Where Old Meets New

Danny; Alexandria, Egypt

Yesterday we played Damietta at the cultural center which sits on the bank of the Nile, where it meets the Mediterranean sea. There is a beautiful old bridge on the river that was designed by the same man who designed the Eiffel tower. It was originally in Cairo and was floated down the Nile to Damietta, where it is now a bridge museum library.

The cultural center had a small cement theater in the round, outside in their court yard. We had some great young musicians and dancers join us during the concert.

We had a great time with the crowd and made lots of friends who have since sent us pics & warm wishes on Facebook. We packed up our gear and drove 3 hours to Alexandria.

We got to Alexandria late in the evening and you could smell the fresh sir and scent of the Mediterranean. The next morning we woke up early to play at a facility in the Alexandria library.

We did a workshop for a few local young Alexandrian bands. We played
for a while and then they played for us. At the end we all played some tunes together and again we made so many new friends.

We love Alexandria, there is an amazing spirit here and it is reflected in their music. The vibe is wonderful and the people made us feel so welcome. After the workshop, we were given a private tour of the library. It sits across from the sea on a beautiful plaza and you can see young people hanging out enjoying life in this beautiful city.

The outside of the library has representations of every type of language notation from around the world. The large ball is a planetarium and there are all sorts of concert halls and antiquities museum in the facilities. The inside is so amazing that the pictures I took just can't do it justice. I suggest that you go to their website, which is one of the most interactive and amazing sites I have ever seen! See more at; Bibalex.org

We finished our mind blowing tour of the library and had time for a quick bite on peace plaza. There are 12 Palestinian olive trees planted there as a reminder of peace.