Hotel Quartier Suisse Beirut

... of rotting concrete? Picture the North Georgia mountains but in the desert. Now cover every inch of them with highrise and midrise apartments and then sprinkle in a liberal dose of garbage. There you have it ladies and gentlemen...beautiful Beirut..the Paris of the Middle East.

Driving in Lebanon is an interesting experience as well. The roads don't really have stripes for lanes and people just maneuver wherever a free bit of asphalt presents itself ...

... the Mediterranean. The amount and variety of food was overwhelming with dishes piled high. It culminated in goat liver, spleen, and brain. I liked the first, tried the second, and drew the line at the third. I'm just now realizing that by the time we got to Lebanon I was suffering from a bit of camera fatigue and I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked to--especially of my Tata and family.

... with Lebanese children since the war in 2006 and had a very interesting cup of tea with the volunteers there. The next day was a trip to Byblos, which is argued to be one of the oldest dwellings in the world. Excavations show that it was inhabited at least 7000 years ago, and I spent the afternoon wandering around prehistoric, neolithic, and chacolithic ruins, all in differing states of ruinedness, aswell as a crusader castle, the port and the beach. It was a nice wee town, and ...

... is what the life of a refugee is all about. The people were quite friendly with us although the kids were acting like troublemakers. One kid actually snuck behind Suzuki and out his hands over Suzuki's eyes and pretended to point a gun to his head. I didn't think this was funny but the kids did. I guess they knew we were on edge and wanted to screw around with us. Another group of kids yelled out "F*&K YOU" to us a few times but we didn't think much of it. The way they said it ...

... along the corniche, then made my way downtown and saw the old Roman baths. After that I took a taxi to the National Museum. The museum was beautiful and the information was presented clearly so it was nice but nothing too spectacular. That night I met up with my friend Luayy from Amman. We went to a place called Music Hall, located in Beirut, with a group of people. It is in an old theater so the place is very spacious and open. There are ...

... see the Mediterranian Sea reflecting the moon and the lights along the shore and it just looked magnificent. On the other side were the mountains rising steeply up in sharp contrast to the still sea. What was not magnificent was my car. It was not in the best mechanical shape, the brakes were squealing every time the driver touched the pedals and every time we went over a bump there was an alarming metal on metal shriek. Rawda texted to ask if I knew where I was and I could ...

... seen anything like it. Around streetlights hung placards bearing the faces of Hizbullah martyrs; scores of buildings (mostly high-rise civilian apartment blocks) lay gutted and empty, riddled with bullet holes; others were completely destroyed, the dusty rubble still lingering one year on from the war; bridges lay half-destroyed, the mangled wrecks of crushed cars still half-visible under the ruins; massive craters, two storeys deep, pockmarked the roads of entirely ...

Met Maher for knefeh (the sesame roll stuffed with cheese and drizzled with rosewater syrup - yum) and made a shopping list. To the paint store for . . . paint. It took a while to figure out what we needed and what the best deal was. The guy gave us a good deal though because we were a youth center and he was a Christian businessman. Cool! We got a lot of paint for only $118. Ed and I started on the X-Box room - taped off the posters for borders, then painted black on 2 of the ...

... is one of several sectors of the city that attract the Lebanese jet set as well as a large number of foreign visitors and expatriates from Europe and the greater Middle East. Numerous high-end boutiques, cafes, and restaurants occupy a cluster of new and newly restored buildings that straddle the infamous green line that once divided the Muslims and Christian sections of Beirut during the civil war. The prices in the area and the obvious wealth displayed by the people who ...

... earth I was doing. However, I wanted to see the view right from the top, so after looking around the rest of the citadel, I managed to give the staircase another go - not for those with any fear of heights. Fortunately the second part of the staircase had a wall next to it, which I practically clung to as I walked up. The view wasn't that great at the top, so I had to get back down - again, very slowly. After that I was in need of some relaxation, so I did what every girl does when ...