Its funny how even on a trip like this one becomes a creature of habit. Last night we were told we were leaving at 8am. Subconsciously my mind must have ticked over, ok so that means I have to be up at 6:30am, get ready, take the tent down and put my bag out for the back locker. Breakfast is at 7am, I'll have to wash and flap my plates and take the kitchen down.

I was packed up by 6:45am because I didn't have to take my tent down or put my bag out for the back locker and I was finished with breakfast by 7:10am, breakfast was ready and waiting for me and a waiter took my plates and washed them up in a conventional sink. The kitchen was permanent and didn't need to be put away. This is going to take a bit of getting used to, it's all a bit fancy pants. Now having nearly an hour to kill before leaving I actually had time to go back to my room and read three chapters of my book, before getting on the air conditioned tour bus, which was taking me to Alexandria today.

We drove for about three hours out to Alexandria stopping once for tea and coffee, the entire way the guide rabbited on and on and on and on and on and on and on and….well you get the picture. Shut up I thought, I just want to stick my head phones in and go back to sleep! Which I did eventually anyway.

Some background on me and Alexandria, if you haven't read the previous blog from two years ago, Alexandria and I are not friends. I came here supposedly for 7 days and stayed five, escaping via the horrendous Egyptian train system. I found the people foul and the city completely characterless. I was ripped off, constantly hissed at, intimidated and all the romanticised notions about the city of Alexander were shattered. In short it was the worst place I have ever been, bar Casablanca.

What am I doing back in Alexandria? I kept thinking to myself on the way in. Actually it hasn't been too bad this time around. We visited the National Museum, which has pieces from the underwater sight of the light house and in the pharaonic section an amazing bust of Akhenaten, which sits at eye level. I even stood on my toes and touched noses with the great king. After the museum we went to the Catacombs, something I had attempted to visit last time, but just couldn't get too as everyone wanted to take me to a perfume shop or rip me off in some way. It was amazing inside, Roman and Egyptian religion mixed together to hedge the peoples bets on the afterlife. Truly amazing and something I had never seen before. Although both these places were amazing, no photos were allowed, so you would buy the ones in the gift shop. Alexandria = any chance to rip you off and we'll take it.

We drove past Pompey's pillar and I managed to get a quick photo. Then we went to the hotel, I was curious as to where we would be staying considering there aren't many four stars in town. I thought it may be the Cecil, but nothing could have prepared me for where we were actually staying. The Windsor Palace. This was the hotel my idiot cab driver pulled up at last time, instead of my hostel. I remember thinking, this looks too fancy for the likes of me. Now I'm actually staying here!

The whole thing is so 1950's, gilded mirrors and chandeliers are everywhere. My room had gilded ceiling trim and red carpet. It is one of the nicest places I have ever stayed and it had so much character.

After checking in and making used of the free WiFi, I went out to get some cash. I ended up going for a walk along the harbor and counting how many times I got hassled or hissed at, 11 times in a hour, substantially less than last time I thought. I managed to get talking to a nice young man, who didn't seem to want anything from me. As we walked we talked about my travels and what my favourite city in Egypt was. He nearly fell over when I told him it was Cairo, "You are crazy" he said."I love Cairo" I re-emphasied. He ended up telling me he was spreading the word of the Koran, and he wanted to sing me two things in Arabic. One was the word of God the other were his words and I had to guess which was which. Of course I couldn't guess and he gave me some books about Islam, which I will actually read. At the end of our chat he said, "I'm not going to tell you my name and I don't want to know yours, I don't want any money from you and we will meet again in the next life, in shalla."I said it was nice chatting with him and then he walked off.What an amazing experience, and I had also been given something for free, in Alexandria no less.

I had reached the library by this point and was going to go in, but I would have to leave my bag in a locker room. No chance, it's got my passport in it, I don't trust anyone that much, much less shady Alexandrians. I walked back to the hotel stopping only to buy a drink. There was this guy walking around with a kebab, who must have deliberately walked under my feet about eight or nine times. I mean he was out of sight and then suddenly he was back and I was either nearly crashing into him or tripping over his feet. By the last one I just said to him in a strong tone, "Are you taking the piss?" Which I'm sure he didn't understand and then walked away from the harbor and chose a different route back to the hotel as I didn't know what this dudes deal was.

Once back at the hotel I went up to the roof and looked at the spectacular view of the city. It's almost beautiful from up here I thought. I was almost moved to tears when I saw the city like this, this is the romanticised version I should have seen the first time. I went back to my room for the rest of the day and watched movies and then had a bath with Jack, Frank and Romeo. Well truthfully, Romeo had been replace by Titan and Jack by a cola flavoured lollipop, thank god Frank had actually decided to join me in Alexandria.

·Frank Sinatra, Romeo Y Julia Cigars and Jack Daniels, my favourite men.