Alexandria Scenes

The morning of October 9 we were driven north on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road for a pre-trip extension to the historic Egyptian city of Alexandria.

A colorful roadside coffeeshop on the way to Alexandria.

Breakwater dividing the two harbors of Alexandria.

Boys sitting on the wall of the Alexandria corniche.

Mixed transport media

Chef baking pita at a seafood restaurant where we had lunch

A Tour in Egypt

In early October we flew from Portland, via Seattle and Paris, to Cairo, to begin an approximately two-week tour of Egypt, followed by four days in Tunisia and three in Paris. To put it briefly: a great bunch of sights and experiences, which I'll be documenting on this blog for the next month or so.

Arriving in Cairo on October 8, we were met at the airport and brought to our hotel, the elegant and historic Mena House, now run as a Marriott Hotel. Two pictures of the lobby area below:

From the elegantly landscaped grounds, one has a great view of the Great Pyramid of Giza, just a short drive away.

Utility Sculptures

As I walk the sidewalks of Portland, I'm intrigued by the elaborate plumbing required to bring utilities into the buildings above, or to provide secure key access to realtors.

Slabtown Plants Persisting

Unpromising territory, to be sure.

Obstinate Slabtown Plants

Slabtown Storage Yard

There's a fenced-in, asphalted lot in Portland's Slabtown that stores some intriguing rust-colored cable-laying spools and trailers in need of a paint job. These photos display a virtue of the small diameter lens of a travel zoom camera (Panasonic Lumix ZS200): it can fit through the openings in a cyclone fence.

Slabtown Plants Surviving (2)

Vegetation persists in an urban environment, often without much help from the human inhabitants.

Slabtown Plants Surviving

Wandering Slabtown's residential streets, I'm drawn to notice the corners, nooks, and crannies in which plants establish themselves. In spring, summer, and early fall, Portland is truly rich in flowers and flowering trees. But even in the cooler, cloudier months, plants maintain a foothold - seemingly not requiring much soil, water, or sunlight.

Slabtown Colors

The past few posts from Slabtown in Portland, Oregon have all been in black and white. That treatment fits much of what one sees, but there's some color - vivid or subtle - as well.

Slabtown Signs (3)

A few more Slabtown signs characterizing a neighborhood that values diversity, technology, and the good things in life.

Slabtown Signs (2)

More photos from Portland's Slabtown in early 2018. I think the B&W treatment enhances the sense of a down-to-earth neighborhood that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Slabtown Signs

The Slabtown neighborhood in Portland, Oregon is undergoing a substantial and rapid renewal. I wandered the Slabtown about two years ago, as the development process was getting started, and took pictures which tried to capture that transitional time. I'll be posting some over the next several days.