Last Friday, I've been to
Alexandria. I'd categorize this under thoughtful adventures. Nothing crazy or risky happened; just a lot of new ideas and thoughts were there!
It's my first time been there, and for some reason I expected to see a city that's totally different from anywhere else I'd seen before. But it was like anywhere else in Egypt! A totally Egyptian city, with that well-known Egyptian theme! OK, I'm still in Egypt anyway!! :D
Yet, it was a very nice city, with beautiful squares, and clean streets. Almost at every square we passed by, there's a nice statue or a beautiful fountain.
Our first stop was at
The Royal Jewelry Museum, or The Jewelry Palace. It's a palace built by one of
Muhammad Ali Basha's grand-daughters Princess Fatima El-Zahraa. Now, it's a museum for the Royal family jewelries.
Well, for me, it was such an odd place! The walls, and even the ceilings, were full of amazing paintings. It was quite clear that the princess was a big fan of the European style in everything! Or maybe it was the wave at that time.. Don't know..!!
Did I say the paintings were amazing?! Hmm.. OK, there's no doubt, at all, that who painted them was such a creative and talented artist. The paintings were indeed made with a great deal of accuracy and professionalism. The point is.. I really didn't like their meanings!!!
I love art, and that was my first time to see such a professional art, with a very bad message! Don't know how to express this, it still very odd for me myself!!
That's about the palace. Regards the jewelries there, the most attractive piece there is a chess game. It was such an awesome chess, made in India! Every single piece is made of gold, and diamonds. The most interesting, and fascinating, part is that the maker paid a very careful attention even to the pieces' base!! Every piece's base is picture of a significant character or place in the Indian history. It was AWESOME!!
The next stop was at
Qaitbay Citadel. What a huge place!! A totally military castle, without any touch or art!! One of our group raised a quite cleaver question. "Why it's been built at this spot only? and the whole shore is left without any defenses?". I believe that's because that "spot" was the most vulnerable at the whole shore at that time. It's true that the shore is too long, yet, there's no where suites warships or fleets. Or perhaps there was, but not fitting a whole army to walk through. Or maybe there were no road! Not very sure actually..
But, I'm very sure that it wasn't built so likely. It can't be, can it?! I believe that things that last for long time, with great effect, wouldn't be found without perfect planing, and lots of sciences and knowledge. That's how things last for eternity.
Yes, such places inspires me. The place speaks about those who created it. Great people left their fingerprint, with their own style, even after their death. You know, you'd see many recently-added ugly writings on its walls here and there, made by young kinds, in a try to leave their own "fingerprints" too!! It's such an ugly view! I really can't stop thinking about the huge difference about the two ways of thinking!!
A person wants to leave something, so people would remember him, so he built a castle; and another one want the exact same thing, so he write his nickname and phone number on the wall!!!! Pathetic! I guess they'd never heard the Prophet -PBUH- saying,
"Muslim is like a bee... whenever it stands on a branch, never breaks it, or a flower, never Scratches it"! Soubhan Allah!
Anyway, the most enjoyable thing at the citadel is the sea view. Marvelous! That day the weather was really good. Sunny day, with a clear sky, and nice wind. You can see the whole shore from there. A really good place for meditation, and getting lost in your thoughts.. Specially if you had
Sami Yusuf's
Healing track on your list ;)
See, as I said, just thoughts..
But, it was so so so enjoyable :)
Planning for another time there, but with much more crazy stuff to do ;)
Trip Photos:
All photos here belong to me & Yasser El-Shaa'rawy.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Jewelry_Museum
http://www.ask-aladdin.com/qaitbay.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Qaitbay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tug63dI4MEY
http://www.samiyusufofficial.com/healing/
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