http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Lebanon en-us Tue, 24 Nov 09 22:48:49 +0000 Tue, 24 Nov 09 22:48:49 +0000 Our first stop in Lebanon was in Baalbek where we saw what was claimed as the largest rock in the world. The guide said that this was not true but it was still in the top 3 largest rocks. We then went to some ruins which were pretty cool. The guide did share a lot of really confusing facts with us which at this point I canrsquot remember any to share with you. We then had lunch at this caf http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-451163.html Hi Kefec cava was one of the first things i heard when i came off the plane from Ciaro... its a great reflection of what life in Beirut is like a major mixture of colonial french with a western influence ontop of a strong middle eastern culture. Ive been in Lebanon for over two weeks now no i wasn't kidnapped by Hezbollah ive just been... 'busy'... I still cant believe im in the middle east http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-450649.html So next stop Lebanon. Having spent a wonderful few days relaxing in Damascus it was time to pack up all of our belongings in the world into our very little bags again to get back on the long and winding road. This time we went for a little luxury as I was getting bored of slumming it all the time yes all it is Dee speaking this time around and we got a service taxi to bring us over the bord http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-444359.html While my family spent day 4 on a trip to the south of Lebanon including tours of the historic sites of Sidon and Tyr I spent the day meeting with friends at NDU. While I apparently missed quite an experience including Israeli jets overhead toy guns and a traffic nightmare it was really great to spend a day meeting with those people I have gotten to know over email from NDU. My trip to the U http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-438255.html 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 s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-436490.html Lebanon for a monthMaking it back up to Rome from Lipari was a task. A whole day of travel from morning to night. We checked into a hostel over night and went out for a few drinks to celebrate our last night in Italy.The next day it was simply too hot to walk around so we napped a little and caught the train to Rome Fiumicino where we boarded Olympic Airlines with a 3 hour stop over in Athens b http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-426870.html About 40 km north of Beirut you will find Byblos or Jbeil the oldest inhabited city in the world. Historians estimate that the first settlers date back to 6000 B.C. After investigating my transportation options I decided to head to Jbeil by public bus. The journey takes about an hour but depends on traffic and on the way there only cost me 2 or 3000 Lebanese Lyra my taxi ride to the bus sta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/blog-423692.html Lebanon has been a country with many surprises of course the majority of these being enjoyable. Perhaps the best surprise of this trip though was getting the opportunity to feel Roman. Or when I say Roman in this case I mean walking through the well preserved ancient Roman sites and when you have the temple all to yourself who's going to stop you from pretending. Even though I traveled t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Baalbek/blog-422473.html When you sit in an ancient throne of a four thousand year old Phoenician kingdom what sort of thoughts should you contemplate What about when you cross the drawbridge that leads into a Crusader castle that is nearly seven hundred years old what emotions should be elicited Most especially when you walk along the ring of a Roman racetrack that is two thousand years old what sort of sights an http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/blog-422388.html Grime. Grime is something that is greasy dark and no matter how many times you wash yourself it seems like it will only take time before it completely goes away. As I walked through this Palestinian camp in Lebanon that was defined as temporary during its creation one should keep in mind that was fifty years ago. Over these fifty years I have the sense that the grime has settled here and n http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/blog-422092.html When we started planning our trip to the Middle East we knew we might receive mixed receptions from the people we would meet and that Americans are not well regarded in this part of the world. We had been to Jordan and Egypt a few times and had always been warmly welcomed but we did not know what to expect in Syria and Lebanon. We knew the US pulled Americans out of their Embassy in Syria we kne http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-422035.html We spent our first few days in Lebanon in the mountains. The scenery and the weather were both enjoyable. The valleys trees Christian churches and mountain air was not the typical Middle Eastern scene. We left the Lebanese holiday spots checked out the Cedars and cruised by the ski resorts before we journeyed into the Bekaa Valley.We made it through the winding roads and were shocked by the fer http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Baalbek/blog-421941.html I have just finished writing a very long paper for my masterrsquos pertaining to the expansion of human rights. Work while on vacation I have reached the level of being a true profession in making my life sometimes truly annoying. While it was pleasant the day before to read and research the ideas for the paper on the rocky and colorful coast of the Mediterranean on the Corniche in Beirut I http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-421815.html I am blogging. I have the will to do nothing else today. Getting here was tremendous effort. The sun the juice stands the women in tight jeans and the alleyes men. The sunglasses stalls and the derelict buildings. This is Tripoli and we have been here two days. Yesterday we ate a lot including a three course meal in beach front fish restaurant called Silver Shore. We ordered mezze to sta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Tripoli/blog-416861.html Ok so a brief update I think. Mary has been beavering away at her blog entry for almost an hour so I suspect she'll be done soon I'll make it snappy. In fact even better I'll make it themed. Middle Eastern Food An Odyessy.Tripoli is supposedly the home of Arabic sweets and this has certainly been a theme of our stay here. After this entry we are heading to Le Palais a teashop with an e http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Tripoli/blog-416859.html Beirut the Paris of the Middle East as it has been previously called seems to be reclaiming the title. The New York Times has ranked it 1 on its list of 44 places to visit in 2009 .What is it that makes this a mustsee placePeople walk around the streets with a bandage on their nose and bruised eyes as if it were trendy. Move over L.A. Beirut is the new Silicon Valley of the World. You need http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-414427.html Boarding the plane to Beirut already gave me a glimpse of what the city would be like fashionable people young Lebanese children speaking in English or French instead of Arabic. Women were dressed in sleeveless tops and skirts above the knee attire that would be frowned upon in Cairo andor would attract some unwanted attention. The fight to Beirut is short only taking one hour. The city lo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-410243.html It should take around a couple of hours to get to Beirut from the Syrian border but on the outskirts of Lebanonrsquos capital things changed. Soldiers patrolling the main road helicopters flying above. Traffic going nowhere. I knew Lebanon had some problems but tanks Machine guns the whole way Was this the right decision to divert the Middle East journey Lebanon is one of the most confusin http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-407134.html On our last few days in Lebanon we hung out around Beirut. One of the places we visited is a few miles out side Beirut on a mountain overlooking the city where a statue of the virgin Mary stands called Harissa. This is a very big pilgrimage site for Christians in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East. The statue is very large and beautiful and can be seen from many different areas in Beirut. The http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-402967.html Originally my friends and I had intended to travel to Baalbek during our Lebanese adventure however my family told us it would be better to go to southern Lebanon. This suprised us because in America we think of southern Lebanon as less safe but as I have learned here in the Middle East many of our preconceived notions are wrong We began our day by visiting Sidon which is about a half hour so http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/blog-402742.html