And I began thinking. Man, here I was, away from family, away from work, embarking on a trip with strangers. Thought I should have done it before. Thought I was lucky to be doing it now. Thought about getting some more sleep. Thought about the sea.
Got up and rushed to the other room. SK was sprawling on the bed, not ready to leave the comfort of it for whatever reason. RA was making disconcerted efforts to get SK out. I went into the balcony and looked at the sea. It was awesome. Here it was, the Mediterranean, which was snapping in all its rage and ardour last night, now tame and calm, lapping quietly at the bank.
The sea, the roads and the traffic reminded me of Marine Drive. Blackpool, to be honest, but then you'll accuse me of being an Englishman. Nevertheless, snapped a few photos on the cellphone and tried to Whatsapp them back home using the hostel wifi. Went back to the room, freshened up and met the guys for breakfast.
Breakfast was the usual continental setup - bread, butter, jam and coffee. Over breakfast, we decided the course of the trip for the rest of the time we were in Alexandria. SK and RA had already done the Catacombs (more on this later), so the agenda for today was mostly the Bibliotheca Alexandrina - the Alexandria Library.
Over breakfast, I also learnt that SK and RA met on the Skoda Yeti campaign. The campaign rang a bell, and I asked them if they knew Mridula Dwivedi, and they did recall some fond memories. I was happy - it made me realise the world was so small. Till yesterday, they were strangers to me, and this morning, I'd found a strong traceable link. I knew Mridula from my contributions to Blogbharti, and they knew her via Skoda. It was like the six degrees of separation, it was awesome!
It was still drizzling, so we lazed around a bit, but at around 11 AM, we thought we'd venture out. So we went out to Ahmed's (Achmed's?) for some more falafel and pickle (again, radish and salad leaves). It was drizzling even after the falafel, so we walked around the Corniche, and into a coffee shop to order a shisha. We spent time discussing mundane things and examining RA's Nikkor 18-200 lens while we waited for the rain to stop. It didn't, and we decided to walk in the light drizzle anyway. Our next stop was the Alexandria Library. (In hindsight, we should have taken the bottle of water and the box of tissues put on our table, we later realised our bill for 17.50 EGP included them too... and not just the shisha).
We walked about half a mile (or was it one?) to the Library. When I looked at it from outside, I thought it was just another architectural gimmick. Then, we went inside, and I was dumbstruck. This library was not just another library. It was just spellbinding. I took some time to assimilate the surroundings - there were levels one after the other and a flight of stairs connected them together. It made me wonder, with a library like this, who would attend regular class anyway. There were many a young couple flirting and making discreet passes at one another, to prove my point, hah!
The library also had a section for antiques, on a separate ticket. We went into the section and saw the articles on display. Remarkable ones were the mummies; an artwork of the mummification process, where we learnt about the God of mummification Anubis, and how a person is brought before the God Osiris and his heart weighed against a feather; a figurine of Aphrodite from the Greco-Roman period, and a latticed wooden window shade, which had deer so cleverly built into the geometry that you would not notice it until you stood about 4 feet away and really attempted to find the deer. Sadly, photography was not allowed in the section, otherwise, it would have been a fantastic capture.
Library done, we retreated to the cafe across the road, the El Selsela. The place had great ambience - it was right next to the sea, we just wished it were more sunny so we could get to sit outside, but it was downright rainy, so we had to settle for indoors. Some food, coffee and shisha later, we were chatting away in all our glory. Played a game to pass some time and learnt RA really struggles to lie :) Sorry, dude!
We spent some 2-3 hours just sitting in the cafe, chatting, joking, making up unprintable parodies of popular Bollywood songs, listening to SK's stories, before we realised we had to get back before the rest of the gang arrived at the hostel. The day was not a clincher in terms of tourism - we had hardly covered any place except the Library, but it was great fun. It was time well spent - great ambience, great company, and the feeling that *this* is how travel should be.
We then walked back the mile or so to the hostel, where RA had agreed with the owner to move us into a different hotel, so that all our party (us and the 8 who were coming from India) could be together. So, SK and I volunteered to move our bags into the new hotel, whilst RA stayed back for the rest of the group to arrive. We walked about two blocks on the Corniche, opposite to the direction of the Library, before SK thought he had to re-confirm the address of the new hotel.
It was raining, so we thought the best thing to do was to sit in a coffee shop with the luggage, while one of us went and tracked the place down. As it happened, I sat down with the bags, and SK went back to locate the hotel.
The coffee shop was imposing, to say the least. It covered almost the whole block, and seemed to be quite popular with the locals. One side of it overlooked the Corniche and the sea, and the other side of it was adjoining the side road which was perpendicular to the Corniche. Locals were playing chess, backgammon etc, and the ambience was great. While SK went off to find out the hotel, I sat back and watched the locals and ordered a coffee.
I should probably tell you now that by coffee, I meant the espresso, or if not, the normal black coffee without milk or sugar. Little did I expect I would get Turkish coffee.
SK and RA had already warned me about Turkish coffee. Apparently, they had been to a coffee shop and ordered the Turkish coffee. It was served in an elaborate fashion, with specialised jugs to pour from, but it tasted like a concoction made of mud. SK was quite verbose and actually took the time to explain that the 'mud' settled in the crevices between your teeth.
So, when the waiter brought my coffee, I almost bit my tongue at my gaffe. Nevertheless, like all proud men, I took a sip and realised SK was right - it was muddy and downright loathsome, and the powder did really go into the crevices of your teeth. So I politely put the glass aside, not wanting to take another sip out of it, and waited for SK to return from his quest.
About five minutes passed and I noticed the powder in the glass slowly settle at the bottom, while the coffee stayed on top. Without disturbing the sediment, I took a sip of the liquid above. It was heavenly. SK returned jubilant, the hotel was right outside the coffee shop. I asked him to taste the coffee. He did, and confirmed it was way way better than the muddy coffee he and RA had left earlier.
And right there, in that coffee shop, SK and I had discovered the right way of enjoying a cup of Turkish coffee. It would stand us in good stead for the rest of our stay in Al Iskandriyah!!
We finished the coffee, and checked in to the new hotel. Shortly after, the rest of the gang arrived and the group was complete. Introductions done, we went to a nearby place for local food. Most of us had koshary - a heady mix of noodles, rice, pasta, vegetables and mild spices - for dinner. It was almost like bhelpuri, but not quite the real thing.
Back in the room, more ice was broken - with SM and S2K in addition to SK, and good old SP. Conversations went on as people dwindled one after the other, and not before long, it was just me and SP going back in time.
We felt the urge to take a walk, so we went down and into the chilly Alexandria night, and walked half the distance towards the library, before we realised we had not brought our wallets. So, we marched the retreat, back to the hotel, and armed with wallets, walked back to El Selsela, the shack which had impressed me so much earlier that afternoon.
We spent some time at the shack, this time by the sea. Between the strong coffee and the rough sea, we wondered how we had never imagined we would ever meet on a different continent, let alone country. It was calm when we walked back, almost dawn, the roads were deserted; even the late night taxis had left, disappointed at not having got a fare.
We slept that morning at 4:30 AM, wondering how on earth would we get up to 'sight-see' Alexandria in the private cab that RA had arranged!!
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