Hi All,
Many thanks to ALL of you who have e-mailed this past week asking if we've made it home safely. Yes, we have!!!! My best intentions were to write this blog last Friday, just after we arrived home from Lebanon, but frankly, my brain still isn't quite sure what time it is and my body is just following along. I might still be recovering from jet lag, or at least that strange mixture of euphoria and malaise that follows a long, wonderful trip. Can't seem to focus, and the fact that we are leaving for California in 10 days doesn't help. The CA trip was planned before the Lebanon opportunity surfaced and staying the extra 3 weeks in Lebanon definitely made the trips pile up on each other - but NO complaints, mind you!
Flying back Business Class made a world of difference! It was so comfortable and roomy; we could sleep, move around the aircraft and the flight seemed about half as long. Being treated like royalty is addictive! Of course, the last leg on Jet Blue from JFK to Tampa snapped us right back into sardine flight reality! Ah well.
We had a great layover in Dubai and being in Business Class, Emirates provides a chauffeur from the airport to the snazzy Le Meridien Hotel where our comp room and a voucher for dinner in our choice of 8 restaurants was waiting. We had enough time to take a tour of Dubai, which is a fascinating city that has literally risen from the sand over the past 15 years or so. You may have read about the developments here that have been created just off the coast where land has been pumped from the sea and formed into the shape of palm trees, crustaceans and an entire replica of the world (!!!!) connected to each other by tunnels, not bridges - bridges would ruin the design, you see - and upon which mega hotels and resorts, huge multi-million dollar villas and snazzy malls are built. At the tip of the first Palm Tree, there is a massive Atlantis Resort which looks exactly like the one on Nassau's Paradise Island, except on steroids!
In the past 3 years, more than 600 skyscrapers of 50 stories or more have been constructed in Dubai - many of them still empty due to the economic downturn and the declining oil prices. The world's tallest building -a spire that soars over 300 stories!!! - is here along with some of the most intriguing and exciting architecture we've ever seen. We wondered though whether Dubai would become a ghost town if the world's economy continues to be depressed. Remains to be seen, I suppose. Some of the coolest things they've done involve infrastructure - terrific roads, light rail, air-conditioned bus and train stops, a monorail system. This must have been so much fun for the engineers, architects, planners and construction firms, where else can you design and build an entire city from scratch with what appears to be endless financial resources? After 6 weeks of chaotic traffic, terrible roads and no public transportation whatsoever in Lebanon, Dubai looked like Disney World!
After our tour, we returned to the hotel, had a nice dinner, showered and were picked up by the chauffeur for the short drive to the airport. At the curb, we were met by a lovely Emirates ground hostess who escorted us to check in and then on to the lounge. I LOVED IT! In Dubai, Emirates has a brand new, humongous, ultra-modern terminal all to itself with the world's largest Duty Free shop - the entire 2nd level is a huge mall of duty free shops - and travelers in First or Business class have a separate entrance, we board the plane from a special gate, the lounge has a full service spa, 4 or 5 buffets, several bars, etc. etc. Certainly a nice way to travel - thanks again, Huda and James!
Once on the flight, which left at 2 a.m., our seats, which were separated by these cool dividers that could be moved up and down for privacy, either reclined into a comfortable easy chair position with full foot rest and a zillion different settings - which the seat would remember! - or reclined completely flat into a bed. We were given a nice foam mattress for added comfort, full size pillow, bedding, mask, socks, toiletries, noise canceling headphones, 7 gazillion channels of music, TV or movies, more food and drink than we could consume and just about anything else we wanted. Oh, and the entire seat is a massage chair as well...oh my!
Once we landed in New York, reality returned, although the wait at immigration wasn't too bad and we breezed through Customs with a cheery "Welcome Home" from the Inspector. Then on to Jet Blue where I am convinced they determine who gets the employee bonuses based on how many passengers can be ticked off each day, who scowls the most and how many bags get damaged. It was night and day from Emirates! After managing to make it all the way from Lebanon, via Dubai, to NYC and through US Customs without a second look, our checked bags were opened, pawed through and damaged by TSA at JFK on their way to Tampa! Guess all those TSA folks standing around JFK needed something to do.
All was well at home, thanks to my super terrific neighbor, Jean, who kept my plants happy and healthy and kept an eye on the house for us. Charlie had a struggle when we returned to get his computer repaired and back on line. It needed a new hard drive and that meant reloading all the software, but fortunately all his data was backed up and able to be reloaded. Whew!
My brand new Canon PowerShot A1100IS died after less than 60 days, with all the photos still on the memory card which my computer can't read!!!!! So I spent three days communicating with Canon, Dell and Microsoft this past week trying to solve these issues, but to no avail. The camera, which had great ratings and was highly touted as being reliable and easy to use, is neither. It has been sent back to Canon for repair, with no guarantee it will be fixed in time for the Ca trip, and although I've been a Canon camera devotee for years, I will no longer buy Canon or recommend either this camera or any other Canon to anyone after the way I was treated this past week. Amazing how little customer service there is these days. Fortunately, I downloaded almost all the photos onto James' laptop before we left Lebanon so I know they exist in another format. I promise you will see them eventually!
Well, I just realized this blog is getting snarky - sorry. It's late, but I want to write so much more about the trip, which I will this week. I had a lovely phone chat with Huda today from Yemen and got all excited again about going there for our next adventure to the Middle East! Also dragged out my stack of Lebanese cookbooks - I will blog about the two really neat days I spent in Lebanon cooking -- first with Huda learning some wonderful Yemeni dishes, then with Hilda to cook some Lebanese dishes I haven't had in years. Anyway, I perused the cookbooks and found all the recipes I remember my Mom making when I was a kid. So my goal is to start making those yummy dishes again! Tonight we had a Fattoush salad and I used my new mortar and pestle to blend the garlic, lemon, mint and spices for the dressing. It was fun. We also saw the movie Julia & Julie about Julia Child, which we loved! If you haven't seen it, do. It's funny, warm, and delicious! All of this has really inspired me to cook all this wonderful food again!
One last tale on myself - I brought home some fabulous spices used in Lebanese and Yemeni recipes - zaatah (a spice made from thyme, sumac and sesame seeds), sumac, allspice, cardomon, saffron, etc. and was making room in the pantry. Now, I do tend to keep food around longer than is wise,(as many of you know), but what I found in the back of the spice shelf really takes the prize. There, way back in the back was a little Mason jar marked "Zaatah, 3/85" I swear to heaven, it was 24 year old spice. I'm pretty sure my friend Kathy Ehrlich found it for me in LA and brought it to San Diego when we lived there in the '80's.
Now, since 3/85, we have moved from San Diego to DC, then to the boat, then me back to San Diego for a year, then back to the boat, traveled all around the Caribbean, back to the US and St. Pete, then moved off the boat and into this house - and this silly jar of zaatah has gone with me every step of the way. So, you might be asking, 1) Why didn't I use it?.....I have no idea, I'm sure I was saving it for "something", 2) How did it look, smell and taste after 24 years?.....looked fine, smelled amazingly good, tasted a little bitter, and, 3) Where is it now?....oh yes, of course I was tempted to save it, (I'm still Lari, after all), but since I have yummy new zaatah that is so much better and I needed the jar, I reluctantly tossed it. And then I got really crazy and threw away lots of other herbs and spices hiding out in my pantry which no longer resembled what they once were in any way, smell or taste! It was empowering!
So confession is over, I am signing off. Stay tuned for more Lebanon adventures and hopefully those elusive photos!
Love to all, thanks for keeping us in your thoughts!
Lari
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Finding My Family!
Hi Everyone!
Well, so much has happened since my last submission, but the MOST exciting has been making a connection with Sheik Walid El Khazen, who might very well be a distant cousin of mine!!!!! Here's the scoop!
Remember Hilda Mardelli, who lives here now but who lived with my Florida friend and neighbor, Judy Johnson as a college student in the 80's? Well, Hilda's husband, Adel is business partners with Nabil El Khazen (my grandmother's name was El Khazen, Americanized to AlKazin). I spoke with Nabil by phone from Hilda and Adel's garden a few weeks ago. Nabil's brother is Walid El Khazen, a prominent attorney and entrepreneur here in Lebanon. They are both descendants of the large and powerful El Khazen family who ruled, owned and controlled much of the central mountainous section of Lebanon called Keserwan (not always in a peaceful, benign way, I was told). While this large family controlled much of the land in this part of Lebanon, they also suffered great persecution under the Turkish Ottoman rule in the late 1800's, which may have driven my great grandfather to the US in 1900.
A meeting with Sheik Walid in his office was an eye-opener! He is extremely powerful, it seems, and his large staff is quite deferential to him, happily accommodating his every request. Walid has amassed a wealth of information on the El Khazen family, including a large family tree, genealogical charts and DNA testing, which traced the family as far back as Jericho in about 29 BC. (Okay, by now I am thinking, why did my ancestors ever leave here???....but you know families!) After seeing the charts, website, etc. I was thrilled that I might be finding a true connection to my ancestors. One vital piece of missing information is where my great grandfather actually lived in Lebanon - the village name is crucial to trace his roots. I am hoping one of my US cousins has the all important "box of stuff" with some documentation of Lebanese origins.
Walid invited us - Huda, James, Charlie and I - to a "small" family dinner at his home last Monday evening. He and his wife, Gloria, a truly beautiful, gracious lady, live in Rayfoun, a town about halfway up the mountain on our way to the chalet. He sent his driver to meet and escort us to his home and as we drove in, I realized my relatives should have NEVER LEFT Lebanon!!! The El Khazen home is in a compound of beautiful old Lebanese mansions that stretch over several acres. Their home, built by Walid's grandfather, is an exquisite stone and marble villa with a half acre garden whose focal point is a huge round pool built around natural rock and mammoth trees. It is designed to make you feel as if the pool is a natural lake, surrounded by lush green grass and beautiful landscaping. Set around the pool were several perfectly set tables and hundreds of candles which flickered throughout the garden and made the evening seem magical.
As soon as we arrived, Walid began introducing us to more than 45 El Khazen family members, from the 80-ish matriarch of the clan (who looked remarkably like my grandmother) to recent college grads home from Universities in the US and Europe. The entire experience was amazing and wonderful and emotional. I truly felt a connection to this family, and even if Walid doesn't find the link, he has already welcomed me into the family. He said he knew right away I was a part of the family because of my eyes!
After a fabulous dinner, copious wine and more delicious Lebanese desserts than should be legal at one time, we went into Walid's study and looked at more potential family links. Walid promised to continue searching for my great grandfather's family which should get us started on the exact branch of my family tree.
What a magical evening! Walid and I will talk again this week before I leave. I have tried to convince my friends here that I might actually own the land their house sits on!!!!! No one is buying it yet, but you never know!
Fate is amazing and the things that had to fall into place to make this connection between Walid and myself occur are mind boggling. Yep, I'm convinced this trip happened for a reason.
More to tell on daily power outages; a trip to Tripoli and Kobayat last weekend; moving from the mountain chalet/castle to the town flat/castle this weekend; the upcoming flight home; our trip to the Cedars, one of the last groves of ancient cedar trees left in Lebanon; visits to the myriad of festivals held for the feast of the Assumption, and a lot more on the Stone family. I realize I might be writing some of these after I get home. Hope you don't mind. I can't even begin to get it all in even doing it that way.
Hope this format is better!
Love to all,
Lari
Well, so much has happened since my last submission, but the MOST exciting has been making a connection with Sheik Walid El Khazen, who might very well be a distant cousin of mine!!!!! Here's the scoop!
Remember Hilda Mardelli, who lives here now but who lived with my Florida friend and neighbor, Judy Johnson as a college student in the 80's? Well, Hilda's husband, Adel is business partners with Nabil El Khazen (my grandmother's name was El Khazen, Americanized to AlKazin). I spoke with Nabil by phone from Hilda and Adel's garden a few weeks ago. Nabil's brother is Walid El Khazen, a prominent attorney and entrepreneur here in Lebanon. They are both descendants of the large and powerful El Khazen family who ruled, owned and controlled much of the central mountainous section of Lebanon called Keserwan (not always in a peaceful, benign way, I was told). While this large family controlled much of the land in this part of Lebanon, they also suffered great persecution under the Turkish Ottoman rule in the late 1800's, which may have driven my great grandfather to the US in 1900.
A meeting with Sheik Walid in his office was an eye-opener! He is extremely powerful, it seems, and his large staff is quite deferential to him, happily accommodating his every request. Walid has amassed a wealth of information on the El Khazen family, including a large family tree, genealogical charts and DNA testing, which traced the family as far back as Jericho in about 29 BC. (Okay, by now I am thinking, why did my ancestors ever leave here???....but you know families!) After seeing the charts, website, etc. I was thrilled that I might be finding a true connection to my ancestors. One vital piece of missing information is where my great grandfather actually lived in Lebanon - the village name is crucial to trace his roots. I am hoping one of my US cousins has the all important "box of stuff" with some documentation of Lebanese origins.
Walid invited us - Huda, James, Charlie and I - to a "small" family dinner at his home last Monday evening. He and his wife, Gloria, a truly beautiful, gracious lady, live in Rayfoun, a town about halfway up the mountain on our way to the chalet. He sent his driver to meet and escort us to his home and as we drove in, I realized my relatives should have NEVER LEFT Lebanon!!! The El Khazen home is in a compound of beautiful old Lebanese mansions that stretch over several acres. Their home, built by Walid's grandfather, is an exquisite stone and marble villa with a half acre garden whose focal point is a huge round pool built around natural rock and mammoth trees. It is designed to make you feel as if the pool is a natural lake, surrounded by lush green grass and beautiful landscaping. Set around the pool were several perfectly set tables and hundreds of candles which flickered throughout the garden and made the evening seem magical.
As soon as we arrived, Walid began introducing us to more than 45 El Khazen family members, from the 80-ish matriarch of the clan (who looked remarkably like my grandmother) to recent college grads home from Universities in the US and Europe. The entire experience was amazing and wonderful and emotional. I truly felt a connection to this family, and even if Walid doesn't find the link, he has already welcomed me into the family. He said he knew right away I was a part of the family because of my eyes!
After a fabulous dinner, copious wine and more delicious Lebanese desserts than should be legal at one time, we went into Walid's study and looked at more potential family links. Walid promised to continue searching for my great grandfather's family which should get us started on the exact branch of my family tree.
What a magical evening! Walid and I will talk again this week before I leave. I have tried to convince my friends here that I might actually own the land their house sits on!!!!! No one is buying it yet, but you never know!
Fate is amazing and the things that had to fall into place to make this connection between Walid and myself occur are mind boggling. Yep, I'm convinced this trip happened for a reason.
More to tell on daily power outages; a trip to Tripoli and Kobayat last weekend; moving from the mountain chalet/castle to the town flat/castle this weekend; the upcoming flight home; our trip to the Cedars, one of the last groves of ancient cedar trees left in Lebanon; visits to the myriad of festivals held for the feast of the Assumption, and a lot more on the Stone family. I realize I might be writing some of these after I get home. Hope you don't mind. I can't even begin to get it all in even doing it that way.
Hope this format is better!
Love to all,
Lari
Monday, August 10, 2009
Blog format frustration
Hi All,
Despite my best attempts at making this more readable - I have written it with paragraphs, spacing, headers that don't crowd and end up in the middle of text, etc., the blog still posts like this - and I can't figure out how to edit it. Anyone have any clues. Shoot, I wrote it and I'm even having trouble reading it. Sorry for the blogger ineptitude. Also, I forgot to post the photos, so I may do that here.
Well so much for that.....I waited 7 minutes!!!! to load one photo and it still wasn't done, so I think we'll have to figure out a better way. Thanks, Jen for the tips, I'll try that tomorrow.
Now I have to go get beautiful. We have been invited to a party at Sheik El Khazen's home tonight and about 40 of my potential family tree occupants are expected. I am looking forward to this very much! Just wish I had the 3 Bigs! Oh well, as an American Lebanese, maybe it's okay to still have all of my own body parts!
Love to all,
Lari
PS I just previewed this and it has all of the paragraphs, etc. AGGHHHH!!!!
Despite my best attempts at making this more readable - I have written it with paragraphs, spacing, headers that don't crowd and end up in the middle of text, etc., the blog still posts like this - and I can't figure out how to edit it. Anyone have any clues. Shoot, I wrote it and I'm even having trouble reading it. Sorry for the blogger ineptitude. Also, I forgot to post the photos, so I may do that here.
Well so much for that.....I waited 7 minutes!!!! to load one photo and it still wasn't done, so I think we'll have to figure out a better way. Thanks, Jen for the tips, I'll try that tomorrow.
Now I have to go get beautiful. We have been invited to a party at Sheik El Khazen's home tonight and about 40 of my potential family tree occupants are expected. I am looking forward to this very much! Just wish I had the 3 Bigs! Oh well, as an American Lebanese, maybe it's okay to still have all of my own body parts!
Love to all,
Lari
PS I just previewed this and it has all of the paragraphs, etc. AGGHHHH!!!!
Baalbek, Ksara Winery and more
Where Have I Been?
HI Everyone,
Here’s the blog I started last week (Aug 3) and have yet to finish it. If I say we’ve been way too busy having fun, it would be a massive understatement! This past week, after the wonderful trip to Baalbek which I’m writing about below, I have been to Beirut 4 separate days; met with Sheik Walid El Khazen, a very prominent attorney, diplomat and possibly a distant family member in his office in downtown Beirut; spent a day with Hilda and her daughters at the beach, south of Beirut; shopped; spent a day with Rhada, a lovely Lebanese friend of Huda’s; and ate, drank and laughed myself silly. And that doesn’t take into consideration the week before….
We have confirmed our reservations back to reality, we’re leaving here on Thursday, Aug. 20, arriving home the 21st. James and Huda upgraded us to Business Class for the trip home, which will make for a much more relaxing flight – what a treat! We have a long layover in Dubai, but we will be chauffeured from the airport to Le Meridian Hotel to relax, have a nice dinner, then be driven back to the airport for our flight to New York. Now why can’t I live like this ALL the time? I’m afraid I have become way too used to this lovely way of life and will have a difficult time making my own bed, doing my own laundry and cooking my own meals again. Guess we’ll have to bring one of the maids home in our extra bag!
Anyway, here’s the trip to Baalbek that I started last Monday. It’s already 2:30 p.m. and I’ve been trying to finish it since 10, but would rather talk to Huda and the girls. I am resisting going into the hot tub with the ladies as I write, so please appreciate my sacrifice!
Baalbek, Bekaa Valley and Ksara Winery – August 1, 2009
Well, we’ve just had another wonderful weekend in Lebanon with James, Huda and the girls. We feel like we’ve known this lovely family for years and have been invited back in the winter when the snow covers these mountains and we can play in it with the snow sleds that James invented or in the Jeep he has converted from tires to tractor treads. He is a true Renaissance man, amazingly bright, creative and pragmatic at the same time. He owns an R&D facility in the Philippines that I am certain will ultimately develop numerous “big” ideas into successful products or systems that will make a difference in our world. Huda, as I mentioned earlier, is a wildly successful business owner, overseeing seven companies with more than 500 employees. Remarkable on any level, her success is more notable due to the patriarchal Yemeni society that doesn’t easily conform to women in powerful roles. She takes it all in stride, wondering why the rest of the business world regards her achievements with both admiration and awe. I am so impressed at how centered and comfortable she is about all of this. What a great role model for other Arab women who face major challenges to their independence and freedom of choice.
But back to my travelogue! I haven’t forgotten about our trip to Byblos, but since I can’t access the blog I wrote on it due to the computer crash, I’m going to postpone that one for now and move on. I promise to get back to it one of these blogs, as the ruins and the history they represent, our climb into one of the royal tombs and a visit to the archeologist who discovered perfect marine fossils in a quarry in the mountains is too good not to share.
Since the guys work long days on the boat from Monday-Friday, we have been trying to cram in as much sightseeing as possible on the weekends, and this past Saturday (Aug 1), we went to another ancient cultural site, Baalbek, designated a World Heritage Site for it’s remarkably well preserved temples and 5000 year history, and visited one of Lebanon’s premier wineries, Ksara….you KNOW I enjoyed that.
Baalbek
Baalbek is located to the east of Beirut, over the mountains where we are staying and in the Bekaa Valley, an area now peacefully controlled by the Hezbollah party. We encountered the usual checkpoints along the way, all staffed by friendly soldiers. The only difference between the Lebanese and Hezbollah soldiers is the color of their cammies and berets. Signposting of roads and attractions is iffy, especially if you don’t read Arabic, and my guide book admits there is no good road map of Lebanon in existence! Fortunately, our multi-lingual family takes care of the translating when signs exist. Otherwise, we stop and ask whoever looks unarmed!
The road over the mountains is narrow, serpentine and unencumbered by guardrails. The scenery is dramatic, and we quickly forgot the sheer drop-offs and washboard conditions of the roadbed. In some places, the road is wider and newly paved, then suddenly it reverts to ruts, potholes and broken edges with piles of rocks here and there which have fallen from the cliffs. We all agree that the good road is located in the favored political party’s district and the crappy road belongs to some outgoing and unpopular mayor. Not unlike the US in some ways!!!
As we dropped down into the Bekaa Valley, it reminded me of California’s Central Valley with squares of rich, dark soil, bright green produce, dark green fruit trees and golden grains. This fertile valley supplies a large portion of the fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts consumed by the Lebanese. Potatoes were being harvested as we drove by, and they appeared to be the size of footballs! Everywhere you look are produce stands along the road with piles of watermelons, red cherries, purple figs, herbs, green and red tomatoes, peaches, plums and nectarines….yum! We have been enjoying our fruits and veggies….remember what a tomato or peach tastes like when it’s just picked? Amazing what we’ve gotten used to in the US – beautiful looking produce with little or no flavor. Maybe I can cram produce in my other suitcase!
Driving through the modern city of Baalbek is both depressing and hopeful. It is mostly a poor town of rundown houses, industrial and retail shops and cafes with flats above, and empty lots, but there are also many new homes, churches, mosques, schools and hospitals, and many nice homes under construction. Hezbollah has built most of the public facilities in the past few years in an effort to bring much needed social and medical services to the valley. A new, 4-lane road is nearly completed, which has eased the horrendous traffic issues, especially this time of year, when the Baalbek Music Festival is held right among the ancient ruins.
Arriving at the ancient city, we were frantically directed to a parking area by two guys laden with tourist souvenirs, ball caps, maps, scarves and Chiclets. We were surrounded as we left the car, and of course bought a few things. (I really look hot in my Lebanon ball cap). I was reminded of the street vendors in Cuzco and Tijuana…..very persuasive! The short walk to the entrance revealed a full scale Roman religious site with the largest Roman temple in the world. Still considered the most important Roman site in the Middle East, its extravagant temples outshone those in Rome.
We secured an excellent guide at the entrance who brought the ruins to life. Originally Phoenician, a large temple was constructed here during the 1st Millennium BC, dedicated to the god, Baal. Yep, Bek means temple, so there you have the city’s name! Because it was located at the intersection of main east/west and north/south trade routes, the ancient city grew to a population of 250,000 people! Alexander the Great renamed the city Heliopolis – city of the Sun – after his conquest and in 64 BC, Emperor Pompey made it part of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar founded a large Roman settlement here (geez, everybody who was anybody wanted this place!) in 47 BC and construction of the massive religious temples began, taking more than 150 years to complete.
We entered the ruins up a monumental staircase cut from stones so huge that an entire flight of 20 steps, 16 feet wide could be carved from one stone. These were put together to form a staircase that was 600 feet long. At the top, you are standing in an outer temple which was originally roofed in cedar and floored in mosaics. All of the stone was quarried nearby, but the massive columns – the largest found in the Temple of Jupiter are 70 feet high and 7 feet in diameter – are solid granite from the Aswan Valley in Egypt. The columns were shipped from Egypt to the coast of Lebanon, then rolled miles and miles over the Lebanon mountains and into the Bekaa Valley on a track of two parallel stone walls built solely for this purpose. More than 100,000 slaves worked on the site over the years.
We continued into complex, entering the hexagonal court, its six sides surrounded by columns, with decorated niches for statues of minor gods. This was the waiting room for the Great Court, where animal sacrifices were made on a huge stone altar in the center of the open plaza. Covered by an arcade supported by 84 massive granite columns, you can see the where whole columns have toppled, almost intact, and look as if they’ve been sliced into pieces on the ground. A massive earthquake in 1759 caused many of the remaining columns and ramparts to fall, but large parts of the temples are remarkably still standing!
From there, we entered the Temple of Jupiter, the largest and most sacred religious temple in the Roman empire. Nearly 300 feet long, it is entered via another massive stone staircase. Inside the once cedar-roofed temple were 54 of the largest marble columns in the world. Six remain standing, with the connecting arch still intact. Due to the massive size of this structure and the stones used to construct it (one we saw is about 60’ x 15’ and weighs an estimated 1000 tons), it was once believed giants constructed the temple. As in many of the ancient stone structures still found on earth, there is no obvious explanation for how such massive stones were moved and positioned so precisely. No mortar was used between the stones, yet there is no space between stones, the cut being so perfect.
Our guide, Hussein, gave us time to wander these incredible structures on our own. Remarkably, there are no restrictions to where you can go or what you can touch. We climbed over fallen marble columns, posed for photos on sacrificial altars and touched the faces of ancient statues of Cleopatra, Marc Anthony and Julius Caesar. The Lebanese feel that this is their right and appear to respect the ruins, not taking pieces home with them or covering temples with graffiti. We were disappointed at how much trash seems to be around, but much of that stems from lack of funds to provide trash cans and staff, as well a population uneducated on litter courtesy!
My favorite temple is the smaller, lovely, much decorated Temple of Bacchus. Actually larger than the Parthenon, it is considered the small temple compared to the massive Temple of Jupiter. Almost completely intact, this temple shows the sophisticated carving and decoration on the walls, arcades, ceilings and entrances. Topped with a curved stone ceiling carved and painted with vivid scenes of Roman gods and goddesses, such as Diana shooting an arrow, winged Victory, Mars, Vulcan and of course, the wine man himself – Bacchus! Hussein pointed out the doorway to the inner temple, which is considered the highlight of the temple. Carved and decorated by multiple artists, it is almost completely as it was in 150AD, with only the half fallen keystone symbolizing the impact of nearly 1900 years of war, natural disasters and conquests.
Conservatively, I think we said “wow” about a zillion times during this tour. The opportunity to actually walk among this ancient structures, touch the stones, feel the smooth marble and stand where civilizations have stood for centuries is unforgettable. It wasn’t hard to close my eyes and visualize what must have been. Hussein led us to the museum, housed in a huge vaulted tunnel, shaped like a cross. The tunnel is thought to have been where the animals were prepared for sacrifice, as well as a place for pilgrims to await entrance to the temple. The museum has an excellent depiction of how Baalbek was built including innovative Roman building techniques used to raise the columns and move the massive stones into place. A lay-out, sketches of the completed complex and beautiful marble and alabaster statues and other artifacts bring the site to life. What an experience!
Other temples and ruins, including the Temple of Venus, are nearby, but inaccessible due to current excavations. What a paradox to see this exquisite curved temple amid a pile of fallen stones, fenced with barbed wire with the ugly modern city in the background.
Ksara Winery - Lebanon's Oldest
After buying souvenirs and cooling off in a small café, we headed for the Ksara Winery, located near the town of Zahle, south of Baalbek. Most of Lebanon’s wineries – and all of the best ones – are located in the Bekaa Valley (the Napa of Lebanon, I guess). We picked Ksara as it is the oldest and best known, and is located atop nearly 2 miles of tunnels, discovered by the Romans.
As with every driving experience with James at the wheel, we careened down the road passing cars, trucks, tractors, donkeys and ultimately, the winery!!!! A quick u-turn and with the help of bystanders, we found the roundabout (loaded with Ksara Winery signs which everyone but the driver had seen……) and in a few blocks, the winery. As we turned up the drive, we could have been at any small winery in Napa, Sonoma, or France. Beautifully landscaped grounds and green, grape laden vines led to the old stone winery building on a slight knoll. Four – count ‘em, four – wedding parties were there having photos taken in the vineyard. Have I told you about Lebanese weddings? I think so, but to add, the bridal gowns are always gorgeous, expensive, ornate, with huge skirts, trains and a zillion crystal beads. Watching all of this get dragged through the dirt and parking lot was a pit sad, but I’m sure the photos were worth it!
The winery wasn’t too busy, but there were tourists from Germany, Sweden, the US (us), England and Australia, as well as locals on our tour. Since Muslims do not drink alcohol, we weren’t surprised that we saw no Arab visitors. The tour started in the caves, where the temperature is an ideal 50-52 degrees, but very humid. Hundreds of barrels of wine rest along the tunnel floor, and individual bottles fill crevices and rooms carved into the stones by the Romans. The Jesuits, who started the winery in 1857, found the chalky soil and dry weather of this part of the Bekaa Valley to be perfect for grapes and today, the wines continue to wine numerous international awards.
Following the tour, we watched a very informative video on wine production, marveled at a number of rudimentary antique wine making devices and were taken to an ultramodern tasting room to sample an assortment of Ksara wines. I asked to taste the chardonnay as it wasn’t on the tasting menu and Carole, our guide, poured me a generous taste – it was fabulous and I bought 4 bottles. We also enjoyed and purchased the Cabernet, made in the Napa style. Sadly, with the restrictions on liquids in the cabin and the amount of handling our checked luggage will face, we decided not to bring any home, but have sure been enjoying it here.
We took the same route home, over the mountains and into Farqa, and were having our first glass of Ksara wine while watching the sunset from the Stone’s living room about an hour later -- remembering to toast Bacchus and his beautiful temple before the first sip.
A truly memorable day. Lebanon, with her beauty, diversity, history, warmth and variety, amazes me every day I am here.
Love to all,
Lari
HI Everyone,
Here’s the blog I started last week (Aug 3) and have yet to finish it. If I say we’ve been way too busy having fun, it would be a massive understatement! This past week, after the wonderful trip to Baalbek which I’m writing about below, I have been to Beirut 4 separate days; met with Sheik Walid El Khazen, a very prominent attorney, diplomat and possibly a distant family member in his office in downtown Beirut; spent a day with Hilda and her daughters at the beach, south of Beirut; shopped; spent a day with Rhada, a lovely Lebanese friend of Huda’s; and ate, drank and laughed myself silly. And that doesn’t take into consideration the week before….
We have confirmed our reservations back to reality, we’re leaving here on Thursday, Aug. 20, arriving home the 21st. James and Huda upgraded us to Business Class for the trip home, which will make for a much more relaxing flight – what a treat! We have a long layover in Dubai, but we will be chauffeured from the airport to Le Meridian Hotel to relax, have a nice dinner, then be driven back to the airport for our flight to New York. Now why can’t I live like this ALL the time? I’m afraid I have become way too used to this lovely way of life and will have a difficult time making my own bed, doing my own laundry and cooking my own meals again. Guess we’ll have to bring one of the maids home in our extra bag!
Anyway, here’s the trip to Baalbek that I started last Monday. It’s already 2:30 p.m. and I’ve been trying to finish it since 10, but would rather talk to Huda and the girls. I am resisting going into the hot tub with the ladies as I write, so please appreciate my sacrifice!
Baalbek, Bekaa Valley and Ksara Winery – August 1, 2009
Well, we’ve just had another wonderful weekend in Lebanon with James, Huda and the girls. We feel like we’ve known this lovely family for years and have been invited back in the winter when the snow covers these mountains and we can play in it with the snow sleds that James invented or in the Jeep he has converted from tires to tractor treads. He is a true Renaissance man, amazingly bright, creative and pragmatic at the same time. He owns an R&D facility in the Philippines that I am certain will ultimately develop numerous “big” ideas into successful products or systems that will make a difference in our world. Huda, as I mentioned earlier, is a wildly successful business owner, overseeing seven companies with more than 500 employees. Remarkable on any level, her success is more notable due to the patriarchal Yemeni society that doesn’t easily conform to women in powerful roles. She takes it all in stride, wondering why the rest of the business world regards her achievements with both admiration and awe. I am so impressed at how centered and comfortable she is about all of this. What a great role model for other Arab women who face major challenges to their independence and freedom of choice.
But back to my travelogue! I haven’t forgotten about our trip to Byblos, but since I can’t access the blog I wrote on it due to the computer crash, I’m going to postpone that one for now and move on. I promise to get back to it one of these blogs, as the ruins and the history they represent, our climb into one of the royal tombs and a visit to the archeologist who discovered perfect marine fossils in a quarry in the mountains is too good not to share.
Since the guys work long days on the boat from Monday-Friday, we have been trying to cram in as much sightseeing as possible on the weekends, and this past Saturday (Aug 1), we went to another ancient cultural site, Baalbek, designated a World Heritage Site for it’s remarkably well preserved temples and 5000 year history, and visited one of Lebanon’s premier wineries, Ksara….you KNOW I enjoyed that.
Baalbek
Baalbek is located to the east of Beirut, over the mountains where we are staying and in the Bekaa Valley, an area now peacefully controlled by the Hezbollah party. We encountered the usual checkpoints along the way, all staffed by friendly soldiers. The only difference between the Lebanese and Hezbollah soldiers is the color of their cammies and berets. Signposting of roads and attractions is iffy, especially if you don’t read Arabic, and my guide book admits there is no good road map of Lebanon in existence! Fortunately, our multi-lingual family takes care of the translating when signs exist. Otherwise, we stop and ask whoever looks unarmed!
The road over the mountains is narrow, serpentine and unencumbered by guardrails. The scenery is dramatic, and we quickly forgot the sheer drop-offs and washboard conditions of the roadbed. In some places, the road is wider and newly paved, then suddenly it reverts to ruts, potholes and broken edges with piles of rocks here and there which have fallen from the cliffs. We all agree that the good road is located in the favored political party’s district and the crappy road belongs to some outgoing and unpopular mayor. Not unlike the US in some ways!!!
As we dropped down into the Bekaa Valley, it reminded me of California’s Central Valley with squares of rich, dark soil, bright green produce, dark green fruit trees and golden grains. This fertile valley supplies a large portion of the fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts consumed by the Lebanese. Potatoes were being harvested as we drove by, and they appeared to be the size of footballs! Everywhere you look are produce stands along the road with piles of watermelons, red cherries, purple figs, herbs, green and red tomatoes, peaches, plums and nectarines….yum! We have been enjoying our fruits and veggies….remember what a tomato or peach tastes like when it’s just picked? Amazing what we’ve gotten used to in the US – beautiful looking produce with little or no flavor. Maybe I can cram produce in my other suitcase!
Driving through the modern city of Baalbek is both depressing and hopeful. It is mostly a poor town of rundown houses, industrial and retail shops and cafes with flats above, and empty lots, but there are also many new homes, churches, mosques, schools and hospitals, and many nice homes under construction. Hezbollah has built most of the public facilities in the past few years in an effort to bring much needed social and medical services to the valley. A new, 4-lane road is nearly completed, which has eased the horrendous traffic issues, especially this time of year, when the Baalbek Music Festival is held right among the ancient ruins.
Arriving at the ancient city, we were frantically directed to a parking area by two guys laden with tourist souvenirs, ball caps, maps, scarves and Chiclets. We were surrounded as we left the car, and of course bought a few things. (I really look hot in my Lebanon ball cap). I was reminded of the street vendors in Cuzco and Tijuana…..very persuasive! The short walk to the entrance revealed a full scale Roman religious site with the largest Roman temple in the world. Still considered the most important Roman site in the Middle East, its extravagant temples outshone those in Rome.
We secured an excellent guide at the entrance who brought the ruins to life. Originally Phoenician, a large temple was constructed here during the 1st Millennium BC, dedicated to the god, Baal. Yep, Bek means temple, so there you have the city’s name! Because it was located at the intersection of main east/west and north/south trade routes, the ancient city grew to a population of 250,000 people! Alexander the Great renamed the city Heliopolis – city of the Sun – after his conquest and in 64 BC, Emperor Pompey made it part of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar founded a large Roman settlement here (geez, everybody who was anybody wanted this place!) in 47 BC and construction of the massive religious temples began, taking more than 150 years to complete.
We entered the ruins up a monumental staircase cut from stones so huge that an entire flight of 20 steps, 16 feet wide could be carved from one stone. These were put together to form a staircase that was 600 feet long. At the top, you are standing in an outer temple which was originally roofed in cedar and floored in mosaics. All of the stone was quarried nearby, but the massive columns – the largest found in the Temple of Jupiter are 70 feet high and 7 feet in diameter – are solid granite from the Aswan Valley in Egypt. The columns were shipped from Egypt to the coast of Lebanon, then rolled miles and miles over the Lebanon mountains and into the Bekaa Valley on a track of two parallel stone walls built solely for this purpose. More than 100,000 slaves worked on the site over the years.
We continued into complex, entering the hexagonal court, its six sides surrounded by columns, with decorated niches for statues of minor gods. This was the waiting room for the Great Court, where animal sacrifices were made on a huge stone altar in the center of the open plaza. Covered by an arcade supported by 84 massive granite columns, you can see the where whole columns have toppled, almost intact, and look as if they’ve been sliced into pieces on the ground. A massive earthquake in 1759 caused many of the remaining columns and ramparts to fall, but large parts of the temples are remarkably still standing!
From there, we entered the Temple of Jupiter, the largest and most sacred religious temple in the Roman empire. Nearly 300 feet long, it is entered via another massive stone staircase. Inside the once cedar-roofed temple were 54 of the largest marble columns in the world. Six remain standing, with the connecting arch still intact. Due to the massive size of this structure and the stones used to construct it (one we saw is about 60’ x 15’ and weighs an estimated 1000 tons), it was once believed giants constructed the temple. As in many of the ancient stone structures still found on earth, there is no obvious explanation for how such massive stones were moved and positioned so precisely. No mortar was used between the stones, yet there is no space between stones, the cut being so perfect.
Our guide, Hussein, gave us time to wander these incredible structures on our own. Remarkably, there are no restrictions to where you can go or what you can touch. We climbed over fallen marble columns, posed for photos on sacrificial altars and touched the faces of ancient statues of Cleopatra, Marc Anthony and Julius Caesar. The Lebanese feel that this is their right and appear to respect the ruins, not taking pieces home with them or covering temples with graffiti. We were disappointed at how much trash seems to be around, but much of that stems from lack of funds to provide trash cans and staff, as well a population uneducated on litter courtesy!
My favorite temple is the smaller, lovely, much decorated Temple of Bacchus. Actually larger than the Parthenon, it is considered the small temple compared to the massive Temple of Jupiter. Almost completely intact, this temple shows the sophisticated carving and decoration on the walls, arcades, ceilings and entrances. Topped with a curved stone ceiling carved and painted with vivid scenes of Roman gods and goddesses, such as Diana shooting an arrow, winged Victory, Mars, Vulcan and of course, the wine man himself – Bacchus! Hussein pointed out the doorway to the inner temple, which is considered the highlight of the temple. Carved and decorated by multiple artists, it is almost completely as it was in 150AD, with only the half fallen keystone symbolizing the impact of nearly 1900 years of war, natural disasters and conquests.
Conservatively, I think we said “wow” about a zillion times during this tour. The opportunity to actually walk among this ancient structures, touch the stones, feel the smooth marble and stand where civilizations have stood for centuries is unforgettable. It wasn’t hard to close my eyes and visualize what must have been. Hussein led us to the museum, housed in a huge vaulted tunnel, shaped like a cross. The tunnel is thought to have been where the animals were prepared for sacrifice, as well as a place for pilgrims to await entrance to the temple. The museum has an excellent depiction of how Baalbek was built including innovative Roman building techniques used to raise the columns and move the massive stones into place. A lay-out, sketches of the completed complex and beautiful marble and alabaster statues and other artifacts bring the site to life. What an experience!
Other temples and ruins, including the Temple of Venus, are nearby, but inaccessible due to current excavations. What a paradox to see this exquisite curved temple amid a pile of fallen stones, fenced with barbed wire with the ugly modern city in the background.
Ksara Winery - Lebanon's Oldest
After buying souvenirs and cooling off in a small café, we headed for the Ksara Winery, located near the town of Zahle, south of Baalbek. Most of Lebanon’s wineries – and all of the best ones – are located in the Bekaa Valley (the Napa of Lebanon, I guess). We picked Ksara as it is the oldest and best known, and is located atop nearly 2 miles of tunnels, discovered by the Romans.
As with every driving experience with James at the wheel, we careened down the road passing cars, trucks, tractors, donkeys and ultimately, the winery!!!! A quick u-turn and with the help of bystanders, we found the roundabout (loaded with Ksara Winery signs which everyone but the driver had seen……) and in a few blocks, the winery. As we turned up the drive, we could have been at any small winery in Napa, Sonoma, or France. Beautifully landscaped grounds and green, grape laden vines led to the old stone winery building on a slight knoll. Four – count ‘em, four – wedding parties were there having photos taken in the vineyard. Have I told you about Lebanese weddings? I think so, but to add, the bridal gowns are always gorgeous, expensive, ornate, with huge skirts, trains and a zillion crystal beads. Watching all of this get dragged through the dirt and parking lot was a pit sad, but I’m sure the photos were worth it!
The winery wasn’t too busy, but there were tourists from Germany, Sweden, the US (us), England and Australia, as well as locals on our tour. Since Muslims do not drink alcohol, we weren’t surprised that we saw no Arab visitors. The tour started in the caves, where the temperature is an ideal 50-52 degrees, but very humid. Hundreds of barrels of wine rest along the tunnel floor, and individual bottles fill crevices and rooms carved into the stones by the Romans. The Jesuits, who started the winery in 1857, found the chalky soil and dry weather of this part of the Bekaa Valley to be perfect for grapes and today, the wines continue to wine numerous international awards.
Following the tour, we watched a very informative video on wine production, marveled at a number of rudimentary antique wine making devices and were taken to an ultramodern tasting room to sample an assortment of Ksara wines. I asked to taste the chardonnay as it wasn’t on the tasting menu and Carole, our guide, poured me a generous taste – it was fabulous and I bought 4 bottles. We also enjoyed and purchased the Cabernet, made in the Napa style. Sadly, with the restrictions on liquids in the cabin and the amount of handling our checked luggage will face, we decided not to bring any home, but have sure been enjoying it here.
We took the same route home, over the mountains and into Farqa, and were having our first glass of Ksara wine while watching the sunset from the Stone’s living room about an hour later -- remembering to toast Bacchus and his beautiful temple before the first sip.
A truly memorable day. Lebanon, with her beauty, diversity, history, warmth and variety, amazes me every day I am here.
Love to all,
Lari
Friday, July 31, 2009
Changed blog format
Hi!
I am hoping this new blog style will be easier to read and that I can actually format it with paragraphs, etc. Still not sure what I'm doing and using an unfamiliar computer makes it even more challenging (see previous blog). Hope you find this a bit better on the eyes. I noticed all my followers have disappeared and I have NO idea why, so please come back!!!!!
I am also trying to insert photos, but I downloaded them on Charlie's computer, so I'll have to do that again on James' AGH! Does anyone have any tips? I did download a stock photo as a trial, so that part I've figured out. Now I just have to find my photos. How can this machine be smarter than me....oh well, I guess that's an easy one! Can't get spellcheck to work, so forgive me if I've missed any errors.
Love to all,
Lari
Lari
Charlie's computer crash
Hi All,
I have just made the blog private - it was public which meant anyone could access it, but I am not sure now if this will affect any of you getting into it. If you can't access this one, let me know. As you can see by the title, Charlie has had a massive computer failure with no explanation. While just being plugged in, but not even on the internet, his screen started to blink and the computer started to cycle on and off in a strange way. Suddenly, it just died, and we could get no further than the message that tells you to restart in safe mode, which we couldn't do. He thinks the boot sector failed and without all the discs and software, it wouldn't do any good to try and repair it here, even if we did have a reliable computer guy. So we are all sharing James' laptop, but my frustration level is really high, as who remembers all those passwords and user IDs that are normally automatic? So I can't access business e-mail but have gotten into hotmail and enjoyed your messages.
Re the blog, I had spent about 3 hours writing 2 blogs about our trip to Byblos, one of the world's oldest continually occupied cities, on Word. I saved it to send once I had internet access (we share that too and Huda was using the modem), but now it is gone as I can't get into Charlie's documents. Oh well, I'll try and rewrite it today or tomorrow.
Last night, I met a man named Anwar Reyes from Pennsylvania. He's in Beirut taking care of his 92 year old father. Anwar is an extremely talented piano player and singer who is performing in one of Lebanon's nicest restaurants. Hugo (remember, he's Frances' husband, she's the British Ambassador here) accompanies Anwar on guitar a few nights a week and invited us to come down last night, which we did and had a really nice evening and another fabulous dinner, this time French. Anyway, Reyes was my grandfather's surname and it is very likely that Anwar and I are distant cousins.....imagine! He said the Reyes family is a large Lebanese family, so I may end up finding some connection to both of my grandparents while here. Wow! Anwar and I will talk again soon and I hope to get more informaiton on his branch of the US Reyes family and maybe do some backtracking from that angle. Now what are the chances I would meet Anwar? Amazing. I do believe I am here to find my family ties!
Still not sure what day we will return as we are waiting for Emirates to confirm flights, so stay tuned.
The boat project is going really well, and the extra two weeks should get the boat almost completely wired, down to the outlets and lighting. Charlie is really enjoying working with James and vice versa, making for a really smooth process.
I hope to get the Byblos blog done soon. Tomorrow, we are off to Baalbek, another ancient city and a World Heritage site. The girls and I went to the Lebanese National Museum yesterday, which contains many beautiful artifacts from Byblos, Baalbek, Beirut, Tyre and other Lebanese sites. The oldest are about 2 million years old and nearly every major civilization since the Stone Age is represented. I loved it, the girls were ready to go to the mall after about 20 minutes - ah youth!
Love to all,
Lari
I have just made the blog private - it was public which meant anyone could access it, but I am not sure now if this will affect any of you getting into it. If you can't access this one, let me know. As you can see by the title, Charlie has had a massive computer failure with no explanation. While just being plugged in, but not even on the internet, his screen started to blink and the computer started to cycle on and off in a strange way. Suddenly, it just died, and we could get no further than the message that tells you to restart in safe mode, which we couldn't do. He thinks the boot sector failed and without all the discs and software, it wouldn't do any good to try and repair it here, even if we did have a reliable computer guy. So we are all sharing James' laptop, but my frustration level is really high, as who remembers all those passwords and user IDs that are normally automatic? So I can't access business e-mail but have gotten into hotmail and enjoyed your messages.
Re the blog, I had spent about 3 hours writing 2 blogs about our trip to Byblos, one of the world's oldest continually occupied cities, on Word. I saved it to send once I had internet access (we share that too and Huda was using the modem), but now it is gone as I can't get into Charlie's documents. Oh well, I'll try and rewrite it today or tomorrow.
Last night, I met a man named Anwar Reyes from Pennsylvania. He's in Beirut taking care of his 92 year old father. Anwar is an extremely talented piano player and singer who is performing in one of Lebanon's nicest restaurants. Hugo (remember, he's Frances' husband, she's the British Ambassador here) accompanies Anwar on guitar a few nights a week and invited us to come down last night, which we did and had a really nice evening and another fabulous dinner, this time French. Anyway, Reyes was my grandfather's surname and it is very likely that Anwar and I are distant cousins.....imagine! He said the Reyes family is a large Lebanese family, so I may end up finding some connection to both of my grandparents while here. Wow! Anwar and I will talk again soon and I hope to get more informaiton on his branch of the US Reyes family and maybe do some backtracking from that angle. Now what are the chances I would meet Anwar? Amazing. I do believe I am here to find my family ties!
Still not sure what day we will return as we are waiting for Emirates to confirm flights, so stay tuned.
The boat project is going really well, and the extra two weeks should get the boat almost completely wired, down to the outlets and lighting. Charlie is really enjoying working with James and vice versa, making for a really smooth process.
I hope to get the Byblos blog done soon. Tomorrow, we are off to Baalbek, another ancient city and a World Heritage site. The girls and I went to the Lebanese National Museum yesterday, which contains many beautiful artifacts from Byblos, Baalbek, Beirut, Tyre and other Lebanese sites. The oldest are about 2 million years old and nearly every major civilization since the Stone Age is represented. I loved it, the girls were ready to go to the mall after about 20 minutes - ah youth!
Love to all,
Lari
Monday, July 27, 2009
Weekends in Lebanon
Hi All,
Sorry it’s been a few days between blogs but the weekends here get very busy. Socializing in this part of the world is a necessity, like food and shelter. Lebanese love to party and are rarely on time…..two traits of mine that I now realize are just part of my DNA!!!!! And weekends are for enjoying friends, going out, staying up really late (we’re not doing too much of that one) and looking good.
I have learned from the local Lebanese friends we’ve made that the Lebanese are all about appearances. They spend a fortune on designer clothes, big, expensive jewelry, large houses, hot cars (more Porsches, Rovers, Bentleys, Ferraris and Mercedes here than even Southern CA!) and big parties – even if they don’t have a cent! The women, who are truly beautiful naturally, wear tight, low cut outfits with high, high heels – even to the supermarket - no matter what their age, shape or weight. Wristwatches are about the size of Big Ben. Big hair, big lips, big boobs – often enhanced artificially – are the norm. Lebanon has more plastic surgeons than any other country and is proud of its reputation as THE place to get “work” done. (Say, maybe this is my golden opportunity; right now I think I am the only woman in Lebanon without Grand Canyon cleavage!!!)
Restaurants are the size of a football field, room after room of tables, serving hundreds of diners at a time. Dinner is late – often starting at 10 p.m. and going for hours. Kids are part of the festivities and they just fall asleep at the table when they get tired.
Weddings are the best parties, starting with a huge church ceremony which is followed by a long car procession to the reception. The bride and groom ride in a decorated car and the bride usually stands up through the sunroof and waves at the onlookers along the way. The reception will last all night, literally, with food, drinks, Arabic music and dancing until well past sunrise. There are always fireworks, the big ones like we see at 4th of July, usually twice or 3 times during the evening. Everyone dresses to the nines – black tie for men, sequined gowns, stiletto heels, flashy jewelry and of course, the 3 Bigs for the women. We can see and hear a popular restaurant from our bedroom and the music was still playing at 8:30 a.m.
This past weekend we had a special treat, meeting a terrific Lebanese family, the Mardellis, and their friends for lunch at their flat in the hills overlooking Beirut. In another wonderful small world story, when a friend of mine from our condo complex in St. Pete, Judy Johnson, heard I was going to Lebanon, she told me about two teenagers from Lebanon, Hilda and Joe, who lived with her family in CT for several years while they were in college. They had escaped Lebanon during the civil war, but the ship they were on was bombed near Cyprus. They finally made it to the US after about 4 months, and lived with an uncle in CT for awhile. When that situation changed, Judy and her husband took them in and they were able to finish college. Hilda met and married her husband Adel in the US. He was at MIT and is now a Civil Engineer for a large multinational company in Lebanon. She is also an Engineer, and they have three adorable daughters.
Judy gave me Hilda’s e-mail before we left the States and we communicated and made plans to get together here. So, long story, long, we went to lunch Saturday at their lovely flat which overlooks Beirut and the Mediterranean. Lunch was in the garden and Adel’s uncle and his wife and 2 kids were visiting from Montreal, Canada and Adel’s best friend and his wife were visiting from Saudi Arabia so it was quite a party. We had another wonderful Lebanese feast with many of the foods I’ve described earlier, hummos, fresh, crisp salata (salad with olive oil and lemon dressing), kafta kebabs, warm pita, olives, nuts, yummy grilled beef and chicken shish kabobs, and fatayeh – which are small dough pockets filled with spinach or meat or cheese. Each filling has a different shape. My mom used to make these and memories of her rolling the dough and shaping the individual pies came flooding back at first taste.
Thick, dark Lebanese coffee, served in espresso sized cups, followed. Unlike Turkish coffee, you add your own sugar, but never milk or cream. I am beginning to realize how the Lebanese can stay up so late, it’s the caffeine! Then dessert! We had stopped at a wonderful Lebanese bakery on the way and bought a rich strawberry torte and a huge pot of Lebanese ice cream.
I have to tell you about this ice cream. I tasted it the other night when Walid and Shiron (remember them from the cherry orchard?) came by the Stone’s one evening last week and stayed for dinner. Walid had brought this light brown clay pot filled with a creamy white substance topped with a few pistachios. (I thought he had made it himself, but no, that’s the way you buy it, pot and all). In it was ice cream that is truly the creamiest, most delicious I have ever had. It is a thick cream base, flavored with a little rose water and a type of tree sap called mestique (sp????), which is used like a sugar in the ice cream. At first bite, I remembered that flavor from my early, early childhood and haven’t had it since. What a wonderful discovery. I can buy the mestique here to bring home!
Anyway, back to the Mardelli’s. Charlie and I brought a big pot of this ice cream, and Hilda had made a chocolate cake, a yummy blueberry cheesecake tart and someone else brought a huge ice cream cake…..so the table looked like a pastry case had exploded on it! Well, we did some damage, but nothing like the 7 kids did. No wonder they have so much energy…..
After the ritually stuffing was completed (Charlie says it’s a Lebanese tradition to measure you for a funnel when you arrive in the country, insert it in your mouth and continue to fill it with delicious food the entire time you are here…..I agree), we sat around the garden and talked for a few more hours. It was again fascinating to hear about life in Lebanon, but also in Saudi Arabia for a young American couple of Lebanese birth.
Here’s the big news. I may have a family/ancestral connection through Adel’s business partner. He is an Alkhazin and his family has records and documents tracing the family’s lineage. As I mentioned, the family is still very prominent here and is one of the oldest and wealthiest families, at one time owning much of central and northern Lebanon. I was teased about being a possible Sheika (female Sheik) and owner of half of the country. If I’d known all of this, I’d have been here years ago!!!!! Of course, I made everyone bow and scrape to the Sheika – yeah, like that happened! Anyway, I spoke with his partner on the phone and we’re going to get together this week! Keep those fingers crossed!
Judy, thank you, thank you, thank you for hooking us up with Hilda and Joe.
As the sun was setting, Huda, James, Charlie and I piled all 7 kids into the SUV and headed to the mall to see the new Harry Potter movie. Movies are universal and all the first run movies from the US open here about a week later and have both Arabic and French subtitles. It was almost surreal sitting in a movie theater in Beirut watching Harry, Hermione and Ron prepare to fight Voldemort. Makes me appreciate how small the world really is.
After dropping off the kids that weren’t coming home with us, we headed up the mountain. Traffic was worse than ever as this is the real start of the tourist season here. August is the busiest month for tourists and about 5 million tourists are expected this season. When you consider the population of the entire country is only 4 million, that’s mind boggling. Most tourists come from the Arab countries or are Lebanese who live elsewhere and return for vacation. This year, Ramadan begins in late August, so most Muslim visitors will stay until then.
Sunday, the British Ambassador to Lebanon and her husband, Hugo, a French documentary film maker came up for lunch. They have been close friends of Huda and James since Frances was Ambassador to Yemen several years ago. They have two children, James and Nina. Nina and Nadine and Dina are great friends and Nina had been staying here or the girls had gone to her house every night last week. James and his friend, Kevin, came along and the kids spent the day doing whatever teenagers do everywhere – hanging out.
Later, the Stone’s Lebanese partner, George and his family stopped by and we all spent a lovely afternoon in the garden. Hugo plays guitar and had his 12-string with him so we had our own private entertainer! Frances is a marathon runner as well as a diplomat and has had postings all over the Middle East in her career with the British Foreign Service. Man, am I feeling dull! Although everyone seems to be really interested in who we are and what we’ve done, especially our cruising adventure. Later, we zoomed down the mountain to see the Moscow Circus at the Casino du Liban and traffic Sunday was worse than Saturday. I have a feeling this will be a growing trend.
Looks like we’ll be staying another 2 weeks; returning home sometime during the week of August 17-21. We’re trying to change tickets now, but the internet is not available so it’s been challenging. I might be asking some of you to make a couple of phone calls for me to cancel some appointments if I can’t get online in the next day or two.
We’re well except for the constant ear issue with going from sea level to 6000 feet in 45 minutes twice a day or more. My body is never sure where it is, frankly. But after the face lift, tummy tuck and silicon injections, it won’t be my body anyway!!!!
Love to all,
Lari
Sorry it’s been a few days between blogs but the weekends here get very busy. Socializing in this part of the world is a necessity, like food and shelter. Lebanese love to party and are rarely on time…..two traits of mine that I now realize are just part of my DNA!!!!! And weekends are for enjoying friends, going out, staying up really late (we’re not doing too much of that one) and looking good.
I have learned from the local Lebanese friends we’ve made that the Lebanese are all about appearances. They spend a fortune on designer clothes, big, expensive jewelry, large houses, hot cars (more Porsches, Rovers, Bentleys, Ferraris and Mercedes here than even Southern CA!) and big parties – even if they don’t have a cent! The women, who are truly beautiful naturally, wear tight, low cut outfits with high, high heels – even to the supermarket - no matter what their age, shape or weight. Wristwatches are about the size of Big Ben. Big hair, big lips, big boobs – often enhanced artificially – are the norm. Lebanon has more plastic surgeons than any other country and is proud of its reputation as THE place to get “work” done. (Say, maybe this is my golden opportunity; right now I think I am the only woman in Lebanon without Grand Canyon cleavage!!!)
Restaurants are the size of a football field, room after room of tables, serving hundreds of diners at a time. Dinner is late – often starting at 10 p.m. and going for hours. Kids are part of the festivities and they just fall asleep at the table when they get tired.
Weddings are the best parties, starting with a huge church ceremony which is followed by a long car procession to the reception. The bride and groom ride in a decorated car and the bride usually stands up through the sunroof and waves at the onlookers along the way. The reception will last all night, literally, with food, drinks, Arabic music and dancing until well past sunrise. There are always fireworks, the big ones like we see at 4th of July, usually twice or 3 times during the evening. Everyone dresses to the nines – black tie for men, sequined gowns, stiletto heels, flashy jewelry and of course, the 3 Bigs for the women. We can see and hear a popular restaurant from our bedroom and the music was still playing at 8:30 a.m.
This past weekend we had a special treat, meeting a terrific Lebanese family, the Mardellis, and their friends for lunch at their flat in the hills overlooking Beirut. In another wonderful small world story, when a friend of mine from our condo complex in St. Pete, Judy Johnson, heard I was going to Lebanon, she told me about two teenagers from Lebanon, Hilda and Joe, who lived with her family in CT for several years while they were in college. They had escaped Lebanon during the civil war, but the ship they were on was bombed near Cyprus. They finally made it to the US after about 4 months, and lived with an uncle in CT for awhile. When that situation changed, Judy and her husband took them in and they were able to finish college. Hilda met and married her husband Adel in the US. He was at MIT and is now a Civil Engineer for a large multinational company in Lebanon. She is also an Engineer, and they have three adorable daughters.
Judy gave me Hilda’s e-mail before we left the States and we communicated and made plans to get together here. So, long story, long, we went to lunch Saturday at their lovely flat which overlooks Beirut and the Mediterranean. Lunch was in the garden and Adel’s uncle and his wife and 2 kids were visiting from Montreal, Canada and Adel’s best friend and his wife were visiting from Saudi Arabia so it was quite a party. We had another wonderful Lebanese feast with many of the foods I’ve described earlier, hummos, fresh, crisp salata (salad with olive oil and lemon dressing), kafta kebabs, warm pita, olives, nuts, yummy grilled beef and chicken shish kabobs, and fatayeh – which are small dough pockets filled with spinach or meat or cheese. Each filling has a different shape. My mom used to make these and memories of her rolling the dough and shaping the individual pies came flooding back at first taste.
Thick, dark Lebanese coffee, served in espresso sized cups, followed. Unlike Turkish coffee, you add your own sugar, but never milk or cream. I am beginning to realize how the Lebanese can stay up so late, it’s the caffeine! Then dessert! We had stopped at a wonderful Lebanese bakery on the way and bought a rich strawberry torte and a huge pot of Lebanese ice cream.
I have to tell you about this ice cream. I tasted it the other night when Walid and Shiron (remember them from the cherry orchard?) came by the Stone’s one evening last week and stayed for dinner. Walid had brought this light brown clay pot filled with a creamy white substance topped with a few pistachios. (I thought he had made it himself, but no, that’s the way you buy it, pot and all). In it was ice cream that is truly the creamiest, most delicious I have ever had. It is a thick cream base, flavored with a little rose water and a type of tree sap called mestique (sp????), which is used like a sugar in the ice cream. At first bite, I remembered that flavor from my early, early childhood and haven’t had it since. What a wonderful discovery. I can buy the mestique here to bring home!
Anyway, back to the Mardelli’s. Charlie and I brought a big pot of this ice cream, and Hilda had made a chocolate cake, a yummy blueberry cheesecake tart and someone else brought a huge ice cream cake…..so the table looked like a pastry case had exploded on it! Well, we did some damage, but nothing like the 7 kids did. No wonder they have so much energy…..
After the ritually stuffing was completed (Charlie says it’s a Lebanese tradition to measure you for a funnel when you arrive in the country, insert it in your mouth and continue to fill it with delicious food the entire time you are here…..I agree), we sat around the garden and talked for a few more hours. It was again fascinating to hear about life in Lebanon, but also in Saudi Arabia for a young American couple of Lebanese birth.
Here’s the big news. I may have a family/ancestral connection through Adel’s business partner. He is an Alkhazin and his family has records and documents tracing the family’s lineage. As I mentioned, the family is still very prominent here and is one of the oldest and wealthiest families, at one time owning much of central and northern Lebanon. I was teased about being a possible Sheika (female Sheik) and owner of half of the country. If I’d known all of this, I’d have been here years ago!!!!! Of course, I made everyone bow and scrape to the Sheika – yeah, like that happened! Anyway, I spoke with his partner on the phone and we’re going to get together this week! Keep those fingers crossed!
Judy, thank you, thank you, thank you for hooking us up with Hilda and Joe.
As the sun was setting, Huda, James, Charlie and I piled all 7 kids into the SUV and headed to the mall to see the new Harry Potter movie. Movies are universal and all the first run movies from the US open here about a week later and have both Arabic and French subtitles. It was almost surreal sitting in a movie theater in Beirut watching Harry, Hermione and Ron prepare to fight Voldemort. Makes me appreciate how small the world really is.
After dropping off the kids that weren’t coming home with us, we headed up the mountain. Traffic was worse than ever as this is the real start of the tourist season here. August is the busiest month for tourists and about 5 million tourists are expected this season. When you consider the population of the entire country is only 4 million, that’s mind boggling. Most tourists come from the Arab countries or are Lebanese who live elsewhere and return for vacation. This year, Ramadan begins in late August, so most Muslim visitors will stay until then.
Sunday, the British Ambassador to Lebanon and her husband, Hugo, a French documentary film maker came up for lunch. They have been close friends of Huda and James since Frances was Ambassador to Yemen several years ago. They have two children, James and Nina. Nina and Nadine and Dina are great friends and Nina had been staying here or the girls had gone to her house every night last week. James and his friend, Kevin, came along and the kids spent the day doing whatever teenagers do everywhere – hanging out.
Later, the Stone’s Lebanese partner, George and his family stopped by and we all spent a lovely afternoon in the garden. Hugo plays guitar and had his 12-string with him so we had our own private entertainer! Frances is a marathon runner as well as a diplomat and has had postings all over the Middle East in her career with the British Foreign Service. Man, am I feeling dull! Although everyone seems to be really interested in who we are and what we’ve done, especially our cruising adventure. Later, we zoomed down the mountain to see the Moscow Circus at the Casino du Liban and traffic Sunday was worse than Saturday. I have a feeling this will be a growing trend.
Looks like we’ll be staying another 2 weeks; returning home sometime during the week of August 17-21. We’re trying to change tickets now, but the internet is not available so it’s been challenging. I might be asking some of you to make a couple of phone calls for me to cancel some appointments if I can’t get online in the next day or two.
We’re well except for the constant ear issue with going from sea level to 6000 feet in 45 minutes twice a day or more. My body is never sure where it is, frankly. But after the face lift, tummy tuck and silicon injections, it won’t be my body anyway!!!!
Love to all,
Lari
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Meeting Walid, eating cherries and saj
Hi All,
To continue our journey through the mountains, and in search of the illusive remaining Cedars of Lebanon. There is a large, old growth cedar grove that is a national preserve around here somewhere, but we seem to turn the opposite way at each intersection so we have yet to find this forest. Apparently, these trees are huge, like redwoods, and were used by the Phoenicians for ships, and exported throughout the known world until deforestation occurred. But more on that when we finally get to the Chouf Cedar Preserve some other day.
Our next village was Lalouk, another ski area in winter and small, somewhat ordinary town the rest of the year, known mostly for its cherry orchards. We were pretty sure we had completely missed the Cedars, so we decided to head toward the coast and stop along the way for a late lunch. The roads in this area are mostly paved, two lanes wide, no markings, few directional signs and those that exist are in Arabic, and somewhat bumpy. Having no map (!!!!), we weren’t exactly sure which road to take as we approached a four way crossroads, which suddenly had two cars approaching from the opposite direction at some speed. One, a PT Cruiser convertible, top down and jammed with 4 adults and 4 kids, stopped and the driver asked James in English if we were Americans. He said, “Yes, some of us are,” at which point we were invited to follow the driver and the car behind him to his house nearby, as his grandmother’s cherry trees were bursting with sweet fruit and he wished to share it with us. Of course we didn’t hesitate to follow this total stranger we just met at a rural intersection up ever narrowing and serpentine roads to his house…..motivated in no small way because he assured us he had a much needed bathroom we could use!
He said the house was 5 minutes away – Lebanese time, naturally – so about 15 minutes later we arrived at a modest house on a hilltop, surrounded by cherry trees. After introducing ourselves, our host is Walid Almaazi, and partaking of his most generous bathroom offer, we climbed a small hill to the orchard and started picking incredibly sweet cherries from the trees, eating until we couldn’t move. Charlie even engaged the girls in a seed spitting contest, wanting to share an important piece of American culture with the group.
The home belongs to Walid’s family, who has been there for generations. He is currently opening franchises of Foot Solutions shoe stores around the Middle East and planning the first Lebanon store launch in Beirut. His wife, Shiron, is Palestinian, and they have only been married since March. She is a business consultant in Dubai. The rest of the PT Cruiser occupants are friends and family, returning from a swim in the Mediterranean. The other car’s occupants are a famous Lebanese singer and her husband, who also were stopped by Walid on the road and invited to the orchard. They only stayed a short time and we didn’t remember their names, unfortunately.
I was able to talk with Walid about my Lebanese ancestry and he told me the Al Khazin family is a large, prominent, well-connected Lebanese family with a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament. “They are like the Kennedy’s in the US,” he said. Whoa! How do I find these people? He promised to ask his uncle, a retired Lebanese Army general who is an ancestry buff if he could assist.
After an hour or so of chatting, eating a ton of cherries, spitting seeds, politely declining coffee and asking for a restaurant recommendation, we followed Walid to a small roadside stand that contained a tiny grocery – maybe 4-5 shelves and a fridge –and a saj maker. Okay, time for another delicious treat I remember from my childhood, but have never eaten freshly made. Saj or manaqeesh is a handmade crepe-like treat filled with jibneh (a mild white soft cheese) or zaatah (a Lebanese spice made with oregano, sumac and a few mystery ingredients) in olive oil.
The proprietor, a friend of Walid’s, and I was beginning to wonder who wasn’t a friend of this gregarious guy, makes the saj in the traditional way. She takes the dough and forms it into balls, the size of a tennis ball. Then, with cigarette hanging from her lips, she works the dough in her hands until it is a flat circle about the size of a large dinner plate. She takes a round pillow, the size of the dough, and places the dough on the pillow, then slaps it, in one quick stroke, onto a domed cooker which is a charcoal brazier with a domed lid. As the dough quickly cooks, she starts the next saj, then returns to the hot dome and spreads your choice of filling onto the browning dough. I had half jibneh, half zaatah. She carefully removed the saj, rolled it with waxed paper and passes it to you. OMG, it was sooooo good!
We dragged plastic tables and chairs across the road to catch the sun, plates of fresh tomatoes, cucumber and mint appeared and we sat, ate, talked and watched the assortment of vehicles roll by – soldiers, more friends of Walid, weathered farmers on tractors and a guy in a car/wreck with no windshield, one door, and a rust exterior – I have photos.
After our lunch respite (about 4 p.m.), we followed Walid down the mountains toward the coast. Good thing, too, as it was circuitous route, with lots of forks, turns and crossroads. We all agreed we would have taken several wrong roads if left on our own. We passed through several small, picturesque villages, but since Walid apparently went to the same nascar-style driving course as James, we only saw blurry images whiz by the car windows. We reached the coast near Byblos in time for rush hour, and worked our way home through the stroke-inducing traffic. As a treat for making it almost up the mountain without need of an ambulance, we stopped for gelato to top off our amazing day.
Can you imagine anything remotely like this happening in the US? I feel a bit like we are cruisers again – the same friendly, open people welcoming us into their lives, even for just a few hours as we pass through.
Can’t thank you all enough for the great feedback. I did see almost all of your comments finally showing up on the blog, so keep them us, but send me e-mails too! Looks like we might be staying another week as the boat projects keep multiplying and I keep encouraging Charlie to work as slowly as possible!
Love to all,
Lari
To continue our journey through the mountains, and in search of the illusive remaining Cedars of Lebanon. There is a large, old growth cedar grove that is a national preserve around here somewhere, but we seem to turn the opposite way at each intersection so we have yet to find this forest. Apparently, these trees are huge, like redwoods, and were used by the Phoenicians for ships, and exported throughout the known world until deforestation occurred. But more on that when we finally get to the Chouf Cedar Preserve some other day.
Our next village was Lalouk, another ski area in winter and small, somewhat ordinary town the rest of the year, known mostly for its cherry orchards. We were pretty sure we had completely missed the Cedars, so we decided to head toward the coast and stop along the way for a late lunch. The roads in this area are mostly paved, two lanes wide, no markings, few directional signs and those that exist are in Arabic, and somewhat bumpy. Having no map (!!!!), we weren’t exactly sure which road to take as we approached a four way crossroads, which suddenly had two cars approaching from the opposite direction at some speed. One, a PT Cruiser convertible, top down and jammed with 4 adults and 4 kids, stopped and the driver asked James in English if we were Americans. He said, “Yes, some of us are,” at which point we were invited to follow the driver and the car behind him to his house nearby, as his grandmother’s cherry trees were bursting with sweet fruit and he wished to share it with us. Of course we didn’t hesitate to follow this total stranger we just met at a rural intersection up ever narrowing and serpentine roads to his house…..motivated in no small way because he assured us he had a much needed bathroom we could use!
He said the house was 5 minutes away – Lebanese time, naturally – so about 15 minutes later we arrived at a modest house on a hilltop, surrounded by cherry trees. After introducing ourselves, our host is Walid Almaazi, and partaking of his most generous bathroom offer, we climbed a small hill to the orchard and started picking incredibly sweet cherries from the trees, eating until we couldn’t move. Charlie even engaged the girls in a seed spitting contest, wanting to share an important piece of American culture with the group.
The home belongs to Walid’s family, who has been there for generations. He is currently opening franchises of Foot Solutions shoe stores around the Middle East and planning the first Lebanon store launch in Beirut. His wife, Shiron, is Palestinian, and they have only been married since March. She is a business consultant in Dubai. The rest of the PT Cruiser occupants are friends and family, returning from a swim in the Mediterranean. The other car’s occupants are a famous Lebanese singer and her husband, who also were stopped by Walid on the road and invited to the orchard. They only stayed a short time and we didn’t remember their names, unfortunately.
I was able to talk with Walid about my Lebanese ancestry and he told me the Al Khazin family is a large, prominent, well-connected Lebanese family with a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament. “They are like the Kennedy’s in the US,” he said. Whoa! How do I find these people? He promised to ask his uncle, a retired Lebanese Army general who is an ancestry buff if he could assist.
After an hour or so of chatting, eating a ton of cherries, spitting seeds, politely declining coffee and asking for a restaurant recommendation, we followed Walid to a small roadside stand that contained a tiny grocery – maybe 4-5 shelves and a fridge –and a saj maker. Okay, time for another delicious treat I remember from my childhood, but have never eaten freshly made. Saj or manaqeesh is a handmade crepe-like treat filled with jibneh (a mild white soft cheese) or zaatah (a Lebanese spice made with oregano, sumac and a few mystery ingredients) in olive oil.
The proprietor, a friend of Walid’s, and I was beginning to wonder who wasn’t a friend of this gregarious guy, makes the saj in the traditional way. She takes the dough and forms it into balls, the size of a tennis ball. Then, with cigarette hanging from her lips, she works the dough in her hands until it is a flat circle about the size of a large dinner plate. She takes a round pillow, the size of the dough, and places the dough on the pillow, then slaps it, in one quick stroke, onto a domed cooker which is a charcoal brazier with a domed lid. As the dough quickly cooks, she starts the next saj, then returns to the hot dome and spreads your choice of filling onto the browning dough. I had half jibneh, half zaatah. She carefully removed the saj, rolled it with waxed paper and passes it to you. OMG, it was sooooo good!
We dragged plastic tables and chairs across the road to catch the sun, plates of fresh tomatoes, cucumber and mint appeared and we sat, ate, talked and watched the assortment of vehicles roll by – soldiers, more friends of Walid, weathered farmers on tractors and a guy in a car/wreck with no windshield, one door, and a rust exterior – I have photos.
After our lunch respite (about 4 p.m.), we followed Walid down the mountains toward the coast. Good thing, too, as it was circuitous route, with lots of forks, turns and crossroads. We all agreed we would have taken several wrong roads if left on our own. We passed through several small, picturesque villages, but since Walid apparently went to the same nascar-style driving course as James, we only saw blurry images whiz by the car windows. We reached the coast near Byblos in time for rush hour, and worked our way home through the stroke-inducing traffic. As a treat for making it almost up the mountain without need of an ambulance, we stopped for gelato to top off our amazing day.
Can you imagine anything remotely like this happening in the US? I feel a bit like we are cruisers again – the same friendly, open people welcoming us into their lives, even for just a few hours as we pass through.
Can’t thank you all enough for the great feedback. I did see almost all of your comments finally showing up on the blog, so keep them us, but send me e-mails too! Looks like we might be staying another week as the boat projects keep multiplying and I keep encouraging Charlie to work as slowly as possible!
Love to all,
Lari
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Over the Mountains and Through the Woods
Hi Everyone,
We’re about to leave for
Last week we took a wonderful drive over the mountains toward the
We piled in the car and headed to the resort area to look around; stopping at this amazing natural stone bridge that you would swear was man-made it is so perfect and passing ancient Greek temple ruins – which we can see from the chalet! There, among these serrated, razor-thin rock formations stand six Corinthian columns fronting stone temple walls. Dedicated to Adonis, the temple is fronted by a large rectangular court cut from the natural rock, flanked by two altars. A smaller temple is nearby, along with rock-cut tombs and a stone tower rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Claudius in 43AD. All of this sits next to the road, surrounded by a chain link fence, but with an open gate and no guard. You can wander the ruins at will. Unfortunately, many of the ruins throughout
I am totally overwhelmed with the beauty and history of this country and a bit sad that I have known so little about my ancestral roots for most of my life. For those of you who still have parents and grandparents….get them to tell you this stuff! I have found out that my grandmother’s family is a large and well-known Lebanese family. Currently, there is an Al Khazin (Americanized to Alkazin) in the Lebanese Parliament and another is a Minister in the Cabinet. (Hey, way better than being scofflaws or pita peddlers). I am trying to get more details and possibly make a contact. Also found out the family is from very near here, so that should help me pinpoint my search. Gosh, it would be so amazing to find a relative here!
So, we continued on our journey through the mountains. After leaving the developed area of ski resorts, the mountains became bleak, rocky and seemingly barren. Suddenly, from nowhere, a Bedouin shepherd appeared with his herd of black and white sheep and a scruffy sheepdog that was definitely in charge of the whole mob. They slowly crossed the road, sheep wandering here and there until the dog gave them “the look” and they continued up the other hillside. The shepherd, in traditional Bedouin robes, could have come from a thousand years before. The nomad Bedouins pitch tents in these barren mountain highlands during the warmer months while their herds graze on scrub and meager vegetation. The only signs of modernism are an occasional tractor and water tank that we reckoned they moved with them using the tractor. Not sure where they find water or fuel or food, but we saw laundry hanging and an older woman washing clothes in a large bucket. (Yes, I have photos – and no, I still haven’t learned how to load them).
There were a few armed Lebanese check points along the road as we neared the
Instead we headed further into the mountains and down into the
Almost around the next curve, we spotted a cross high atop a thin, jagged peak. A small building appeared, then a series of steep steps, which snaked up the side of the cliff. We discovered this was the famous Mar Butros (St Peter) church above the
In my next blog, our encounter with Walid and his family at a rural intersection and how it turned into a wonderful afternoon in his cherry orchard and my first taste of Saaj. And have I described Jallab yet? It’s a delicious cold drink of date syrup and rose water, filled with almonds, pistachios and pine nuts, which you eat with a spoon when you’ve finished the drink. Yum!!!!!
Sorry some of you are having trouble sending comments, but just send them to my email and I’ll get them that way. I love hearing from you!
Love to all,
Lari
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