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 EN BREF
All you didn't know you needed to know about Alex
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#1: BUMPY RIDE, AS
EVER…
BUT THEN…
In Cairo Airport, it’s starting to
get a bit difficult for the man in charge of checking we have
our visa stamped on the relevant pages of our passport to find
the said relevant page!!! I have soooo many, I’d better ask for
a yearly one basically….
So after
El Gouna in March, and
Sharm last week in May, here I am first week of June, back
in Cairo airport. This time, no connecting flight, but a driver
supposed to take me to Alex.
Surprisingly, somebody was actually at the airport in Cairo to
drive me all the way to Alex. Well, surprisingly as last time
(and only time actually) I went to Alex that way was for the
Qualifying in El Gouna a few years back, and I got stranded for
more than 2 hours before somebody realised that my name/gender
was basically wrong on the driver’s board…
So I couldn’t
believe my luck when Mohamed was actually at the exit, with a
note and my name – spelled correctly too. A lovely new car, and
off we went to the Mediterranean Sea, three hours drive to the
north of Cairo, Alexandria, in one of the oldest cities of Egypt
(remember the Alexandria Library in the History Books?). At
around 1am, I was dropped at the hotel.
Except it was not the right one….
Something HAS to go wrong at the beginning I guess, otherwise I
wouldn’t believe I’m in Egypt now, would I….
Of course, I HAD to wake up poor Tournament Director Omar El
Sherbini –
yes, he doesn’t get much sleep when I’m around, does he –
who got my driver to come back and get me to the Windsor Hotel,
only minutes from there.
Well it should have been minutes, but the poor bloke didn’t have
a clue where it was, and it took us about 30m to do about 500m
bless him (Rings a bell Andrew Wagih??).
Only trouble, it appeared that there was not booking for me
until the following day, so basically, as the hotel was fully
booked, I got the only single room left, and that was not the
best one as I quickly found out. So many things wrong it became
sort of funny, with the “Date on the Cake” when the whole of my
bathtub content ended up on the bathroom floor, giving it a
Venice style I wasn’t sure I was enjoying that much!!!
Needless to say I was quickly moved to a suite that was a pretty
decent room to say the least, with view on the Ocean View to
leave you breathless. |
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 Although
it’s a very old hotel (1903), it’s one of those Alex landmarks
that was described by our Horse Carriage driver as “the Old
English Hotel” (more on that ride in my next edition).
Only little trouble, the Hotel is right off the Corniche, and if
you know Alex, you imagine the NOISE day and night. But it’s
funny actually, it’s like Trains. You just get used to it, and
it becomes part of the “paysage”, part of the decor, and you
just don’t hear them anymore after a little while.
 The
reception area is vast and airy, you have a “piano room”
absolutely stunning with beautiful ceiling and old drapes, a
back-in-time concierge, marble everywhere, and smiles, warmth
and kindness all around, with an excellent free Wi-Fi connection,
rather unexpected in that old style atmosphere!
To get to the breathtaking view of the 6th floor restaurant/Sky
Lounge, you take on of the two lifts that realllly make you feel
you are back in 1903, in wood and copper, smelling of that
delicious perfume of wax that takes you right back in time.
It’s a very nice to take a basic breakfast in the morning, but I
have to say, it’s a stunning one to have a last cup of tea in
the evening. Wish you were here? Awhhhhh… I am.
Bons baisers d’Alexandrie – From Alex, with love... |
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