Our good friends wanted to treat us to a fish dinner and we, of course, accepted. They drove us to one of their favorite places, Rashid, a city about 40 miles to the east of Alexandria, but still on the western side of the Nile delta.
Outside of Alexandria, the road crosses farmland and marshes and then travels through acres and acres of date palms. The palm trees stand in orderly rows, much like Christmas trees in the northern U.S., only very much taller. We could see huge numbers of mostly yellow, but also some red, dates hanging on these trees in large bunches, in various stages of ripeness. Produce stands all over Alexandria have overflowing boxes of these same types of fresh dates for sale.
Rashid is better known internationally as Rosetta, home the famous stone that was the key to unlocking the meaning of Egyptian hierogylphics. Unfortunately, the original stone is housed at the British Museum in London and Rosetta only has a replica, as does the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Rashid was important at one time as a shipping port, but has been replaced in that category by Alexandria. Clearly fishing is still an important industry here. We were told some of the boats we saw there venture as far as Libya, if they have the appropriate fishing license. Its location along a wide section of the Nile, with colorful fishing boats tied up along its banks, makes Rashid/Rosetta a picturesque city.
Somewhat rusty brightly painted fishing boats were tied up alongside the broad sidewalk abutting the quay along the Nile, while smaller boats ferried passengers and produce across the river. We were surprised when our friends picked a nice spot along the river and employees from the fish market across the street began to bring tables and chairs across the street to provide a place for us to dine. Our friends had purchased fresh fish from them, and then had them prepare all the meal: fish, rice, baba ganoush, spicy pickled vegetables, salad, bread, and beverage. As seems to be the custom everywhere, we enjoyed a cup of tea after the meal.
My only disappointment was when a fish market employee cleaned off our table prior to delivering tea. He picked up two of our aluminum cans and threw them onto the quay. I can only hope that the fish market has someone clean up along the quay regularly.
This was a very pleasant and scenic outing and another opportunity to spend time visiting with our friends and learning a little more about Egypt.
Beautiful photos. It’s kind of neat to be traveling thru that much history in things like going out to eat!