OK, so Port Said is full of rubbish…
… but it is not rubbish, if you know what I mean.
Port Said is the industrial, working side of town. It was here that Felix agency, the company dealing with our paperwork, took us to get our visas extended. There was much waiting around in a rather shabby building full of ladies in head dresses doing various administrative tasks. Of course the only man in the visa office sat at an empty desk drinking tea whilst watching the women hard at work. I think we waited a good hour and a half in the end, and so I went for a quick wander around the grotty backstreets and took some snaps.
We were all tired and hungry by the time the visas were processed so we made our way to Cecile’s, one of the few bars/restaurants in town that serves beer. We found our way upstairs and ended up having a Chinese! Chinese in Egypt? Tell you what, that Chinese was one of the best I have ever had. Should you find yourself in Port Said, go there.
Liz and I then wandered around town taking snaps and racing the ATM machines to get money. Having failed to withdraw cash from these machines in the last couple of days we were told that we had not been using the machines correctly. The trick is to be as quick as possible in pressing the buttons. Procrastinate for a split second and the machine will display a random message like “main server offline”, “unable to process your request” or “no spare cash left in Egypt”. Weird.
The most striking thing about Port Said is the architecture. In amongst the ugly modern buildings are some real gems, most dating back to colonial times. Unfortunately many have been left to fall down of their own accord and even the ones on the river promenade are empty. Got some satisfactory pics though…
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Great photos-pity you cannot capture the smells as well!
Dad
Funnily enough that Woolworths building was also closed down! The hotel is my fave building in Port Said, Mayke. It’s very striking, isn’t it?
Did you get your pic ‘n mix?
Wonderful photos!! That Woolworths… And the Hotel is magnificent.