1169 The City with a Glorious Pas (1/2)

More than 2,000 years ago, Alexandria Port had been a small and insignificant city in ancient Egypt. It was only after Alexander the Great conquered it that the city rose in prominence.

The city was close to the Nile River Delta system, yet far enough away to avoid the annual floods caused by the Nile. At the same time, it was easily accessible with Africa to the south, the Mediterranean to the north, and the Middle East to the east. Outside of the harbor, a group of islands called the Faros Islands surrounded it, providing a natural shelter for the port. These factors combined provided the city with an unfair and unique geographical advantage.

It was so unique that Alexander the Great decided that he would build a new city here and name it after himself.

After his death, his general, Ptolemy, seized the opportunity to separate ancient Egypt from the rest of the greater empire and declared himself the Pharaoh of Egypt. He situated this place as the capital of ancient Egypt, and this continued for many generations until the death of Cleopatra the Queen. After that, Egypt was annexed and captured by the Romans, thereby becoming one of the many provinces of Rome.

In the three hundred years of Alexandria's existence as the capital of Egypt, the Ptolemy family had built up the nation's power and vastly transformed the city. The family had constructed the Alexandria Lighthouse and the Great Library. Unfortunately, both buildings were later destroyed in natural disasters and man-made disasters, more severely by the latter. Although it was not included in the Seven Wonders of the World, the loss of the Great Library was a significant loss to the progress of humanity.

It was also during this period that the worship of cat gods in ancient Egypt reached its peak. Although the Temple of Bastet was located in the city of Zagazig, the tradition of love and respect for cats in Alexandria remained up until this day.

Like Cairo, Alexandria was divided into the old and new parts of the city. The fish market where the stray cats ran rampant was located in the old city. Although the overall condition of the city was better compared with the city of Cairo, it was still relatively run-down when compared to a small city in rural China. Many low-rise buildings were reminiscent of China in the 1990s.

Although the elfins were lured to the fish markets by the stray cats, they were not interested in Egyptian grilled fish. Zhang Zian still had a bitter taste in his mouth, left behind by the scaled grilled fish he'd eaten in the morning. He had no intention to eat another grilled fish.

There was a saying that, while overseas, when in doubt of what to eat, one should look for a KFC or McDonald's and add a cup of fizzy soft drink. These fast food joints were similar across the globe, and one was unlikely to die from eating at those places.

Zhang Zian found a KFC and ordered a ton of takeout for the elfins and himself. While they were eating, Vladimir took the opportunity to run about and mingle with the local stray cats.

There was not much time left for Vladimir to establish a local branch for the Meow Meow organization.

Although Alexandria had a long history, her glorious past had all but vanished. Buildings that could've been destroyed had been destroyed. Those who could emigrate had already left for other countries. The current Great Library that stood at the original site was a copy, though it was difficult to call it an exact replica. This was because no one knew how it had looked before.

In addition, the original site of the Alexandria Lighthouse had even been taken over by the Magpie. Two obelisks of the lighthouse, called ”The Arrows of Cleopatra,” had also been moved to the Thames in London and Central Park in New York. Therefore, the city seemed to have nothing of worth to visit and did not give Fina a place to reminisce in, making her a little disappointed.

Zhang Zian drove to the beach and found himself a remote corner to enjoy the scenery while eating his KFC.

The advantage of a coastal city was that the air was not as dry as it was inland. The sky was covered with just the right amount of clouds and helped to shade people from the harsh Egyptian sunshine. It had the further advantage of a sea breeze that helped to dissipate heat left over from the previous few days.