All good things come to an end

Today we went into the Marina Shipping office in the city centre to sort out the logistics of shipping Foxy from Alexandria to Venice.

Driving in Alexandria is a horrible nerve-wracking experience. Defensive driving takes on a whole new meaning here. There are painted lines on the streets but the city may as well have saved the hassle and used the paint for touching up the run-down buildings on the Corniche instead. People here, and I'm including taxi drivers, bus drivers, men in suits on cell phones, and even fully-veiled women, seem totally and inexplicably incapable of driving in a straight line.

If you try to stay in your lane, you just get honked at incessantly and eventually pushed to one side or another.

Add to that the fact that jay-walking seems to be practiced on a sort of religious level, from the very young to the very old and fragile, you can get a little sense of what Alexandria traffic is like.

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If all goes accordingly, Foxy will leave on July 11th on the cargo ship, arriving at Venice port July 19th.

Our flight from Cairo to Milan is booked for July 10th.

Over dinner tonight, Matt and I came up with a plan of how we want to spend our 10 days in Europe while we wait for Foxy to arrive.

Two vital factors come into play. One, we want a 'home base' where we can stay put for a few days without being a bother or burden to anyone. And two, we want to do something that is affordable. Since leaving Sudan we have been spending a lot more money than we had originally planned.

So we have decided to spend our time at the Thornington chalet at the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France. Peace, tranquility, a homey home-base and most importantly, price-marked items in grocery stores! It will be a good chance to collect our thoughts and let this whole trip sink in.




Start: Maamura Palace Hotel, Alexandria, EGYPT.
End: Maamura Palace Hotel, Alexandria, EGYPT.
Distance Traveled: 0 km
Road Conditions: ok except for the crazy fools behind the wheel of taxis and buses
Temperature: "Pleasant with slight sea breeze" says Bonnie. "Almost bearable" says Matt.