Saturday, April 4, 2009

Egypt 2008: Alexandria

October 12th.

A selection of Alexandrian (Alexandrine?) street life. We drove around quite a bit in the city as we were going from one sightseeing spot to the other. I kept taking pictures through the car windows ... I wanted to preserve everything & anything I saw. :-)

We had a bit of a tricky time getting into the city as it had rained the night before ... it only rains there two or three times a year, so obviously there's chaos in the traffic every time it happens.

Carrefour is everywhere ... !! This mall looked interesting, but of course we had no chance to visit it.

As I think I've mentioned before, in my job I sell - among other things - protective gear and equipment to professional customers in the building industry and so on. So I know a little bit about the standards that exist in this country. Of course I know that the situation's very different in many other places. It's still a bit of a shock to see it with my own eyes, though ... o_O

Yes, you really are seeing what you think you're seeing ...

This was pretty typical ... very dilapitated buildings, but someone - or, as here, numerous someones - had made the effort to freshen up their own little patch of wall a bit. Again, something you'd never see in this country. It wouldn't be allowed and whoever tried it would probably be in for a shitload of trouble. :-)

There are lots of unfinished buildings all over the place. Hatem said that they're usually the result of funding falling through in the middle of projects.

A not very busy intersection.

An extremely fancy house. I can't remember if we ever found out what this was, but it must have been something pretty special. :-)

There are lots of little stores, of course, all over the city, selling various things ... and many of them hoping to attract tourists by putting up signs in what they think is English. :-D

A statue, palm trees, traffic ... A nice-looking sky ... :-)

A random street.

Some fancy modern buildings. A city of contrasts.

Something that I don't know what is, but that looked very nice. It was on the peak of a kind of hillside. A monument to something, no doubt. It looked nice against the blue sky.

And in closing, a video I shot during one of our short drives around the city. Just showing a bit of street life. :-) It was interesting seeing it ... I enjoy that kind of thing. Hope you do too. :-)

3 comments:

Paz said...

nice pictures madam. I see what is wrong with the guys working, they had no safety glasses :P.

Leisha Camden said...

I know, can you believe that??! I swear I don't know what people are thinking of sometimes.

Paz said...

:D