Even on Corfu, an island that always seems capable of producing surprises, the scene before me still felt almost too perfect. I was lying on a beach of dark pebbles in Kalami Bay. Low hills surrounded the bay, their slopes stretching into the distance, where olive trees sheltered one another…

The bay remains open, and Alexandria remains as warm and welcoming as ever. The beacon on the Mediterranean dims, but it is far from extinguished.