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Published: July 27th 2009
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Lunch in Aleppo, Syria
You can see the Umayyad Mosque in the background. Built in the late 12th Century. Wow what a day of travel! We started out in Beirut, drove across Syria and ended our day floating in the Dead Sea! It was a day of seeing the countryside and border crossings. It was amazing how each country handled their military and border police. Most of the time in Syria and Lebanon was spent greasing palms. The process in Jordan was expensive, but efficient.
If you were to look at our pictures or over hear our conversations, you may think that we travel just to eat or that we spend our time between meals thinking about the next meal...so what? Maybe we do!
I was not joking about our meal plans... before ending our day in Jordan at the Dead Sea, we started the morning in Beirut eating crepes on the street. Kyle had chocolate/banana (which left him with chocolate all over his face) and I had tuna, tomato and corn on my crepe.
SIDE NOTE:Typically we eat breakfast in our hotels, but to make a long story short, we rented a flat in Beirut. (Our furnished flat was so new, we were the first ones to stay in it. It cost $120 for a day
SOS From Kyle ---
Mom, June, please save me from this nightmare. What have I done to deserve Lamb at every meal? and it included free laundry services!) When we arrived in town we did not have reservations because we had strayed from our original travel plan. We checked over 18 hotels without luck. We did not know that "all of Beirut" would be booked. According to some of the locals, men from the Gulf flood the area to engage in Las Vegas-like activities...in particular, to hire prostitutes. I was not sure how much I believed the story until our driver checked into the hotel. The man working the front desk asked him where he was from and when our driver said "Jordan," the hotel employee said in a sturn finger pointing way, "You are to have NO guests!"
Our breakfasts have included: pita, hommos, tomatoes, cuccumbers, various jams, juice, coffee, tea, hard-boiled eggs, pistachio nugat, olive oil, etc.
Another funny side note about breakfast in Beirut: Because we were on our own for breakfast, I thought it would be a good idea to buy cereal and milk at a local market. It was a great idea until I started to eat it...the Lebanese idea of milk is thick, salted yogurt! I am sorry to say, I had to spit
AHHH! Comfort food.
McDonalds in Beirut. They still have the fried apple pie. Apparently the lawyers in Lebanon haven't ruined everything like the lawyers in America! Hey wait . . . it out!
We have been eating well, but Kyle really misses beef. If a person or restaurant owner says that something is "beef" or "meat" what they mean is it is typically goat/lamb. Kyle continues to perservere. Dad and I have to chuckle when we watch the same old exchange, over and over...
Kyle: "Do you have beef?"
Restaurant owner: "Yes. Meat." (pointing at some red meat which is not exactly certified Angus!)
Kyle: "I'll have the chicken."
Valeri and Dad: rolling eyes and laughing.
We have driven all over these countries and we have seen no plump beef cattle walking around. Furthermore, we have not seen any lush pastures where beef cattle could graze! In fact, when we were in a very large and very modern supermarket in Amman, Jordan, the extensive meat section advertised "Chinese Beef." Can you imagine? That could turn a person into a vegetarian!
We have been gobbling up the Arabic salads, falafel, chicken swarma, fresh pita bread, and many foods we cannot name but we can identify when we see them.
In Ehden, Lebanon we ate the best pizza we have ever eaten. I know what you are thinking...Pizza?
Yes! Homemade bread, homemade sauces, and bacon (yes, pork). We loved it so much that we ate there twice. We think they have ruined us on pizza now...when we order in in USA, we will have to call Lebanon!
After lunch in Damascus, we went to a world famous ice cream place in the Old Market where they were making the ice cream before our eyes. The ice cream was like the kind we ate in Turkey...hard. It could be cut with a knife. I had a huge chocolate cone and the guys had vanilla dipped in pistashios...all for $3. The place could not have been more crowded with people and in the Syrian heat, you had to eat fast, but it was worth it!
Other tidbits regarding our gastroinstinal adventures: Walking through the markets can make you hungry and can make you want to skip your next meal. The bread in Syria smells like honey when it is baking. The butchers in Syria and Lebanon do not waste anything...as you probably guessed. I may have gasped just a little when we walked past the first platter of sheep tongues layed out for display!
Diet soda is difficult to find at times and ice is scarce. Fountain drinks are non-existent. The Lebanese beer is very good--especially for two people who never drink beer. (No mom, I am not developing a habit of drinking and smoking!)
The bottom line is that we are having no problem finding good food, but Kyle would like Grandma June to have some steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy and a banana cream pie waiting for him when we return!
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Les
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Food
I'm going way out on a limb here but would guess that the old guy is in charge of meal time and content!!! How many dozen donuts did you buy and were they cheaper by the dozens??? Les