“I
managed to visit my old neighbourhood, my elementary and secondary schools, the
churches, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, my father's grave and our
old sports club with its soccer and track stands for five thousand spectators.
In my tour I could not have missed Aboukir, not because of its historical importance
but for the fact that it is the birthplace of my brother, who now lives in
France.”
In
the Bay of Aboukir, or Abū Qīr, some
fourteen miles northeast of Alexandria, a British fleet commanded by
Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon’s navy in 1798. By the time my
Greek friend was a boy, Aboukir was a summer resort for Alexandrians:
“My
parents back in the forties rented every year a cabin which accommodated
in two bedrooms and a 10-by-2-meter verandah
about 15 or 20 people, seven of my closer
family and a dozen Caireen, i.e. from Cairo, cousins, thus providing a cool
and happy shelter for the scorching
months of the summer.”
In
Poland, we had spoken of the Library of Alexandria, the ancient wonder and its
modern successor. George paid a visit:
“My
final visit was to the Library of Alexandria, an awesome high-tech building, a
gigantic achievement of our contemporary Egyptian generation. If you asked me
how I felt visiting my birthplace half a century after my departure, I would
say I have mixed pleasant memories of the past with hard realities of the
present.”
We
also spoke of Constantine Cavafy, the great Greek poet of Alexandria, and
exchanged links to “Ithaka” in English and Greek:
“Hope
the voyage is a long one.
May
there be many a summer morning when,with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time”
George
closed his note with these words: “That's all for now. Thank you so much for
keeping alive the flame of conversation.”
1 comment:
I was interested and impressed to learn that "Ithaka" is read at every commencement of Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
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