the salt sea air

I never realized how much I missed the wind. Something so simple, but in Cairo, it is a luxury. And in Alexandria, there was a beautiful abundance that smelled like the sea.It is so interesting to see a city that is such a compilation of cultures and histories. The ruins there are made up of layers of former civilizations, from the Upper Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, to the Greek-Egyptian hybrid in the time of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Roman invasion of Julius Cesar, the Mamluk dynasty, and the violent birth of Mohamed Ali’s modern Egypt, and the last days of the Egyptian kingdom.

The library is beautiful, and meant to symbolize the rising sun out of the Mediterranean Sea, poring light and knowledge from the center of the ancient world.The Fortress of Qaitbay, built from the stones of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, houses the memory of the massacre that ended the Mamluk dynasty and held off the impending Ottoman oppression, creating Modern Egypt and the beginning of kings.

Now the city is the beacon of Egyptian relaxation, with the Mediterranean bringing in that beautiful wind over beaches and buildings, mixing the smell of sea salt and shisha.