Settling in one of the ancient cities

Jonathan continued, "the city was the original capital for Egypt in ancient days, but then it changed to present-day Cairo.

In history, the people of Alexandria believed in the afterlife, and they practiced mummification more than any other city in Egypt.

They believe their king one day would emerge from his mummy and will guide them into light and peace."

Diana laughed, "Do you also think that it's true..? We are going there to discover that, then why to conclude before..?"

Jonathan looked at her meaningfully and asked, "what do you think..?"

Professor Ahmed interrupted, "it depends on individual belief whether the afterlife exists or not. As of now, you should stop creeping her out, Jonathan."

Jonathan looked at him, horrified, and asked, "professor were you listening to me all this time..? I thought you were minding."

Before he finishes, Diana nudged with her elbow and said, "yes, professor. it depends on individual beliefs."

She glared at him and turned her head towards the window, looking at the stars twinkling brightly up in the sky.

She reminisced about her childhood, saying, 'when I will be big enough, I will catch all the stars' and laughed at her childishness.

'Of course, even now, when I am 24 years old, I still fancy those stars more than I did when I was a child,' she thought to herself.

After having dinner at half-past 10, other passengers were settling to have a nap. Jonathan beside her is ruffling through pages of a book titled: "Ancient history of Egypt."

She mused, looking at him for his excitement and dedication. Even though the flight journey is long, Diana didn't feel an ounce of sleep.

She kept on thinking about one thing or another throughout the journey.

In the morning, at 7'o clock, they reached Alexandria international airport. After coming out of the airport, they saw a person standing at the entrance with a placard of their professor's name.

Professor Ahmed greeted him and introduced his team to the person. The person shaking hands with others said, "welcome to Alexandria! My name is Cepos."

After completing their introductions, Cepos took them to Sunrise Alex Avenue hotel. Along the way, he gave a few places names for them to visit and enjoy until they set up a temporary stay nearby the Temple of Taposiris Magna.

Jonathan immediately chimed in, asking, "isn't it the same place where archeologists found out the ancient people worshiped some sacred animals."

"Of course, it is the same place. It seems you did some homework while coming to this place. Your professor is one of the best archeologists in the field. That's why we invited you for the internship program," Cepos happily replied.

He then continued to say, "as per history, the city was built by Alexander the Great to be a bridge between Egypt and Greece, but later on, he never returned to Egypt in his life after the foundation.

In ancient times, there was a village called Rhakotis or Rhacotis here when Alexander came to Egypt. He wanted to build a city near the Pharos islands, which would bear his name."

"Mr. Cepos, do you have any idea about why Alexander left Egypt a few months after the foundation of Alexandria city..?" Diana interrupted.

Looking a bit guilty, he responded, "young lady, no one knows why he left Egypt and never came back apart from himself as per the history. It's not an exaggeration if I say history is a mystery."

Rupert asked him, "Mr. Cepos, we heard the people here are still practicing mummification here. Is it true..?"

"Don't you think if you know everything in a day, it will be boring your remaining days here?" Cepos looked at them meaningfully.

All of them agreed to his words, and soon they arrived at Sunrise Alex Avenue hotel. The hotel has a private beach and is sponsored by the Alexandria government.

Cepos greeted the receptionist lady and requested their room keys. Taking their entries, the receptionist lady gave their key cards and asked someone to assist them with their luggage.

"Alright, Professor and team, I will leave you from here. The temporary stay is under construction, which will take a day more.

We also need some approvals from higher officials, so until then, enjoy your time here," Cepos clapped his hands together and announced.

Jonathan excitedly thanked him and asked, "Are there any nearby places for roaming..?"

Cepos said, "I have arranged a guide for you to go on-sightseeing, but I am warning you before, young man, there will be no roaming in the night after 10 o'clock."

The other two frowned and asked, "why is it Mr. Cepos..?"

"That's a strict government rule, and if anyone trespasses the rule, there will be severe punishment. Unlike other cities, this city has several ancient historical structures," Professor Ahmed answered.

Since it's a long flight, they were all tired as soon as they reached their respective rooms. "Guys, don't sleep off just like that. Fresh up and come downstairs to have breakfast," Professor Ahmed reminded.

Diana popped down on the bed with a thud sound as soon as she opened her room. Jonathan called her and reminded her, "lazy best friend, don't fall asleep. I will be waiting outside of your room in 10 minutes."

Even before she answered, she heard a beep, beep sound indicating he disconnected the call.

"What a cheeky idiot! Are all the boys thinking they would win the world if they first disconnect the call," thinking to herself, Diana proceeded for a bath?

After like 20 minutes, all of them went into the dining hall for breakfast. Chef welcomed all the guests saying, "Welcome to Alexandria! Today, we are serving traditional Egyptian breakfast."

As soon as he announced, his team brought delicious-looking breakfasts out.

The chef proudly announced, "we have prepared four traditional breakfasts, namely 'Ful, Falafel, Mahshi, and Shawarma.

Ful, pronounced as a fool, is made of fava beans cooked with oil and salt.

Falafel is also known as Ta'meya. Traditional falafel is a dish made with chickpeas, but Egyptian tameya made of fava beans.

Falafel is traditionally served in Egyptian breakfast along with ful, eggs, cheese, and pita bread.

Mahshi is vegetables of choice stuffed with a rice filling, such as zucchini, eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage leaves, or grapevine leaves (similar to Greek dolma).

Shawarma is a dish made up of a choice of either chicken or beef marinated with Middle Eastern spices and cooks all day on the spit with a fat-melting on top."

Looking at the dishes, Diana felt very hungry suddenly. She is an Ovo- vegetarian and doesn't like to eat meat.

"There will be an extra food item served in the last, and the item is Roz Bel Laban. The dish means 'rice with milk' – it's Egypt's version of rice pudding," the chef announced further.

After having breakfast, everyone went back to their rooms for some rest, whereas the professor met Cepos.