

Bill and I got to the end of the block, turned around, and headed back to the ship.

Now, we only saw this small area of the city. There is undoubtedly a part of Alexandria that is not filthy, and where people are not selling rancid meat on the street. You can see from this picture that some of the city is very picturesque. Not the part that we visited, unfortunately.
We lucked out when we got back to the traffic circle. A bus was blocking the street, so we were able to cross easily.

Tonight, alas, was once again Disco Night on the Navigator of the Seas. Gosh, it seems like I just finished listening to YMCA underneath a twirling disco ball. But it is a new cruise, and apparently every cruise features disco night. Woe betide anyone who is doing a back-to-back cruise on the same ship and doesn't like disco music.

The difference this time was the audience. On the first cruise, it was largely Americans who can't get enough of the Village People and the BeeGees. There's something about I Feel Like Dancing that just gets Americans of any age clapping their hands and smiling.

But this cruise, as I have mentioned before, is largely Europeans and Asians, with some Americans. So poor Paul-the-Cruise-Director really had a hard time getting the audience into the 70s mood. Well, I take that back. There was a large group of middle-aged Asians (from an Asian country, not American) who were dancing along. Unfortunately not with much rhythm. But they enjoyed singing “that's the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it (uh huh uh huh). However, it was comical to look out into the crowd and see the somber Europeans watching without even a semblance of a smile.

But, to be fair, I must admit that when YMCA came on, it got most people into the mood. The Asians were trying to form the letters with their hands, but apparently don't know the American alphabet. Oh well.