Byblos & Harissa

Byblos
Byblos is an ancient city, beautifully situated on the Mediterranean Sea, with a Crusader castle and Roman ruins. Byblos is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited town. Byblos was called Gebal in the Bible and the Crusaders salled it Giblet. Its ancient name, Byblos, is thought to derive from bublos, the Greek word for papyrus, as the town was a stopping off point for papyrus shipments in Phoenician times.

Crusader Castle at Byblos.

Byblos Harbour at sunset.

Harissa
Harissa is only about 20 kms from Beirut, but is 650 metres altitude from the coast. We took the popular Teleferique (cable car) up and down the mountain. It gives a fascinating view going up, even going between some apartment buildings, allowing a view inside as you glide past.

The view about 1/2 way up the mountain - the cable car 'station' is way off in the distance, by the coast.

National Museum of Beirut

On Boxing Day (Dec 26th) we made our way to the National Museum of Beirut. Our Lonely Planet guidebook listed this museum as a 'must see' and we would have to agree. It is nicely laid out, well lit and has a wonderful array of artefacts from around the country. If I had to make a criticism it would be that the museum could do with MORE pieces. It's a far cry from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo which is more like a dark, overstuffed warehouse.

An ornate sarcophagus from the southern city of Tyre. The frieze depicts the legend of Achilles.

A beautiful 4th century mosaic.

A colossus taken from the ancient city of Byblos.

One of my favourite pieces in the museum - a carved marble head atop a sarcophagus.

Christmas Day - Beirut

On Christmas afternoon we flew out for a brief vacation in Beirut, Lebanon. It is only a 1 1/2 hour flight, so we were there is no time at all. After checking into the hotel, we went for a sunset walk along the Corniche.

Corniche - Beirut, Lebanon

The next day we walked around a lot of the city, taking in a few more of the sights.

This suprised me - mosque with a Christmas tree in front!

Although massive reconstruction is underway in the city, reminders of the 15 year civil war are all around. The photo below is of the old Holiday Inn, Beirut. It became a prime sniper position and attracted all many of fire power, leaving it in the bullet-riddled state we see today. It was reportedly built to withstand earthquakes, so is apparently structurally sound, albeit in need of some TLC.

Holiday Inn, Beirut - scarred from a 15 year civil war.

Christmas in Egypt

Celebrating Christmas in Egypt is an interesting experience. There is no Christmas muzak everywhere you go, no Santas on street corners or in malls, and even just finding a Christmas tree or decorations can be a bit of a challenge. We managed to find ourselves a cute, fake 2 1/2 foot tree, though.
I am looking forward to our Carol Service at church on Christmas Eve. Normally by this time, I've heard Away in a Manager adnauseum, so that I'm just about 'carol-ed out', but it is quite refreshing living here to not hear them all around, all the time.
Getting into the Christmas spirit.

My new job

This week I began a new job. It's been about 6 months since I quit being a teacher at the university day care centre, so the time had come for me to start 'earning my keep' again. For the next three months I am interning at IOM - International Organization on Migration. IOM is an NGO that handles migration and resettling all over the world. I am a part of the Baghdad Team that are working on the cases of Iraqis who have worked with the US and multi-national forces, and now qualify for resettlement into the US.

My ID badge at IOM.

Weird and Wonderful Egypt - pt.1

I see many weird and wonderful things day by day in Egypt. I will try to capture, and share with you, as many of them as possible.

This photo was taken during a recent shopping trip. It is labeled as Dite (Diet) Honey - for Obesity & Diabetes!!! Go figure!!!

Eid al-Adha

This week the Muslim world celebrates Eid al-Adha. It is commonly referred to as 'the big feast', as opposed to Eid el-Fitr at the end of Ramadan which is the 'little feast'. Eid al-Adha commemorates the Muslim story of Ibrahim being willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael. It is celebrated these days by the slaughter of an animal, which is then shared with family and friends, and some is also shared with the poor.

Last year at this time, when we lived Down Town, a bull appeared outside a neighbouring apartment building. We anticipated what was coming, and were able to witness the slaughter and subsequent skinning of the bull right there in the street. Not something for the faint-hearted!! A few days ago, with us now living in 'the suburbs', pens of animals began to appear in the open-air market area. We knew what was coming, but did they????


Guess who's coming for dinner - we are!!!