alexandria

We spent a day in Alexandria; it was our one expedition out of Cairo (no, we didn't go to Luxor or Aswan). They "rebuilt" the Great Library a few years ago--think new BSG. It's got a very modern feel to it--fairly similar to the new Seattle library, in fact. Anyway, we heard a lecture on economics in a conference room in the new Biblioteque; definitely the coolest conference room I've ever been in. They were extremely ambiguous about the Library's destruction without mentioning the historical controversy (which includes a popularly held but historically untenable theory that it was destroyed during the Arab/Muslim conquest).



The lighthouse is long underwater, sadly, but we did get some time on the Mediterranean. The weather was crappy, but it was still nice just to walk by the water. Mostly I'm glad I went, because it's an important place, but I'm surprised by how little I have to say about it here.