Grand Hotel (Funduq Al-Kebir) Tripoli

... waste and a sad part of our history. Then on the bus to Cyrene, the site of an ancient Roman city on the coast. The ruins are spectacular there. We visited the temple of Zuess and then the city. The following day I went to Appolonia wich was just as amazing. A 12 hour bus ride took me from Benghazi to Zliten and the following day I went to another ancient city Leptis Magna. - Amazing! The best part ...

... the house built across the road and decked out in traditional material and decoration. I had a Trafalger Ball to attend later in the evening so went early to be dressed in the traditional bridal costume. All the women were so friendly and welcoming especially Faisels wife and his adorable young girls. The costume is made up of layers of material, threaded with gold and as much gold and as ...

... grasshoppers and chews on all the plants he recently put in) I offcourse said we should keep him because he is just so cute and needs a home. So I cleaned him up, took him to the vet and named him Sydney. And because to get him back to Oz will mean a 6 month stay in France for quarantine. :) He hangs out with me around the house and adores Lance for some reason - maybe because he actually crawls into his doghouse with him!.

... but he was actually taking pictures of an overloaded bus and they just happened to be in the background. luckily after some tense questioning at the police station he was released! note to any other tourists in Libya, be careful your not taking pictures of police or police stations!

... where is big fish?". Of course I didn't understand the answer but it was either: a) "It escaped over there out of the harbour." (good news) b) "We killed it and put it in that boat over there." (c'est la vie, I'm sure it didn't suffer) or c) "Can you believe this ignorant westerner? He doesn't even know that whales are mammals." (I dooo!) Tripoli, or Tarabulus as the Arabs call it, is a cool city but perhaps not as cool as it ...

... on his mind these last 38 years). The weather was pleasantly cool and rainy after Dubai and the old centre, Martyrs Square or Green Square, (which I guess is named after the Libyan flag, a stunning piece of thoughtful design - it is plain green) has many dilapidated Italian buildings and small streets opening into little piazza's - some of the buildings are being restored and the area has great potential (found ourselves saying this a lot!) as it has a lovely ...

... alcohol! everyone gets high on sugar... not really my style but i gave it a go. At about 10.30 we were served macaroons and sweet camel milk that had a marzipan flavour which really helped get us in a party mood. There were about 250 ladies attending - no men at all and me the only blonde. There was a very noisy arabic singer, she was so loud my ears hurt and the water glasses vibrated. All the girls got up to do their shakira dancing and then got us up and stood around us clapping while we ...

... you're going to eat me!" So Johnny swims off to see Cod. "Cod, I'm bored! All my friends are dead, and Christian won't play with me. Please turn me back into a prawn again." Cod says "OK, I think you've learned your lesson," waves his magic fin and Johnny is a prawn again. He swims off to see Christian. "Come out and play with me," he calls. "Nonono, you're a shark, you're going to eat me!" "No, it's OK! I've spoken to Cod, I'm a prawn again Christian!"

We recently did a series of cultural seminars which ended in a historic tour of the Medina. This was very interesting and valuable getting an insight into Libyan life, culture and religion. Our teacher and guide were both excellent, one a lecturere at the university and our guide had ...

... was going to these ancient Roman ruins called Sabratha just along the Meditteranean. I think this one is up in my top 3 sites I have ever seen. It really took my breath away! It was enormous, with a gorgeous backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea, and it was not flogged with tourists (like at the Pyramids!). As soon as I can find a bloody computer which accepts my memory stick in one of these somewhat developed European countries, I will post some pictures!!!!!