Alexandria

This was easily the most stunning part of the trip.  Right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, it was hard to go wrong.  Here we visited one of the oldest libraries in the world, unfortunately it was closed for a Christian Holiday, "Show up to a predominantly Muslim country on a Christian holiday, how ironic."  On that note, the city was packed and took forever to get anywhere.  This is how it breaks down:

Getting there 3 hrs

Tomb - Library 1.5 hrs

Library - Castle 1/2 hr

Castle - Beach 2 hrs

Getting home 6 hrs

Total 13hrs

Yes, we spent 13 hrs (including lunch) of our day on a bus... would I change that, hell no.  The sights alone were amazing, plus I got to run around the Citadel of Qaitbay (a really kewl castle) for an hour and the was the kind of castle you imagine as a kid; tiny staircases , secret looking rooms, numerous paths and passageways to get to the same places, multiple levels to fall off, a big courtyard for battles.... it was kewl.

Next there was the beach.  We had to be taken to a private beach because our tour guide thought we would be harassed too much at a public beach.  Didn't seem to matter much, being the tourists we still became the attraction.  For example, the day before two girls slowly and very shyly approached me blushing about as red as I do.  They knew very little english and obviously I know no arabic so the conversation didn't go very far, but they were excited just be having the conversation and afterwards asked to take my picture.  They acted as if they'd seen a celebrity and for me I thought this odd, until the next day.  At the beach in Alexandria it was like this 10 fold, and for everyone.  People were following us snapping pics, taking turns talking to us, having photos taken with us etc.  It was a very odd experience, we attracted similar attention other places we'd been but that was always people trying to sell us something.  Here the attention was strictly from interest and excitement; I assume us being there was almost as rare for them as it is for us.

Overall, the whole trip to Egypt was not so much a vacay as it was an experience.  To see some of the most amazing things that man has created and nature has to offer was simply unreal.  But to actually see and speak with people that lead a life so different, a life that I've only seen through a newspaper or a TV, to actually see a town that's crumbling from 360 degrees is something else.  I know there's far worse areas in the world, but to just get a taste gives me a whole new appreciation.  Especially seeing how happy and relaxed people are because they don't concern themselves with all stresses and bullshit we constantly surround ourselves with... at least that's what I think.