The Metropolitan Palace Hotel Beirut

... looking, it's baroque style (with a definite Parisian flavour) with large chandeliers and tailored furniture make it feel rather opulent but with a definite character of it's own.

Each morning we had a traditional breakfast with fresh flatbread, za'atar (a spicy thyme, sesame and oil paste) and fresh Lebneh (a yogurty creamy cheese dish), plus tea and coffee. All quite delicious! As we chatted, Jamil casually lifted the tablecloth covering the dining room table ...

... States. In either case, he told me that a buddy of ours Ravi backed out because of Visa problems. I’m very sad to hear that because I sort of knew something like this would happen. I told him to have a back up plan but I guess that didn’t work out so it really sucks. I’m heading back up to take a shower and get ready to go out tonight, more later! Wow, awesome night! First we went to take some pictures at the Rouchi. Basically, over the cliff there are some rocks ...

... just a few feet away. After Jacquie negotiated the fare for me, I was on my way back to Beirut. When I got back to the hostel, I hung out in the lobby with the group of guys I met a day earlier. I really like the group of guys I met here. Everyone gets along. They are all fun to hang out with. It's been a while since I hung out with a bunch of guys so it was good to have some guy time. Later in the evening, we went to a bar called Torino ...

... truly was a wonderful experience and after about three hours we made it out of the mountains and sped on to the Syrian border that awaited us. LuAyy knows a guy who knows an important officer in Syria. Therefore, LuAyy told him of my situation being an American citizen and he volunteered to help us out. After we left Lebanon and got to the Syrian border we were to stop the car and call up this guy, which we did. About ten minutes passed and ...

... re not an American; but hey, I saved money! When I got to Beirut I took a taxi to my friend Amy's apartment. She had just moved in a few days ago and was graciously allowing me to sleep in her spare bedroom. I knew her from GW. We met at a conference the first weekend of my freshman year and kept in touch because we are both interested in Middle Eastern issues. She was a senior then and just recently got her masters and is now working on her dissertation. We ...

... writers dealing specifically with Israel's invasion in 2006 and generally with Lebanon's political social environment. We've learned that Lebanon has one of the most convoluted political structures on the earth. The National Covenant (Tyre Agreement) written in 1943 before independence from France was intended to protect the Christian minority. It imposed a power sharing system in which each of the many sectarian groups is guaranteed a certain numbers of ...

... US dollars are commonly accepted in beirut and when withdrawing from an ATM you have a choice to receive local currency or US$). He asked for $20, but we settled for $10. Considering the situation and my impressive travel planning, I was very happy to make to the hostel that easily...it could have been much more painful. Within a couple of minutes at the hostel, I met Ben, a brewer (not ...

... a ledger, another guy checks your purse and waves his wand all over you, they talk to you quickly in Arabic and practically shove you down a long smoky hallway leading to who knows where. Maher was right beside me the whole way up until this point, thank heavens! Down the hall, I found my self at baggage claim and had to walk to the far end to the KLM desk. No one there. Waited. No one. Back to the other end. They said they'd call. Back down again. Wait. A random man points me ...

... barrels used to age the red wines of Ksara are stored in an elaborate set of caves and tunnels deep beneath the earth. In all seasons these somewhat natural caves (apparently Lebanese that were hiding from the Turks in WWI expanded the caves a bit during their 4 year underground tenure) maintain the same temperature and humidity, making them an ideal storage site for vino. Next up and last on the tour was Anjar, a Byzantine city that was later occupied by the Muslims as a ...

... are. Of course that is exactly where I head and wow what a sight, from deserted streets to throngs of chanting people within a couple of streets. Banners, chanting, 1000's of people lining the coastal road, passing the bomb blast sight from 2 weeks earlier and heading to the square to demonstrate. I noticed a blonde haired character who ends up being a Swedish journalist just flown in from Iraq to cover the story. I get chatting and he says that if i'll carry his camera ...