beautiful night in Alex

Whenever I come up here I rotate through about 4 different hotels, depending on impulse. All are within about 5 blocks of each other, very close to the sea.

Alexandria is laid out mostly east-west right along the sea, with little geographical depth due to a large body of water directly south of the city. The long corniche stretches for miles and miles along the waterfront. The only thing comparable in my experience would be Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and the traffic becomes nearly that speedy the further away you get from the historic center.

What I often like to do here at night is get on the streetcar and head east for as long as I feel like it, then walk back to the center either along the corniche or on the side-streets. The streetcar is wonderful. It costs less than 5 American cents for a ride (you simply get on, then a ticket vendor comes down the aisle). The streetcar lurches at a fairly uneven pace and stops at unexpected points. Visibility is poor from inside the car, since the window designs don’t allow you to look very far forward. So looking out the window is almost as limited as watching television. Strange and interesting things flash past. There may be donkeys pulling carts, street arguments, or a barrel of flames inside a construction site with people warming themselves.

Then I get off whenever the mood strikes, usually about a half hour’s walk from the city center, though occasionally further. Due to the close proximity of the sea to all points, it is nearly impossible to get lost in Alexandria.

Tonight I found that I’d gone about 10 minutes’ walk past the new great library, so I guess that was again about half an hour’s walk from the hotel. The sea breeze was fresh and brisk, the racing traffic on the corniche was a thrill, and it was alluring to see the full moon move behind minarets and then apartment blocks, only to reappear again a few seconds later (cloud cover is minimal tonight).

I would definitely be interested in living up here if circumstances play out that way. Three years ago I came very close to renting a weekend apartment near the library, but refrained for various reasons, and now there are some complications with my schedule that make it a more difficult idea.

Places are not universal. They don’t all work for all of us. But Alexandria works well for me.