Long before I was born, my father, a callow lad from a modest family, dreamed of the stage. Just 17 when the Second World War broke out, he auditioned for Ralph Reader’s Royal Air Force Gang Show. Weeks later he was in the Middle East ‘entertaining the troops’.
When I was a child, he regaled me with so many stories of Egypt and the Middle East that I hungered to visit these territories. And since then, most had been achieved – save for Alexandria.
A few weeks ago friends called to say they were renting an Airbnb in Alex, as the city is often known. Would I join them?
Why not? The Foreign Office advice is that Cairo and Alex are safe to visit, many miles away from the devastating conflict in Gaza.
The added benefit is that crowds at the main sights would be thin. And so days later I was in Cairo, heading for Alexandria.
Carol Drinkwater spends six days in Alexandria, Egypt’s ‘fabulous crumbling city’. Above – the Citadel of Qaitbay
‘The Foreign Office advice is that Cairo and Alexandria (above) are safe to visit, many miles away from the devastating conflict in Gaza,’ writes Carol
There are several ways to visit Alex. Dozens of tour operators offer private limo trips from Cairo. The journey time is approximately three hours each way along the Desert Road. If staying in Cairo, I recommend the Ritz-Carlton. It neighbours the Cairo Museum, which boasts phenomenal Tutankhamun exhibits.
If you choose to make Alexandria your base, there are several fascinating hotels – tourist attractions in their own right.
Le Metropole, built in 1902, is deliciously eccentric and ornate, with a rooftop restaurant that looks out to the Mediterranean. Here, royalty once hung out: a gilded chair gifted by Queen Elizabeth II to King Farouk sits in reception.
Carol says the views of Alexandria’s Corniche (pictured) rival the South of France
Carol, pictured, reveals that her trip brought back memories of her father – he was deployed to Egypt in the Second World War
Directly across from Saad Zaghloul Square, where Cleopatra’s Needle was once displayed, is the equally iconic Cecil Hotel. Winston Churchill, Al Capone and W. Somerset Maugham have been guests, and King Farouk played poker here.
On the first floor, the Monty Bar celebrates Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s victory at El Alamein. Decked out with dark leather chairs like a Pall Mall club, it offers entertainment every evening. The hotel also boasts a rooftop restaurant with views over the Corniche promenade to the sea. Through the windows of its second restaurant you can see the Qaitbay Citadel, which houses a maritime museum and makes for an excellent sea-blown walk and visit.
One street behind the Cecil Hotel is an excellent patisserie, Delices, which opened in 1922. Back on the seafront is Windsor Palace, also with a rooftop restaurant. The views are fabulous and there’s an outdoor pool and spa.
I stayed with my pals in their flat overlooking the Corniche, with views rivalling the South of France. From time to time, I watched turtles swim in the bay.
We took an open-topped, hop-on, hop-off bus along the seafront (50p a ride). Alexandrians are the friendliest people, so I never felt afraid. I stayed six days and could easily have tripled that to further explore the city, rich in so many layers of history.
My first outing was to the newly built library, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, set across the street from the shore.
The original library was one of the greatest learning centres of the ancient world. It burned down and was destroyed in uncertain circumstances in 48BC. The new library, opened in 2002, is vast – it has space for eight million books. Browsing the shelves, I found works by British and Irish writers and sat awhile on Shakespeare’s Bench. Fashioned like an open book, it is inscribed with extracts from his sonnets.
The library also boasts four museums and a planetarium.
Above, Alexandria’s iconic Cecil Hotel, which counts Winston Churchill, Al Capone and W. Somerset Maugham among its guests
Alexandria’s jaw-dropping library, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has space for eight million books
The outdoor markets are as bustling and colourful as anywhere in the Med.
On Fridays is a bird market, where you can buy a live pigeon in a cage for a euro. Rabbits and snakes are also for sale.
Unfortunately, Alexandria’s beachfront colonial buildings are crumbling: one earthquake and the city will likely turn to rubble.
But many historic sites such as the Royal Jewelry Museum, located in a fabulous Art Deco palace once owned by Princess Fatma Al-Zahra, have been restored. The recently reopened Graeco-Roman Museum, with 40,000 antique treasures, is also magnificent.
We hired a driver and made the trip to El Alamein along the coast. I had hoped for stunning sea views but the beachside is mostly made up of construction sites. Old El Alamein is dusty and chaotic.
In contrast, the Commonwealth Cemetery outside town is impeccably maintained, with its golden-stone monuments and hundreds of aligned wartime graves. I strolled along the rows, reading tombstone inscriptions. So many young men, my father’s age, lost. Had he drank with some in Alex’s bars?
For my last evening in Alex, we headed to the bar at Le Metropole. It was here that the iconic closing scene of the 1958 film Ice Cold In Alex was shot. We toasted the riches of this fabulous crumbling city with ice-cold lagers, and I promised myself I would be back soon to drink another.
TRAVEL FACTS
Return British Airways flights from Heathrow to Cairo cost from £377 (ba.com). Doubles at the Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo, from £273 (ritzcarlton.com); Le Metropole, Alexandria, from £91 (booking.com); Steigenberger Cecil Hotel, Alexandria from £114 B&B (hrewards.com); Windsor Palace, Alexandria, from £78 B&B (booking.com). Six-night tours with three in Cairo and three in Alexandria from £2,399pp with flights, transfers and guides (coxandkings.co.uk).
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