Don’t Dive Cleopatra’s Palace
I flew to Alexandria, Egypt specifically to do this dive. I know photos on the internet can be misleading. Even if they aren’t AI. Unlike so many blogs I won’t make you read 15 paragraphs before getting to the important details.
To borrow a military term BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Skip it. It’s very expensive, crappy visibility, and all the good stuff has been moved to the Alexandria National Museum.
The Details
Now if you’re still with me, and I hope you are, you must go with an approved guide (which is why it’s expensive), it’s an easy shallow dive, and the WWII plane wreck is cool.
And very close to the plane are remnants of the palace with granite columns and capitals all around.
I’ve been to many archeological sites and they often have pieces strewn around. An underwater archeological site adds limited visibility and coral encrustrations changing the outlines of the artifacts. I should have known better, but was entranced by some of the official images online.
The good news is you can go to the Alexandria Museum and see what has been recovered. Every year between January and March professional divers recover more items. I didn’t actually make it here.
Dealing with Disappointment
We’ve all had disruptions to our travels. And sometimes things don’t live up to expectations. It’s times like this, we need to find the silver lining.
A good source for hidden gems is your hotel front desk or concierge. They will know better than the internet what is close by, open, and worth a visit.
Another good option, just go out walking. You may see some cool things that make it into guidebooks.
Or just a nice sunset.
Alexandria Highlights
Thankfully Alexandria itself is well worth your time. The citadel, catacombs, library, and jewelry museum are all excellent.
Even though I had been to the library on a previous trip I wanted to go back. I had a more leisurely visit and saw more of the displays. (Dedicated post coming soon.)
It has a wide ranging collection of books including a whole section in French. As well as thousands of volumes in English. It’s simple to register and request a volume to read.
As a bibliophile, I love books and interesting libraries. As a wanderer, I appreciate having access to millions of books on my phone. Originally when I downsized, donating my books was traumatizing. But wandering and having 1000 books do not go together.
It is nostalgic to wander in a library or bookstore and curl up in a corner with an e-book is nice. Especially if while I’m in Egypt and want to re-read some of my historical fiction about Egypt, I can just download them again.
The Alexandria Jewelry Museum will also get it’s own post, soon.
