Alexandria, Egypt

We arrived in Alexandria, Egypt around 5:30 AM this morning and the local authorities cleared the ship by 8:00 AM. The port city of Alexandria is the gateway city for to Cairo. Alexandria is also Egypt’s second largest city and is the primary port for this country. This seaport was named after its founder, Alexander the great and this city served as the capital of Egypt during the reign of Cleopatra.

We awoke early this morning and we enjoyed breakfast in the Lido Café. The café was fairly busy. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center for about 90 minutes. Anne Marie did her usual workout on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine.

We were originally booked on a complimentary tour provided by Crystal Cruises but decided instead to take the complimentary bus which took us into the city. The streets were quite congested with all types of vehicles. After getting off the bus we walked around for a little while. The surrounding area was quite old and the sidewalks seemed to be in need of repair. Most of the shops were closed but we did walk into a bakery that was one of the nicest bakeries that we have seen in quite along time. It had the look of one of the wonderful bakeries that one sees in New York City. It carried an assortment of cakes, pastries, cookies and breads.

We then took the shuttle back to the cruise ship terminal and walked around an outdoor bazaar. Those working there were very polite and most had an excellent command of the English language. They sold a variety of items from silver jewelry, to leather purses and wallets, to porcelain plates to a variety of wooden items.

The cruise ship terminal is quite nice and the surrounding area looks to be in very nice shape. The weather was great with temperatures in the 70’s.

We had lunch on the ship in the main dining room. We enjoyed a wonderful salad entrée.

This afternoon we took care of some errands on the ship. We then went back out into town with another couple on the shuttle bus provided by Crystal. The city was significantly more crowded than in the morning and the locals were much more aggressive in trying to sell items on the street. When we returned back to the cruise ship terminal we walked around and looked at the various items being sold in a bazaar like setting.

Dinner was open seating in the main dining room meaning that passenger’s could arrive for dinner anytime they pleased from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM. This was done to accommodate those passenger’s who were on full day tours of Cairo. We ate at our regular table with our regular senior waiter and waiter. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and spoke with some fellow passenger’s in the dining room right after our meal.

This evening we will once again move the clocks forward by one hour to accommodate another time zone change. Over the past several days we have moved the clock forward and backward multiple times. The good news is that tomorrow is a sea day.

Keith & Anne Marie