I stayed a while in Alexandria, Egypt, and I honestly have to say that during my stay in Alexandria this summer, I developed a new love for the city. It is among the cleanest cities in Egypt and it's very simple, yet amazing. A long time ago during the reign of King Farouk, Alexandria was considered a European city due to the fact that Britain occupied the country at that time. King Farouk resided in Alexandria at the Montazah Palace, Montazah.
Montazah is a district inside the city and it's considered the most affluent residential place in the entire area. So with Alexandira being the royal city at the time, Farouk made sure that it was going to be the cleanest city in the world. He stated numerous times that if you would walk or drive along the corniche of the city you wouldn't even find a tiny sand particle in the street. So ever since then, the city has been always considered clean and even up until now, it's still a very clean city. And even the buildings along the Mediterranean Sea have this Roman/Italian touch to them. And even the names of the streets are really Italian-esc. For example, there's a street that's near where we live called Share3 El Romani (The Roman Street). They really want to make Alexandria seem like a clean Mediterranean City and not a Middle Eastern City, like Cairo, and they're really successful at doing it.
Now, there's a catch to Alexandria, and that is the people that are originally from there. A true Alexandrian can instantly catch a foreginer (non-Alexandrian) and they won't necessarily do anything, however they'll make you feel uncomfortable. But when you start to know the people better, they'll literally become your best friend. For instance, the dialect of a Cairo born differs a little from that of an Alexandrian, so they'll be able to catch it right away.
And there was something about an Alexandrian and his/her relationship with that of a Cairene. For some reason there's some tension between them and I never really understood what it was. I have numerous friends that resided in Alexandria and I asked them if you would ever leave this city to move to Cairo, and all of their answers were no. They don't like Cairenes because they claim they're very self-centered and arrogant. And they also got really used to the life in Alexandria, so it wouldn't make sense to ever leave it.
Montazah is a district inside the city and it's considered the most affluent residential place in the entire area. So with Alexandira being the royal city at the time, Farouk made sure that it was going to be the cleanest city in the world. He stated numerous times that if you would walk or drive along the corniche of the city you wouldn't even find a tiny sand particle in the street. So ever since then, the city has been always considered clean and even up until now, it's still a very clean city. And even the buildings along the Mediterranean Sea have this Roman/Italian touch to them. And even the names of the streets are really Italian-esc. For example, there's a street that's near where we live called Share3 El Romani (The Roman Street). They really want to make Alexandria seem like a clean Mediterranean City and not a Middle Eastern City, like Cairo, and they're really successful at doing it.Now, there's a catch to Alexandria, and that is the people that are originally from there. A true Alexandrian can instantly catch a foreginer (non-Alexandrian) and they won't necessarily do anything, however they'll make you feel uncomfortable. But when you start to know the people better, they'll literally become your best friend. For instance, the dialect of a Cairo born differs a little from that of an Alexandrian, so they'll be able to catch it right away.
And there was something about an Alexandrian and his/her relationship with that of a Cairene. For some reason there's some tension between them and I never really understood what it was. I have numerous friends that resided in Alexandria and I asked them if you would ever leave this city to move to Cairo, and all of their answers were no. They don't like Cairenes because they claim they're very self-centered and arrogant. And they also got really used to the life in Alexandria, so it wouldn't make sense to ever leave it.
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