After partying a lot (going to a TGI Fridays...yes, TGI Fridays) we took a train ride to Alexandria. Before I get into it, let me explain a little bit of the night life here.

Remember, this is a 3rd world country, and is very strict in its faith, and practices. Going to the clubs is nice...everyone gets dressed up in their button up shirts, nice pants, nice jeans, good shoes...all that good stuff for the men/boys. For the ladies, it's almost like whatever goes...nice pants, tight skirts, even veils sometimes...very classy, and sometimes trashy.

You can't approach a woman here if you don't speak the language...already tried. However though, at the same TGIFridays, I did ask a girl to dance...she declined, then I went on the dance floor and a couple minutes later, she joined me...but that was as far as it went. She danced with me for a while, then cut out, so that nobody would think she was a whore. It's pretty crappy, but hey, that's life. At least she still had the guts to come out on the dance floor and dance with a foreigner for some time.

We took the train to Alexandria on Friday = price 34lbs => $5 US...no joke. Alexandria is a beautiful city...right along the coast of the Mediterranean. They have a small highway system similar to lake shore drive, but with U-turns all over the place, and pedestrians crossing the street all the time. We would usually tip a cab driver well if he was courteous and a safe driver...others would find delightment in swerving towards pedestrians and scaring them, all the while scaring us that we would hit them, or another car in the making.

Remember, 2 lanes = room for three cars, 3 lanes = rooms for 5 cars and so forth...and it is really used like that. Alexandria isn't as congested on the streets as is Cairo, but has a nice breeze from the Mediterranean Sea to help pass the pollution thru. You can smell the salty air all along the strip...and once inside the Med Sea, pwahh....the saltiness of the water tastes...well, salty. But it feels good all over you...it reminded me of Greece, on the island of Paros.

We didn't hit the night life here, just wanted to take it easy...but we did visit a couple touristy locations, for one, the Citadel of Alexandria...a fort along the coast. Very grand, with a mosque built in. Afterwards, we went to the famous Bibliotheque of Alexandria (the Library of Alexandria) and that was what it actually was...a library. Funny thing was, you couldn't bring in little kids under 6 yrs of age. So, Mazen waited outside with his lady and their son...isn't that something though? It's a library...you would think you would want them to bring in little kids...but no...they want you to leave them in the kid’s library, with a chaperone you don't know...hmmm....backwards, or just a misunderstood mystery....oh well...next stop, FOOD!!!!

Eating was the best, all over Egypt we experienced Babaghanoosh, Hummus, yogurt salad, falafel, kebab - steak and chicken, pita, homemade Egyptian bread, peasant salads, baked pastas, freshe' yogurt, cactus fruit, and other goodies like peaches with a white inside (I didn't know what they were called).

Afterwards for the end of the night (we stayed there two nights - at the Sheraton hotel along the water) we went to the downstairs DOSCOTEQUE. Here's where things get a little tricky.. NOW, we have taxes back home in the states, but here, man, they really tax you!

Reg Tax= 12%
Sales Tax= 5%
Entertainment Tax= 8.5 lbs...PER PERSON!!

Not that it’s a lot of money, but damn! Quit taxing me and not letting me know about! We left that place and just hung out on the beach, smoking hookahs, drinking chai's, and eating small fruits, nuts and other things like the hummus and pita, while enjoying the salty air, listening to the waves lap up and splash against the shore, under a dark night full of stars...very romantic, if we had a girl with us...though it was only three guys.

All in all, Alexandria was great...very nice city, wish I could spend more time there, but knew I had to get back to Cairo. I will be heading back here again...this isn't the lat time I’m coming to Egypt...I’ll be back in a couple years, maybe 4 or 5, once I get in a couple more continents