Maydān al Jumhūrīyah

Today we saw Alexandria, Egypt the way the locals see it. While we were in the Valley of the Kings, Chuck had an eye issue develop. His right eye suddenly had lots of floaters on one side. We waited to see if they would clear up and when they did not, he went to the medical center onboard. While the doctor onboard did not see anything obvious, he could not check for a detached retina. Since we have two sea days coming up, today Viking arranged for us to be picked up by a driver who took us to an ophthalmologist in Alexandria. Our driver Mohamed took wonderful care of us as he got us to the doctor, translated questions and answers, took us to the pharmacy and then delivered us back to the ship. It was fascinating in the waiting room. A child was there whose eye had swollen shut. Another kid looked as though he had been kicked in the eye by a horse. And while we all waited to be examined, we looked at a TV screen that showed a live feed of pilgrims circling the Ka’aba at Mecca. It was great. The young ladies working at the front desk all giggled demurely when I commented, through Muhammad’s translation, that I loved the many different, beautiful ways they had tied their head scarves. All is well and there are no serious issues. Just more floaters for a while. Everyone from Viking and in Alexandria was absolutely wonderful to us.Read more