I will combine my final two days since few sites were visited in Cairo and Alexandria that even compare to the earlier portion of my trip.

The 29th in Cairo (after I slept a bit from my early arrival) was a tour by car from Romel. He was the same driver I had for the Pyramids.

He dropped me off in Coptic Cairo and I visited the Hanging Church, Church of St. Barbara, Greek Orthodox Church of St George and my favorite was the cemetery shared by them with its elaborate mausoleums. This area is the oldest part of the city and lies within the the walls of the 3rd century AD Roman fortress of Babylon.

I am sure I was a victim of overload but anything AD just didn't seem that exciting. I swept through fairly quickly and stopped by a dusty antique shop on the way back to the car.
Twenty five minutes later I walked out with two metal lanterns; one old, one older and two engraved metal cups.
Beats me why :) I liked them. I should have picked up a few of the antique knives, bummer.
If I had room I would have brought back several of the larger metal Egyptian style lanterns.

I met Romel and we stopped at mosque an-Nasr Mohammed which was not all that impressive (I was a bit uncomfortable) and then we went by the Citadel for photos. I chose not to go in since it can take up much of a day and I wanted my time at the Museum.
Before dropping me off at the museum Romel drove me to the highest point above the city. Without the smog it would be incredible. I could just make out the pyramids and it was a good, although polluted, view of the city.
The stop was short lived since a 20ish local wanted money for us to be there and after a heated argument between he and Romel we left. Money to park on a public road and stand on a public bluff...Um, OK, whatever. On to the museum.

I had Romel drop me off and I walked back to the hotel since I didn't want to be limited at the museum. It housed all of the goods rescued from every temple and antiquity I have visited.
This includes mummies, King Tut treasure, carvings, statues, you name it. It has been in the same building since 1902 and it shows. Items are shoved in every nook, are not in any particular order overall and is crazy amazing. Now I understand why the Government placed tanks around this museum during the uprising. This all needs to be protected and seeing this amazing collection in this old building that is lacking fire protection and has sun streaming in deteriorating the antiquities is spooky. Especially since the large town hall building that was torched during the uprising is directly behind he museum.
Enough of my opinion and concerns...

I left the museum and walked to take a few more photos of Tahrir square, grabbed a street lunch for $0.80 and wandered the long walk back to the hotel through the crazy traffic and shopping frenzy.
I stumbled into an area that sold only car parts. Picture street vendor after street vendor with most anything for a car. As with many shop areas in the city each vendor sold basically the same item. The funny thing was the sheer amount of car horns available for sale. I can't remember if I mentioned it before but Egyptians cannot drive without honking. Some of my videos will back this up but it makes New York City seem quiet. These booths had so many different replacement horns with different sounds, etc I was visibly laughing. How did a car horn evolve into a status symbol. This might be a bigger mystery than the building of the pyramids. On to the hotel.

Romel met me in the lobby and I had mentioned I wanted to go to the antique section of the large Cairo market. We agreed driving was crazy due to traffic but he was going to walk me over so I would be able to find it in the massive market. We agreed on 5:30 and I went to my room for a bit to kick my feet up.
I was in the lobby from 5:30 til 6:00 and no Romel so I set out on my own. How tough could it be?

Four and a half hours later I stumbled back into the hotel after finding every section of the market except the antiques. My feet were killing me and the noise and crowds killed my last nerve. I finished the beer I found during my walk and it is time to go to bed so I can catch my 7:00a train to Alexandria.

Alexandria is as far north as Abu Simbel was south so I have now covered the entire length of Egypt. I also covered much of the twelve mile coastline on foot.
Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 332 BC and it once rivaled Rome. Not so much any more. It is quite run down and the lack of tourism absolutely shows here. Entire Mediterranean seaside hotel complexes are closed with garbage piling up around them. The beautiful beaches are littered.

One highlight was Fort Quaitbey that was built in the 1480's on the tip of the eastern harbor. It looks like every fort in any movie you can imagine. Fun to wander around and take pictures.
The walk back along the water was great with the colorful fishing boats on one side and many mosques on the other. I was lost for about an hour looking for the train station (being lost was a theme of the trip) and finally jumped in a cab. Before arriving at the station the cab driver demanded more than we agreed upon and with my best angry tourist voice I called him a crook and got out of the cab at a stoplight. The lack of sleep and constant badgering for money is wearing on my attitude.

I spent another 30 minutes wandering (circling) toward the train station and finally gave up, walked back to the waterfront and decided to delay my trip back to Cairo with a visit to the Cecil Hotel rooftop deck for dinner and a drink.

The Cecil hotel was built in 1929 reputedly where Cleopatra VII committed suicide after her Egyptian fleet was defeated in 31BC. A cool old hotel that has been well kept and I was looking forward to an Egyptian meal on the deck overlooking the Mediterranean.
I probably had a disappointed look on my face when the old wood elevator doors opened and I discovered the restaurant was Chinese and Sushi. What the hell, I settled in as the only one on the deck (another theme of the trip) since it was too cold for locals. I ate like a king for about $22 and actually studied my map in solitude so I could find the train station after my meal.

I made it to the train station and booked an 8:00 train for the three+ hour trip back to my Cairo hotel. I wandered the shopping a bit after I arrived to try and spend the remainder of my Egyptian pounds but i couldn't find anything i wanted. Looks like the Nephews will have extra souvenir cash to show at school. I had to pack and prep for my 5:00a airport run with Romel (I hope he shows).

I made it up at 4:30 and Romel was in the lobby at 5:00 to take me to the airport for my Paris flight. New Years Eve in Paris and then I am home bound early on 1/1/12.

A fast trip but a great trip. I have posted a few of the 650 saved photos so you can see some of what I wrote about without viewing all of the photos.
I will try and post the videos soon since they really represent the sights and sounds well.

Forgive any grammar errors, etc. This was all done on my old iPad generally while I was sleep deprived and on an application I have not used before.
This blog was a mind dump and I am sure I rambled at times and left out important details at others. Enjoy!

A few fun facts about the trip:
Hours spent on trains ~29
Miles on Trains ~1450
Hours in Vans ~24
Hours on airplanes ~33
Air miles traveled ~17,200