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!!!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
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
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Food!
How to begin describing the fabulous Lebanese - and Yemen - food I've stuffed myself with since arriving. Not being committed to working during the day like Charlie, I can spend all day with Huda and the girls shopping, sightseeing and, of course, eating! It was my great fortune to grow up with a Lebanese mother who loved to cook the same Lebanese dishes for me that she grew up eating. So I was eating hommus, tabbouleh, kibbi, stuffed grape leaves, pita (we call it Syrian bread), baklava and all of the wonderful Middle Eastern dishes long before they became popular and available in the US. Having that as my "baseline" so to speak, my quest here is to see if anyone can top my Mom's cooking.
When you eat Lebanese style, you usually have Mezze, which means lots of small dishes of food (sort of like tapas). I'll describe last night's dinner, but first the day. Huda, James, Charlie and I had a great day, which started with a traditional Yemen breakfast of Foul - a dish of foul beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic and Yemeni spices, slightly mashed and served hot, with scambled eggs, pita bread and always a huge plate of fresh veggies, followed by fresh fruit.
After that gut busting beginning, we visited Jeita Grotto, one of the new seven wonders of the world - it is a mammoth cave filled with the most amazing stalagtites, stalagmites, columns, underground river, pools, and exotic formations, some that sparkle, some look like marble, others alabaster. It is beautifully lit to showcase the beauty of nature and a concrete path/bridge takes you far into the cave. Sadly, no photos are allowed and Charlie saw one man get kicked out because he tried to take a photo. You reach the mouth of the upper cave by cable car. After your walking tour there, you take a short train ride to the lower cave and take a very short boat ride in the underground river. We expected our boat driver to provide a little info, but he just held on to the tiller in silence. Luckily Huda and James have been about a zillion times and were great tour guides!
After we left the grotto, we stopped at a fresh produce stand where Huda felt it was her duty to empty the stall and transfer everything into the back of the SUV. I took photos! I must tell you the fruit and veggies are the best I have ever had - crisp, flavorful, perfectly rippened - say, did you know tomatoes have flavor???? Fresh figs, cherries, melons, apricots, peaches.....sigh.
I learned how to open and eat a fresh almond. From the tree they are green and the size of an apricot. You bite the outside, which is a little fuzzy and slightly soft, to crack it, then open it with your hands, remove the outer skin, inner skin and voila! you have a sweet, blazing white almond. I may never eat another roasted one....but then, the nuts here are amazing too - varieties and preparations I have never seen anywhere. (Yes, I have been on the scale, and no, the news is not good!)
Okay, after the produce was loaded by forklift into the car, we were off to an early dinner/late lunch back up the mountain. Here's what we had - some words may ot be familiar so I'll try to describe. Hommus, baba ghannough (roasted eggplant hummos), lebne (a thick yogurt/cheese - tart and smooth), raw and cooked kibbi (lamb with bulghur and spices), tabbouleh (parsley/mint/tomato/scallion salad with lemon and olive oil), fattoush (green salad with toasted pita), kibabs (variety of meats, ground and formed into long rolls) with roasted whole onions and tomatoes, a huge plate of fresh veggies with a huge whole tomato, half head of cabbage (so sweet it tasted like it was soaked in sugar), half head of romaine, thin, crisp cucumbers, yellow, red and green peppers, green onions, and a huge bunch of mint. Maybe that was it, but I'm sure I've forgotten something. The table was loaded!!!! So were we. James and I smoked shisha first, which is the tradition. Shisha is flavored tobacco (ours was apple) in a water pipe - better to look it up than have me try to describe it - but you each get a mouthpiece, then share the shisha pipe, passing it back and forth. When you inhale, the water bubbles in the bottom of the device. You and the tobacco never meet, it stays at the top on this tall device witha few pieces of charcoal to heat it. The "shisha guy" comes by to tend the charcoal and replenish tobacco if needed.
So after we rolled out of the restaurant, we came home to change for our big evening out. We had tickets to Dance Fever, a wonderful stage show with dancers, a variety of entertainers and a Cirque du Soliel strong man duo. Best of all, the show was at Casino di Liban, a glitzy complex with gambling, showrooms, clubs and restaurants, perched on a hillside with a view of Beirut that was breathtaking. The Lebanese love to party, entertain and stay up very late. As we drove back up the mountain toward home about midnight, every restaurant (and they are huge) was jammed, cars parked 3 and 4 deep, some actually in the road! Dinner at midnight is normal. Hmmm, maybe I would be really skinny here if I had to stay up that late for dinner. We stopped on the way home to eat again!
Anyway, no one has topped my Mom yet, but I've olnly been here a week, so there are many more tabboulehs to taste!
Thanks to all of you who have responded and let me know you are getting and enjoying these blogs. I have learned so much already about lifestyle here, the Middle East, the wars here and how we are perceived as a country. I am still looking for my relatives and found out my grandmother's family is a large, important family in Lebanon, just wish I knew even one family connection here to track down. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I see my mother and my aunts in the women here, many of the traits and facial expressions and the way they speak Arabic look exactly like what I remember. (Found out Lebanese Arabic is very different from other countries, sort of like someone from Maine and someone from Georgia wouldn't sound the same).
We are about to have a party here, a housewarming, so I'll run. Keep reading....oh, and we may stay another week depending on boat progress. I keep encouraging Charlie to slow down, slow waaaaaay down.
Love to all,
Lari
When you eat Lebanese style, you usually have Mezze, which means lots of small dishes of food (sort of like tapas). I'll describe last night's dinner, but first the day. Huda, James, Charlie and I had a great day, which started with a traditional Yemen breakfast of Foul - a dish of foul beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic and Yemeni spices, slightly mashed and served hot, with scambled eggs, pita bread and always a huge plate of fresh veggies, followed by fresh fruit.
After that gut busting beginning, we visited Jeita Grotto, one of the new seven wonders of the world - it is a mammoth cave filled with the most amazing stalagtites, stalagmites, columns, underground river, pools, and exotic formations, some that sparkle, some look like marble, others alabaster. It is beautifully lit to showcase the beauty of nature and a concrete path/bridge takes you far into the cave. Sadly, no photos are allowed and Charlie saw one man get kicked out because he tried to take a photo. You reach the mouth of the upper cave by cable car. After your walking tour there, you take a short train ride to the lower cave and take a very short boat ride in the underground river. We expected our boat driver to provide a little info, but he just held on to the tiller in silence. Luckily Huda and James have been about a zillion times and were great tour guides!
After we left the grotto, we stopped at a fresh produce stand where Huda felt it was her duty to empty the stall and transfer everything into the back of the SUV. I took photos! I must tell you the fruit and veggies are the best I have ever had - crisp, flavorful, perfectly rippened - say, did you know tomatoes have flavor???? Fresh figs, cherries, melons, apricots, peaches.....sigh.
I learned how to open and eat a fresh almond. From the tree they are green and the size of an apricot. You bite the outside, which is a little fuzzy and slightly soft, to crack it, then open it with your hands, remove the outer skin, inner skin and voila! you have a sweet, blazing white almond. I may never eat another roasted one....but then, the nuts here are amazing too - varieties and preparations I have never seen anywhere. (Yes, I have been on the scale, and no, the news is not good!)
Okay, after the produce was loaded by forklift into the car, we were off to an early dinner/late lunch back up the mountain. Here's what we had - some words may ot be familiar so I'll try to describe. Hommus, baba ghannough (roasted eggplant hummos), lebne (a thick yogurt/cheese - tart and smooth), raw and cooked kibbi (lamb with bulghur and spices), tabbouleh (parsley/mint/tomato/scallion salad with lemon and olive oil), fattoush (green salad with toasted pita), kibabs (variety of meats, ground and formed into long rolls) with roasted whole onions and tomatoes, a huge plate of fresh veggies with a huge whole tomato, half head of cabbage (so sweet it tasted like it was soaked in sugar), half head of romaine, thin, crisp cucumbers, yellow, red and green peppers, green onions, and a huge bunch of mint. Maybe that was it, but I'm sure I've forgotten something. The table was loaded!!!! So were we. James and I smoked shisha first, which is the tradition. Shisha is flavored tobacco (ours was apple) in a water pipe - better to look it up than have me try to describe it - but you each get a mouthpiece, then share the shisha pipe, passing it back and forth. When you inhale, the water bubbles in the bottom of the device. You and the tobacco never meet, it stays at the top on this tall device witha few pieces of charcoal to heat it. The "shisha guy" comes by to tend the charcoal and replenish tobacco if needed.
So after we rolled out of the restaurant, we came home to change for our big evening out. We had tickets to Dance Fever, a wonderful stage show with dancers, a variety of entertainers and a Cirque du Soliel strong man duo. Best of all, the show was at Casino di Liban, a glitzy complex with gambling, showrooms, clubs and restaurants, perched on a hillside with a view of Beirut that was breathtaking. The Lebanese love to party, entertain and stay up very late. As we drove back up the mountain toward home about midnight, every restaurant (and they are huge) was jammed, cars parked 3 and 4 deep, some actually in the road! Dinner at midnight is normal. Hmmm, maybe I would be really skinny here if I had to stay up that late for dinner. We stopped on the way home to eat again!
Anyway, no one has topped my Mom yet, but I've olnly been here a week, so there are many more tabboulehs to taste!
Thanks to all of you who have responded and let me know you are getting and enjoying these blogs. I have learned so much already about lifestyle here, the Middle East, the wars here and how we are perceived as a country. I am still looking for my relatives and found out my grandmother's family is a large, important family in Lebanon, just wish I knew even one family connection here to track down. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I see my mother and my aunts in the women here, many of the traits and facial expressions and the way they speak Arabic look exactly like what I remember. (Found out Lebanese Arabic is very different from other countries, sort of like someone from Maine and someone from Georgia wouldn't sound the same).
We are about to have a party here, a housewarming, so I'll run. Keep reading....oh, and we may stay another week depending on boat progress. I keep encouraging Charlie to slow down, slow waaaaaay down.
Love to all,
Lari
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Lebanese Hospitality
Hi Everyone,
The guys are showering from their long day on the boat, I survived the 4-wheeler ride - even drove the beast, although I kept hitting the side of the cliff, but not bad for my first time. At least we stayed in Lebanon and upright. Anyway, thought it might be a good time to write another installment....but now everyone is coming down for dinner, so I'll stop for now and continue after everyone goes to bed. Hope you are getting these - thanks, Frank for letting me know you've received - hugs, Lari
The guys are showering from their long day on the boat, I survived the 4-wheeler ride - even drove the beast, although I kept hitting the side of the cliff, but not bad for my first time. At least we stayed in Lebanon and upright. Anyway, thought it might be a good time to write another installment....but now everyone is coming down for dinner, so I'll stop for now and continue after everyone goes to bed. Hope you are getting these - thanks, Frank for letting me know you've received - hugs, Lari
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