Bella Riva Beirut

I was perhaps a little optimistic yesterday when I said that our househunting efforts were going well. Things are not as straightforward as they seem here. Anything remotely reasonably priced (and still very expensive) can disappear from right under your nose if you blink even for a second. There are lots of "hidden costs" - potential extras that you have to be sure you have discussed, such as council taxes, generator fees, cold ...

... a cigarette three intense minutes after everything had been consummated. Now here's the weird thing...when they were done not two minutes later several people came to their door. Being nosy, I peeked out the peephole, and it looked like their parents. Now if that isn't disturbing I don't know what is.

This sex palace is the Beau Rivage Hotel which means beautiful shores. I came to find out that the hotel had been closed for a few years and reopened ...

... but the people working there were extremely nice. I have to say that the people here are awesome, totally nice to American's. All smiles and willing to help as much as possible. Then when I say thanks in Arabic they are even happier, the city is definitely growing on me! I guess the people think that Politics are Politics and that the people of America don't represent what the Politics stand for, so they actually like us!! Anyone that is worried to come ...

... la "Place de l'Etoile" (in french) au centre de laquelle se dresse une tour/horloge élevée par notre sponsor Rolex. La traversée du petit quartier, hier dans la soirée, ne fut pas sans provoquer chez moi un certain vertige, partagé entre le sourire (la prouesse est tout de même remarquable), le réconfort (le luxe a tout de même ...

... I saw 2 Lamborghinis (I doubt those guys were living at home though). This is definitely a country that loves its luxurious items and loves buying on credit. We stayed at the bar until close to closing time. Some of the guys were going out to a night club but I wasn't interested as I had a day trip to the south of Lebanon planned. I met a taxi driver who hangs out in our hostel and he offered us a good price to take us to a few interesting sights south of the country. Kimo and ...

... either. Option 3 for "Reason for Visit" on the Immigration Form? "Hospitalisation" for crying out loud. Immigration itself was comedy central though, and I started to like Lebanon before I'd even got into the country. The officer dispensing visas was looking harassed enough already, before the cleaner decided to sweep up under his feet, stand in front of him and generally get in the way - he went out a lot quicker than he came in ...

... if the cab is empty, they will inevitably try to make it a private fare and gouge any tourist. Beirut - trying very hard to become again the 'Paris of the Middle East'. Walking around, you see bombed out buildings next to elegant new construction. City has now been destroyed and rebuilt 7 times. The central downtown area is now lined with ritzy, very up-market shops. Interestingly, the reconstruction has unearthed many new ...

Like Bangkok, Tel Aviv is a city that we kept coming back to. It is a modern city, not much antiquity. It borders the Mediterranean and it is charming. Jaffa is the old Arib city to the south with narrow streets filled with artist studios and restaurants and cats. It has a broken ...

... to choir practice at NEST to prepare for the Holy Week service next week. A little smaller than the Chancel Choir, that's for sure! Dave ordered dinner and played backgammon with a NEST student while Ed and I played Scrabble. We ate taouk, the big sandwiches Dave talks about with chicken, garlic, lettuce, dressing, french fries, you name it. It was good because I was hungry, but ugh. What a strange concept! Later, we all played SkipBo in Ed's room. I guess it was game night at NEST!

... their mark on the city by designing its streets and constructing many of its most basic architectural elements like sewers and shops. Apparently the Romans never actually finished the city because our tour guide told us that Romans never actually lived there. In any case, it was interesting to see how each successive occupying force did its part to wipe out evidence of prior inhabitants while leveraging the most useful structures. Our visit to Anjar took us very close to the ...