Todays Weather

[MaidenScotland]

We have rain forecast for today and for those of you who have not been in Cairo at this time of year a word of warning.
Once the rainy season lol starts the farmers start burning the stubble left in the fields and the stench over the city is horrific, also of course we have no road drainage in place and the water lies there, drivers do NOT slow up despite the roads being very slippy after months of dry weather so be extra careful out there.
Now is the time you will wish you had brought your wellies lol.
On the bright side the rain doesn't last long and it really cleans the place up.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by MaidenScotland

We have rain forecast for today and for those of you who have not been in Cairo at this time of year a word of warning.
Once the rainy season lol starts the farmers start burning the stubble left in the fields and the stench over the city is horrific, also of course we have no road drainage in place and the water lies there, drivers do NOT slow up despite the roads being very slippy after months of dry weather so be extra careful out there.
Now is the time you will wish you had brought your wellies lol.
On the bright side the rain doesn't last long and it really cleans the place up.

British talking about the weather?! Never!!!
If anyone was wondering about the weather in Sharm today, the sky is blue and it's sunny
I wouldn't mind knowing how it's going in Alex these days though as I plan to travel there soon and not quite sure what to pack

[MensEtManus]

We had a glimpse of dark sky in Alex today, but no rain yet. The weather folks are forecasting rain for the weekend - I'm hoping they are wrong!

Sam:
If you haven't visited Alex in a while, let me suggest some relatively "key" new developments. The new extension of City Center (Carrefour) opened up with a lot of new shops, mainly geared towards children. The mall is really starting to become quite elegant. Also another mall had a "soft opening" called "Rose Garden", but I would wait a few months before visiting. It has the famous supermarket "Fathallah" within Rose Garden.

Also a new Greek/French restaurant; la Veranda; opened up in the heart of downtown Alexandria (inside Delices) and it serves some very tasty meals. I highly recommend the Stifado Beef and Yuvetsi Pasta meals.

Yes yes - us Alex folks get very excited when new shops open up in Alex - so I don't want to hear the Cairo folks telling me you have a million and one places to eat. I was just at Cairo over the weekend and I discovered a great bakery called "The Bakery Shop"- the croissants are amazing!

[MaidenScotland]

It rained!!!

[MaidenScotland]

Where is the Bakery shop? plz Men

[MensEtManus]

The bakery shop (TBS) is located in zamalek behind the Marriot hotel. Do not confuse TBS with Marriott's "The Bakery." The Bakery of Marriott is actually very weak and had a poor selection of items.

TBS is next door to Pastry/Chocolatier called "Fauchon". They are located in 4 D El Gezira St.
Zamalek.

I would not recommend Fauchon. I went in and their gâteaux/pastries looked old. It had a very limited selection.

I tried three flavors of croissant @TBS: 1) regular 2) with almonds and sugar 3) stuffed with olive paste and white cheese. All three were finger-licking good.

[MaidenScotland]

Brilliant and within walking distance if I can cross the road lol
Always thought fauchon is over rated

[Sam]

Originally Posted by MensEtManus

We had a glimpse of dark sky in Alex today, but no rain yet. The weather folks are forecasting rain for the weekend - I'm hoping they are wrong!

Sam:
If you haven't visited Alex in a while, let me suggest some relatively "key" new developments. The new extension of City Center (Carrefour) opened up with a lot of new shops, mainly geared towards children. The mall is really starting to become quite elegant. Also another mall had a "soft opening" called "Rose Garden", but I would wait a few months before visiting. It has the famous supermarket "Fathallah" within Rose Garden.

Also a new Greek/French restaurant; la Veranda; opened up in the heart of downtown Alexandria (inside Delices) and it serves some very tasty meals. I highly recommend the Stifado Beef and Yuvetsi Pasta meals.

Yes yes - us Alex folks get very excited when new shops open up in Alex - so I don't want to hear the Cairo folks telling me you have a million and one places to eat. I was just at Cairo over the weekend and I discovered a great bakery called "The Bakery Shop"- the croissants are amazing!

Hi,

Thanks for the info. Actually I have never visited Alex before so it will all be very new to me, but I am traveling with a good friend who is from there who plans to take me to all the good places. He just came back last week and couldn't stop telling me about this new extension to the city centre and that he can't wait to show me around, I am very excited Thanks for the pointers, I will suggest these to him as possible places to go as he doesn't spend much time in Alex anymore so may not know about them.

Are there any places in Alex you could recommend for kids at this time of year? My daughter is 21 months.

A few clouds today in Sharm I'm kinda hoping it does rain over in Alex when I come over as not seen it since I was back in UK in March, and British rain is just not exciting anymore

Sam

[MensEtManus]

Let me warn you - I love food. So below are recommendations based on years of throwing money away at restaurants. I wish you a pleasant stay in Alex. I'm not sure what type of places you are looking for your baby daughter; Food? Gardens? Playgrounds? Libraries? Montazah Gardens, Jardin d'enfants playgrounds (sporting club) and Alexandria Library.

Seafood & Meat
Of course the very first thing to try is seafood. We pride ourselves for having the best seafood around. I highly recommend "Zepheryon" in Abou Kir area or "Farag" in bahary. The first place is "presentable" yet relatively far out of town (the owners are Greeks). The second place is the in "local" place where you get the sort of diamond in the rough atmosphere.

"Balbaa" is another great place for meats. They have all kinds of meats. It is probably the busiest store in town, where you'll find all types of folks - looks like a circus! Finally, we have "Dahab", it has the best Egyptian pies around "feteer."

Ice Cream & Pastries
Probably the most high end place for desserts in Alexandria is Delices. It is in Raml station. It is the last remaining patisserie still owned and managed by the same family that founded it in the 1900s. They have all possible desserts from gâteaux, petit fours, biscuits, chocolates, ice-cream, oriental desserts, etc. I highly recommend you ask for their "Greek Baklawa" served warm!

The next two locations are what I like to call "car foods" - I always visited them with a car and the waiter would always come outside to the street and take my order. It's not quite a drive thru. You simply block traffic and eat in your car outside the shop! Truly an experience. The first is "Azza" ice-cream located again in Bahary Area. The milk ice-cream is out of this world! The second is "Saber"; serves the best rice pudding "ros bel laban" in town.

Ful
Mohamed Ahmed is the essence of everyday eating. It serves the best ful and falafel sandwiches. It even has in its menu that the Queen of Spain visited them. This place never sleeps. They have a famous ful with eggs meal. This is a very local area, but also very touristic area (raml station), so you should be quite safe and have a good time.

You must visit Raml station as it is home to all the old Cafe's of Alexandria and the heart of the cosmopolitan era. It houses Delices, and Trianon Cafes. It has the old Sofitel and Metropole hotels. Nearby, you'll also find the Bibliotheca alexandria. There is also a very old clothing store called Minerva (also still owned by the same Greek family). If you haven't noticed, the raml station area was once the area of the Greeks and the Jews. It even has a hidden temple nearby and a Greek Orthodox Church a bit further up (in St. Saba).

Here is a nice guide about Alex: Alexandria travel guide - Wikitravel



NB: I know MS will slap me with a "get back on topic" card - but I got all excited about food and folks actually visiting Alexandria. Food is the main outing around here besides visiting the City Center mall.

[Sam]

WOW Mens, thanks very much!!! Fab info!!!
I am really looking forward to my trip out. I'm rather fond of food myself too so I'm sure I'll fit right in I very much like the sound of that ice cream place, think I may have to make a few trips there!! My friend has already mentioned to me a few must-see or must-eat places, and I know seafood was high on his list, can't remember names though. I'll run these by him anyway, I think I'll have every day planned out before I get there at this rate, so flippin' excited, lol.

As far as places for kids go, she eats anything so food isn't a problem, I was thinking parks and playgrounds and daytime things. She's a very content kid though so she'll be happy just to be out and about in a new place, but I like taking her out for special things, I always take her to soft play areas when back in UK.

PS - Sorry also for the "off-topic" direction of this thread, but I am just looking forward to my holiday