Phoenicia Intercontinental Beirut

... t because we had near miss after near miss on the way into Damascus. Then again, we never collided so maybe the beads do work. Thank you Allah for delivering me safely to Syria!!

The van service's office was the last stop in Damascus and the driver told me in limited English one of their cars could bring me to where I was staying. Dubiously I asked how much and he told me we would find out. The front door was locked with the clerk taking a nap behind ...

... int he corner of their living room, because they work for the kill police (English: Army). They donned me up with guns and took some pictures, and eventually we got to go to the ruins themselves (QUITE an interesting morning..). Baalbeck was awesome. The ruins are barely that - they are huge, and in an amazing state, making them (arguably to the dimwits) the most impressive ancient site in the middle east. The massive stones on the ground still have post holes big enough to ...

... pertinent à propos de Beyrouth. Je suis arrivé dans la capitale libanaise ce mercredi directement depuis Damas, après un voyage sur lequel je reviendrai probablement en fin de séjour au pays du Cèdre. Beyrouth est plus grande que Damas, en taille comme en habitants (ce qui surprend, à l'arrivée) ; elle est surtout bien plus ...

... or boyfriend. You hardly see single people going out. All you see are couples hanging out with couples in bars and restaurants. It is unbelievable. What makes it even more striking is when you consider how different this is from most of the other countries in the Middle East where the men hang out with the men and the women hang out with the women. Lebanon is so different from the rest of the region. At least Beirut is. This country should not be in the Middle East as it is ...

... eaters but I enjoyed a halloumi sandwich. Following lunch LuAyy and I decided to try and find this place called Bait Mary that is situated on the top of a mountain. It was both of our first times in Beirut, we had no map, but decided we were invincible throughout our entire time in Lebanon. First we had a worker from the hotel show us partway where to go and then we were on our own. After driving up windy roads for some time we saw a sign ...

... the fingers of my left hand. In the car on the way back to Rawda's parent's place, Rawda and her mother filled me in on what had happened. There had been a general strike called by the unions to protest about a low cost of living adjustment to wages and the protest had been hijacked for some political purposes. Rawda's family had known about the strike the day before, but as they were watching the news unfold this morning, they were getting more and more alarmed about how to get ...

... we were joined by another set of guys who we soon established were local Hizbullah officials in charge of patrolling the area. Most of them seemed fairly friendly except for a couple. The first, cutting a large, war-beaten figure, had a giant scar running the length of his arm. Throughout the whole experience he held in his hand a used-looking baton which he swung malevolently from side to side. The second wore a look of resentful suspicion almost as comfortably as the ...

... we put in. Dave outlined it and I filled it in with a darker salmon color (a second attempt at red) and Ed went back and touched it up. In the end, it almost looked more like a giant breast cancer ribbon than a fish! To the left of the cross, I finished penciling in my dove (I patterned it after the one drawn on the wall of the missionary house at Dhour Choiure (sp)) and Dave painted the outline blue. It was starting to take shape! There was no way we'd finish today though, so ...

... of the mezza dished were intended for consumption with bread, so as we fell deeper and deeper in love with the mezza concept, successive baskets of fresh pita kept arriving at the table to fuel the feast. By the time our main course came, we were hardly able to sample the succulent grilled chicken, lamb, and kafta that comprised our main meal. We had read that in the Lebanese cuisine is the best in the region, and by the time our first real meal was done we had become true ...

... the Temple of Venus. The Temple of Jupiter was constructed with 54 columns in total, of which six are still standing in position today. These columns are the largest in the world - am amazing 22.9m high with a girth of over 2m! it was just amazing to stand next to them and be completely and utterly dwarfed. But if that was good, then the Temple of Bacchus was just phenomenal. It remains remarkably well preserved given that it was completed around 150AD. It wasn't built on as large a ...