Last night, our last night in Byblos, had one of the most beautiful sunsets yet, a fierce red sun sinking from thick clouds into a sea the colour of black ice as it began to rain. It was time to leave, and this morning we got a car to take us to Beirut and then […]
Wassail
Today, our last weekend day in Lebanon, I decreed, would be a day of wassailing. It didn’t quite turn out like that, largely because in the afternoon we went in search of the Bird’s Nest, formerly an orphanage and now the Armenian Genocide Memorial. One does get overwhelmed, sometimes, by wave after wave of suffering […]
Horizons
Several days without writing, for which I apologise. Work has been very intense indeed, about 500 pages of reports needing the usual heavy handed editing, to be done in a tearing hurry as usual. But the first edit of the last is now in my Drafts folder and will be sent shortly. US politics is […]
Trablous
On Friday, soon after I finished my work the prayer took place at the mosque across the road from the cafe. Soon after it ended the Gentleman Friend arrived, and we hailed a taxi to take us to Al Mina, the port city of Tripoli where we had booked a bed and breakfast in the […]
Three step day
A couple of days without posting as I was either on a futile roadtrip or working or groaning in the throes of a headache. To take these in order: 1. On Wednesday, the Gentleman Friend and I went down to Beirut to collect our passports following visa renewal. It took about 90 minutes to travel […]
Visage libanais
We are now frequenting our neighbourhood forn every day for a lovely little breakfast. This is bookended by the sunset strolls in the afternoons. A very civilised lifestyle. The woman at the forn seems very taken with me, which is unusual as it’s usually the Gentleman Friend who is beloved by all. It’s rather nice […]
Older still
We went back to the Byblos site yesterday and were taken aback to find that it was even bigger than remembered. This time we went in the late afternoon so were less bent on avoiding sunburn (at least for the Gentleman Friend) and took time to explore some of the nooks. I say ‘nooks’. A […]
Day in East Beirut
Yesterday was Saturday and the Gentleman Friend and I woke up bright and early for a breakfast of knefeh and to be taken to Beirut. There, the GF was to participate in some beach cleaning while I was to meet a relative who is in town for work. I was meeting her for lunch so […]
2 days of glumness
A couple of days of mild glumness have passed, thanks to getting overly excited about potential work opportunities, and then disappointment when one didn’t come through and the other is taking far too long to resolve one way or the other. That said, I am equally unhappy whether I have too much work or too […]
Sunset strolls
We have taken to daily sunset strolls. All of Lebanon faces the west, the sun rises from behind the eastern mountains, Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains. In Byblos, and perhaps all along the coast, people gather along the seashore to watch the sun sink into the sea and the cool evening breezes pick up. […]