Alexandria Feb 27th

Equipped with a new map, we found the Alexandria National Museum easily. It is in a magnificent old Italian villa and is the absolutely perfect museum. It has floors that focus on different major topics and then the rooms are in categories too. King Akhenaton
A picture of a statue found at the bottom of the harbour in Alexandria. We were amazed that fabrics over two thousand years old have been preserved. While not being overwhelmed, there was plenty to look at, with the items starting with Pharaonic pieces and covering Coptic, Muslim and modern eras too. Many public buildings and monumental sites have an x-ray machine to check bags and it is all very serious and official. On our way into the museum, my bag passed easily but when Keith’s bag went through, the two tourist police started pointing to the x-ray image and they asked “Do you have a knife?” We said “No.” They seemed to be laughing when they asked if we had a gun and were definitely enjoying a joke when they inquired if we had bombs – their pretend suspicions of the image of our bananas and oranges having brought on a break in the monotony for them and a lighter moment for us all.
We raced to the library only to find that the free film we were going to see had finished the day before. The library is definitely an important and valued building and the security there
would never allow for fruit and bomb jokes. Four different people check you out before you are allowed in. Not to waste our entry price, we strolled about and came upon the rare books and special collection. As soon as we entered the attendant told us that we could look but not touch; absolute torture for me. These books seemed a strange bunch; some not obviously rare, some not even very special. One of my favourites was a ‘Dictionary of Important Dates from all Nations and all Eras – Up Until the Autumn of 1896’. There were also folios that documented the excavations at Giza in the 1930s and at other sites – the no touch rule was excruciating. The attendant said that the criterion for inclusion was that they had to be donated from the library of a person important to Egypt.
After another read of an hour or so, some free use of the library wireless internet and a stroll through unknown streets, we selected a restaurant with no English speakers or menu. We had the trusty koshery, salad and orange juice (really fanta when it arrived) – cost ₤E10 for both of us - $2.30 Aust.
The man in the centre of this photo has washed the tiled floor of his shop and swept the water out into the street, where he is now cleaning the footpath by sweeping the water into the gutter. This is a common practice.
When we walked past this archaeological site we saw workers carrying dirt up from a hole in the ground. There is stiff competition between archaeologists and property developers over access to land in Alexandria, as there are likely to be undiscovered buildings and objects under many current buildings.

The workshop for this tyre business is the footpath.