Lebanon: The 'Blaird'

A few months ago, my mother told me she and my father were contemplating a trip to Lebanon for my father's 60th birthday. The Lebanese influence from my father's side has played a huge role in our lives, and considering we've never been because of troubles in Lebanon, I of course really encouraged the trip. Things finally were solidified only about 2 months ago for my parents, Melissa and I to spend a week together in Lebanon, touring the 'Blaird' (in South African adopted Arabic this means our homeland)!

A quick flight over to Paris and a 4-hour transfer across the Mediterranean to Beirut landed us here Saturday afternoon September 12. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were all a bit dazed and confused from the lack of sleep, jet lag, and unfamiliar surroundings when I hear "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" Next thing I turned around to see my auntie Patsy from South African hugging my father!! She had surprised the entire family by being here for the week. What a cherry on top!!

After an evening of catching up and Lebanese cuisine (what I consider is the best in the world), we all crashed for the night. The next morning, our tour guide Katia was here to pick us up for our first day of touring. On the agenda: Beiteddine (the president's summer home up in the mountain), El Qamar, and Beirut city. The palace is a residence as well as a museum, its very pretty with things such as the president's ambassador room, the bath houses (haman) and mosaics that have been recovered from around Lebanon before they were destroyed. After a quick tea break, we headed back into Beirut for a tour around the downtown city area. Being Sunday, things were eerily quiet, but it was the perfect opportunity to take a stroll around. We saw many many buildings that are now in the reconstruction phase after being torn apart by war for so many years and we saw some buildings that are still demolished with huge holes from bombs, etc. Its so sad to see but also exciting to see how the reconstruction is taking place. They are being very conscious about reconstructing Beirut as it was before the war - making it authentic and really beautiful. We stopped in the most crowded restaurant for some Lebanese mezze for lunch - tabbouleh, hommos, fatosh, kibbeh, etc. The food is out of this world delicious!!!

The afternoon was spent at our pool overlooking the Mediterranean and drinks on the patio with fellow South African Lebanese tourists at the hotel. Dinner time approached fast and we all piled in a cab that my family was horrified it was even road-worthy: no lights, hardly seats, etc.. The driver dropped us off at a fish place that was deserted but in the most gorgeous location on the breakers (a recommendation from some of the other South Africans & hotel guys). We were a little hesitant at first but ended up having the most spectacular Lebanese food and fish with a friendly wait staff. We finished off the evening with a hookah and a trip to the Casino de Lebanon.

Day 2 was spent at Lebanon's famous Cedars, a beautiful Maronite Monastery & driving through the lush Holy Valley and the peaks that surround it. We were greeted at 9am again by our tour guide and started our way up up up Mt. Lebanon towards the Holy Valley and the Cedars. One anecdote to mention are the roads here - a nightmare. They speed like crazy down the highway and through these little villages and our 26-year-old driver was no exception. We were all quite uncomfortable and even asked him a few times to slow down, so that put a bit of a twist on things. However, the mountains and the valley are stunning. They are so high and very green and lush. Winding around the mountains you pass through old, traditional towns - crosses dot the horizon. First stop was Kahlil Gibran's birthplace, museum and burial place - very interesting (I didn't know he was a painter and lived most of his life in the USA). Second stop was the Cedars - ancient trees, a lot of which have unfortunately been destroyed, but so old that these particular ones were mentioned in the Bible. Walking around them was breathtaking and you really get a feel of how giant they are - much like America's Redwoods. After a lunch break we headed towards a secluded Maronite monastery where the hermits originally hid from persecution hundreds of years old. Its nestled deep in a valley in the mountains and was the most peaceful, serene place ever! A brief tour of the grotto, museum and church and we were back on the scary roads to our hotel - another day well-spent in Lebanon!

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