There Are Several Excellent Hotels At Alexandria For The Accommodation
Of European Travellers.
We were recommended to Rey's, in which we
found every comfort we could desire.
The house is large and handsome,
and well situated, being at the end of a wide street, or rather
place, in which the more wealthy of the Frank inhabitants reside,
and where there are several houses belonging to the consuls of
various nations. These latter are usually detached mansions, of a
very handsome description, and one especially, facing the top, will be
magnificent when finished.
All the houses in this quarter are very solidly constructed, lofty,
and with flat roofs. The ground-floor seems to be appropriated to
merchandize, or as domestic offices, the habitable apartments being
above. The windows are supplied with outside Venetian blinds, usually
painted green, which, together with the pure white of the walls, gives
them a fresh and new appearance, which I had not expected to see. In
fact, nothing could exceed the surprise with which I viewed a street
that would have excited admiration in many of our European capitals.
It will in a short time be embellished by a fountain, which was
erecting at the period of my visit: could the residents get trees
to grow, nothing more would be wanting to render it one of the
most superb avenues of the kind extant; but, a few inches below the
surface, the earth at Alexandria is so completely impregnated
with briny particles, as to render the progress of vegetation very
difficult at all times, and in some places impossible.
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