Alexandre Beirut

... the sea in a vista more reminiscent of
south-eastern France rather than the middle east.




This is
the paradox that seems to exist in Beirut these days. In some ways
it really is the riviera city of the tourist adverts – a
millionaire's playground with fabulous flats, fast boats and faster
cars, the best restaurants in the region, flat seas and perfect
weather. There are whole parts of the city which could ...

... are brightly colored yellow and include the latest political slogans and platforms. They talk of anti-corruption, of change, and of national unity. One stuck out from the others. The words “Your Lebanon, their Lebanon, my Lebanon” were all crossed out and replaced with “Our Lebanon. One nation for all Lebanese.” We must consider these words when trying to understand how Hezbollah rallies so much popularity in the region. After all, such patriotic sentiment ...

... 7 chalets but there was only 1 with all sorts of people trying to get you to have lessons and so on.  Tarek and Hanny were the focus of this so we got to wait in the sun with all the snow around us.  I was in heaven!!!!!!  We stayed for about an hour so they could snowboard and sled and they were happy. Our driver brought us to a place for lunch that I don't think I need to remember at all.  All though, the hummus and ...

... 10-15 years left before God will appear to us and wipe out all of the sinners. He said he wanted to warn us so that we would have enough time to give our lives back to God and stop focusing on the "pleasures of the flesh". We thanked him for the tip and then returned to our beer drinking. I asked the guys what they were thinking when the older man mentioned that as a society we had to stop focusing on pleasuring our flesh. I asked this because I knew what ...

... much, but didn't have the English to tell me any different. That should really have been a hint that the day would not go to plan. Also, he was very busy spruiking his tour services on the side... Amman airport is a close second to Melbourne in terms of security. I was passport checked, x-rayed, patted down then allowed to the Emirates desk to check in. They have two sets of machines, so the men and women queue separately and are patted down by a person of their own gender ...

... to the public beach next door, for our own good he seemed to imply, as though we were 12 years old and thinking about taking up crack. Are you kidding me? You close 90 % of the resort and then try to hold us hostage? Not likely. Unfortunately, though, the beach was kind of windy so I ended up slinking back to the pool. So at this point I'm sure you're all saying "Boy, this whiny ******* sure has it rough." I know, I know. But it's all about expectations - in our usual $15 hotel we ...

... normalcy to resume in this self-proclaimed city of fun. The next morning we arose gingerly from our drunken slumber and headed down to one of Beirut's many beaches. We had a fun day at the beach, soaking up the sun and wrestling with the unusually large waves in the usually-sedate Mediterranean. That said, the beach was not especially nice and apparently one has to go further south out of Beirut to find the nice ones. Having spent several holidays around the Greek islands ...

... Then overnight in Amman, Jordan and on to Jerusalem? I know...I ask a lot Everyone has been very generous to send kind words about my Granny Little's death. They have comforted me more than I can say. My Grandpa Sabatini has also been ill and was given Last Rights yesterday. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as I am thinking of my family continuously. I've been checking flights home and may return to spend some time with them.

... the valley everything is gearing up for the promise of spring: the apple and pear trees are in blossom; the grape vines pruned to begin the year's vintage; wrecked cars, free of their blanket of snow, are awaiting another season's layering of rust; copper fields are ploughed ready for planting; traffic has ground to a standstill as the checkpoint cops spring clean by relocating their potted palm to the other side of their roadblock. Not too long ago the only Westerners ...

3:45 am Rooster wake-up call 4:15 am Rooster wake-up call 4:30 am Rooster wake-up call 4:45 am Rooster wake-up call 5:00 am Okay Okaaaaaaaaaay I am up!! It's my first day in Lebanon, and apparently the rooster has chosen my particular window to do his crowing at. On my first day after doing a little unpacking, Mike's parents were eager to get me started on my tour of Lebanon. Mike's Mom announced to ...