30. Alexandria, Egypt - 16 March to 29 March 2010

Back in Cairo, with a day to spare before we were to run the gauntlet of the Libyan Embassy again, we caught yet another taxi into the city to spend some time in the souq of Khan al-Khalili, a market which sells everything to anybody, both locals and tourists. It is a labyrinth of narrow alleyways and courtyards and easily confuses, but we found Fishawi's Coffeehouse, an institution which claims to have been serving coffee for 200 years, with mirrored walls and traditional decor combined with the aromas of coffee and sheesha (water pipe) smoking all adding to the intrigue.

Much to our disappointment the following day, after the obligatory and arduous waiting in a very crowded, noisy room full of locals applying for visas to work in Libya, we were eventually told that once again there was no information regarding our visa application, and that we should come back on Tuesday (and today was Thursday). By now we had decided our preferred route to Europe was definitely through Libya and Tunisia, which was in our original planning, so trying very hard to remain optimistic - admittedly through gritted teeth - Alexandria was still to be experienced and not so far away to return to Cairo when (hopefully) we could pick up our Libyan visas.

Alexandria viewed from our tiny balcony on the third floor of an Edwardian building overlooking the Corniche and the beautiful Mediterranean could only be superb, especially as now we really did have a sense of having driven the full length of the African continent, and just over that sparkling expanse of water was Turkey. We felt very close to Europe here and the Egypt Hotel suited us nicely with its tiny open French-style lift of polished timber with a grilled door creaking us up to our room. And it had a perfect location, just two small blocks from the Midan Saad Zaghloul and the old Cecil Hotel. It was also in the vicinity of some wonderful coffee houses and patisseries, including Athineos which has been open since 1900, and still has its 1940's fittings and period character with mirrors, timber furniture and huge, spectacular light fittings, not to mention its selection of traditional biscuits baked on the premises. By this time we were finding Turkish coffee very palatable and predictable, as cappuccinos can be random in this part of the world. But our favourite coffee retreat was at Fayoumi's where fresh sweet local delicacies are available every day to accompany the bitter taste of the coffee, and so cheap.

We stayed six nights in Alexandria and ate so much seafood. We walked the Corniche at night a couple of times to our favourite - The Fish Market - a restaurant popular with the locals, overlooking the lights of the coastline, and where your seafood meal is chosen from the display on ice, and the chef enquires as to how you might like it cooked, suggesting politely that grilled will release the superb flavours. He was right. Our other favourite eating place for lunch or dinner was Taverna, where from the upstairs restaurant you can view one of the chefs 'throwing' the dough below to keep up with the constant orders from the passing pedestrian traffic. We watched him fill the thin dough with sweet or savoury filling and wrap it all up into a square envelope before sliding it into the open oven, and we wondered what this was called. On asking we were told that this was a 'bai', which I dutifully tried to remember, only to laugh at ourselves later when we realised he was merely saying 'pie', but of course different to the pie we know at home, and actually on the menu as 'oriental pie'. We tried one - beautiful light pastry and of course we had a seafood filling.

Alexandria, an ancient city steeped in history, a great deal of which you can't see because it is six metres under the Mediterranean, but such an interesting place, with so many different influences over the centuries. We were almost sorry to leave our Egypt Hotel room, and our sea-breeze view of the Eastern Harbour, the men, women, couples and families walking the Corniche day and night, and the traffic hooting and tooting incessantly in the traffic jam below. As the Athineos menu says - "It's as important to enjoy the atmosphere as it is to see the sights".

We had dutifully rung the Libyan Embassy in Cairo on the Tuesday, to be told there was still no news of our visas. Disappointment again!! We decided to visit the Libyan Consulate in Alexandria and after a phone call to Cairo by the very helpful man in the Consulate, we were told that our approval had arrived in Cairo since our earlier phone call. We immediately bought our train ticket to Cairo for the next day, arrived at the Embassy to endure once again the obligatory and arduous waiting in a very crowded, noisy room, but an even longer wait than usual. We were full of apprehension this time, which was justified as 'our friend' behind the counter and the dirty glass screen informed us that yes, our visas had been approved but not processed, and that would take till next Sunday (and today was Wednesday)!! Calm and restraint are both needed in such situations, and we pleaded with him in the nicest possible way to complete the processing that day, and he promised he would try - come back at one o'clock he said. But enough of all this, we did get our visas!! Three weeks and one day - our wait was over.

We enjoyed the drive from Alexandria to the border. Firstly, we visited the War Museum, where outside are the rusted relics of tanks, trucks and planes, and more displays inside including one on a huge display table, and conducted by one of the museum employees wielding his pointer and manually turning the lights on and off to show the different battles across the whole of this northern part of Africa, from El Alamein to Tunisia. We moved on to the El Alamein Commonwealth War Cemetery where more than 7000 tombstones overlook the desert battlefield and we found the Australian section - a poignant reminder of the scale of our loss here in World War II, as well as that of so many other countries.

We spent two nights at an exceptionally beautiful resort right on the Mediterranean, Jaz Almaza Beach Resort about 30km east of Matruh, and one night at a not so nice hotel in Saloum right on the border before our crossing the next day, and our exchange of Egyptian for Libyan licence plates for our vehicle. Libya, here we come at last!!