We are in Lebanon!

Hi All!
We made it successfully to Lebanon as scheduled, arriving about 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The flight from JFK to Dubai was about 13 hours, every seat was full, but we managed to sleep a little, watch a few movies and drink lots of water. We flew over the Atlantic, crossing Europe beginning at the coast of France. Once we were over the Arabian Peninsula, we flew over miles and miles of desolate terrain, rugged, uninhabited and the color of cafe au lait. Our route took us between Iran on the left side and Iraq on the right....made me very glad we were on Emirates, less likely to meet an errant missile, I presumed! Looking at the landscape, thousands of feet below, made me wonder why this part of the world, which looks so barren and lifeless, has been the site of so much war and hostility for thousands of years. We landed in Dubai on time, and were thermal scanned for swine flu as we left the aircraft, that was a first.

The 4 hour layover in Dubai gave us a chance to wander through the world's largest Duty Free shop (the entire terminal!) and have a lovely dinner courtesy of Emirates Air. Shops full of 22K gold jewelry, Rolex and Piaget watches, perfume, liquor, clothing, food, $700 bottles of wine and caviar lined the concourse. Two Zen gardens with waterfalls, 3 spas and 16 sit down restaurants and two Prayer Rooms (men's and women's) fill the terminal. There was the Islam call to prayer while we were there, and we watched the men head one way and the women the other for prayer. Wish I'd taken a photo of the sign that said Restrooms and Prayer Rooms, not likely to see that again.

We opted to stay at the airport as it was 98 degrees and 100% humidity outside. I don't recommend Dubai as a vacation destination in July. Our flight to Lebanon took off at 1 a.m. - also jammed, apparently there is no recession in the Middle East - and landed about 20 minutes late, but as soon as I stepped off the jetway and actually stepped onto Lebanon, I felt like a part of me was home. Amazing.

We cleared Immigration and I actually got two Lebanon visa stamps in my passport after I told the inspector that coming to Lebanon was a lifelong dream come true. He wanted to be sure I could read the stamp!

Our hosts met us with roses, water, hugs and kisses at 4 a.m.! The entire family came to the Airport, James and Huda and their daughters Nadine and Dina. The drive to their home in the mountains northeast of Beirut took about 45 minutes and at this hour, there wasn't much traffic as you can imagine. Beirut looked beautiful, at least what I could see, and we talked and laughed non-stop the entire way home, becoming instant friends. It's as if we've known each other for years in some ways. We already felt so welcome....how the heck did we get so lucky?

Then we arrived at their new chalet - and we about fainted. As we drove into the 5000 sq ft garage through beautiful teak doors - the garage is tiled and finished - we knew we were in for something special. Forget every chalet you've ever seen, this is not a chalet, it's a palace! Perched on a hillside with the Mediterranean off in the distance, the house is an architectural masterpiece. Made of concrete faced in Lebanese stone, the 15,000 sq ft. home has 4 floors, floor to ceiling half rounded glass walls on the living and sleeping levels, more rooms than I can remember, fabulous wood, tile, marble and stone floors, walls and ceilings, glass and stainless steel staircases, bathrooms that are not to be believed, a kitchen I covet, lovely gardens with a stream, several patios and a spa, custom furnishings, gorgeous decor, OMG! James designed it and Huda decorated it - the house actually floats on a central column, with....shoot, I can't begin to do justice to the house by describing it, so I'll send photos as soon as I figure out how. Just know our jaws hit the floor upon entering and might still be dragging the floor a bit! Even in my state of jet lag euphoria, I wasn't prepared for this! Wow! Our room is huge, its rounded exterior glass wall looking toward the Med and valley view, large bath, king bed, sitting area, and a loft! It's beautiful!

We stayed up until well past sunrise talking to James and Huda and when we finally went to bed about 8 a.m. Sunday, we had been up since Friday morning. Our travel time from our house in St. Pete to their house in Farqa was 41 hours! We slept until about 6 p.m. Sunday. Then awoke to find this really wasn't a dream, we were still in Lebanon in this gorgeous home with these warm, generous people. Whoooo hooo!

Much more to come. We've already had encounters and experiences in just 2 days that will fill about 3 more blogs. I'll close this one by saying my first impressions are that Lebanon is beautiful, friendly, welcoming and exciting. There is as much new construction here - homes, buildings, hotels, public spaces, marinas, condos - as there was in FL and much of the US in 2004-2006. The economy is strong, prices are high and people are enjoying life here. You wouldn't know there had been a war 3 years ago and a civil war that raged for nearly 20 years from the 70's-90's by looking at what's happening here now. We have encountered check points along more rural roads, especially those leading directly to Syria, and all cars are stopped and inspected before entering parking garages, but other than that, there are no outward signs of previous wars - no damaged buildings, barracades or soldiers in the streets. We feel very safe here.

And we have already learned much about our hosts, their life in Yemen and here, so I have much more to share. Stay tuned. Hope this arrives okay, we have experienced a little trouble with e-mails getting out on this computer. Please send me an e-mail when you read this.
Thanks!
Love,
Lari