Alexandria

After we had breakfast at Anafora, we headed on up to Alexandria.  It was a beautiful day & it warmed right up. We drove along the shoreline for awhile just looking at all the beautiful sights.  I had never been there before so it was a treat to see.  I had seen pictures but now I was here!  Alexandria has much more of a Greek flavor in architecture.

There were beautiful buildings all along the shoreline.

Isn't this beautiful!

Here I am with the Mediterranean Sea right behind me!

I grabbed a snapshot of the citadel.

The Library at Alexandria

One of the stops we made was at the famous huge Library at Alexandria.  It is one of the largest in the world.

Notice its unique shape. You can see the Sea from just about anywhere in the library part.

This place is enormous! Plus it has a museum & a planetarium! I'd post more pictures but Blogger won't allow me.

This is just outside. That's the planetarium with the Mediterranean behind it.

Pompey's Pillar

Next we went to Pompey's Pillar, one of Alexandria's largest ancient monument. It is "rising from the ruins of the ancient and famous Serapeion (Temple of Serapis)."  There was quite a bit to see.  We got there right before it was closing.

Here's the pillar with a sphinx to its left.

They had amazing excavations of ruins all through this place.

The view from up there was great & we got there just as the sun was setting.

An apartment building across the way.  The setting sun made it glow.

The day came to an end all too quick.

John took us to dinner at one of the better restaurants along the sea.  He treated us to a wonderful sea food dinner with all the trimmings. This is a view from the window we sat at.

We took one more drive along the shore before heading home.  These towers are to the bridge that crosses over the sea.

We were all tired, so we stopped & got coffee & pop (soda) to keep us awake for the trip home. It was a great ending to a wonderful weekend!

Anafora

The entrance

The main hall

Many times I looked at my daughter's pictures of this place & often wondered what it would be like to visit such a beautiful serene place as this.  Well, while I visited her this time John decided that I should do just that.  It was all I had hoped it to be!

The dining hall

The kitchen

They laid out a great spread for us each meal Egyptian style of course. Since they were on a fast, we had no meat.

Outdoor oven

They had beautiful flowers 

everywhere.

This was one way to sign a guest book. Neat huh?!

This is their library. Very quiet & peaceful!

John & I went to the roof top to catch the sunset.  The view was wonderful! But temperature dropped dramatically as the sun went down. It got quite cold!

Toward the rooms where we are staying.

Toward the church

The patio below

The rooftop

  These guys were in the cooking area of the kitchen making the communion bread for the prayer service that night.  It was an all night prayer meeting!  The guy in the middle is the priest.

Our Room

On the way to our room across from the main hall.

Our room was really a suit with 2 bedrooms, a large bathroom & a kitchenette. It was nice! 

My room had a door leading out to a closed in patio. The netting was absolutely necessary! Many large mosquitoes hung around. I couldn't figure out how they survived when it was so cold in there.

Sarah & John's room. Kinda romantic huh?

This sitting area was in my room since my bed was set up against the wall.  We brought additional chair in from Sarah & John's room. We spent our evening in there trying to keep warm. We wore several layers of clothing. The dessert gets quite cold at night!

The Coptic Church

Coptic church are more orthodox in their services.  It was quite different but I was getting into the swing of things.  I just wished I could understand the language. I did recognize hallelujah & amen though. There was a great atmosphere that was enhanced by the candle lighting everywhere.

We walked to the church area after we got settled in to our room.

It was a beautiful walk. The working farm had all kinds of crops.

Orange trees

The church, the tile on the exterior walls were hand painted.

More rooms near the church.

There was a neat place to sit & rest with beautiful flowers.

I'm not sure what these are but they are pretty.

Inside the church at night during the service.

Even the outside was lit by candle light. We had to remove our shoes before entering.

 

Sophia, 1 Week Old