A more appropriate quote for the day would be Pepe le Pew’s “… you do not have to come weeth me to zee Casbah: we are already here!“. (See the Youtube clip below.)
Our first real day in Algeria (post jet lag) began with a walking tour of the UNESCO-listed casbah of Algiers. Narrow alleys and steep steps led us past over 2,000 years of history, from Roman aqueducts, on to the Ottoman era Palace of the Dey, then the home of a martyr of the revolution against the French in the 1950s.Although the casbah is home to only ~1% of Algiers’ population of around 4 million, it is still the heart of the city as it was when it was just a Phoenician outpost nearly 2,500 years ago.
When we emerged from the casbah, we walked past the French-built Grande Poste (“the most beautiful post office ever constructed”) now a museum, just down from Martyrs’ Square. Rather epitomizes Algeria’s firm dedication to independence while preserving the best of what the French left behind.The Berbers of Algeria, more than 80% of the population, have seen the Phoenicians, Numidians, Romans, Vandals, , Spaniards, Ottomans, and the French come and go,
Our next two stops similarly contrasted the French and the Algerian; from every corner of the extensive Botanical Gardens left behind by France one can see the Martyrs’ Memorial on a nearby hill. A more sobering view of the recent history of Algeria was to be found in the Martyrs National Museum under the monument.
While the French may have left behind their breakfast cuisine of baguettes and pains au chocolat, dinners are often more traditional fare as were our meals at El Walima the two previous evenings. Delicious tagines and some spicy side dishes topped off a great days in Algiers, “Alger la blanche”. This evening however, “dinner” was a packet of cookies on a flight to Ghardaia, the “Gateway to the Sahara”. Check out our next post!
