Beirut - Part II

I'm finally getting around to posting more Beirut pics......

We spent a day at Eddie Sands - an upscale beach resort located about 30 min north of Beirut. Places like this will definitely change your perceptions of the lifestyles in the Middle East.

Em, Anna, Walid, and Thomas in the infinity pool that spills out onto a Mediterranean beach.

Our camera died, so I had to shoot the rest of the day with Walid's iPhone...until we got a new camera the next day. The sunsets were so gorgeous that I have to show several shots:

The next few days were spent driving around the countryside and trying to soak in all the many wonderful sights.

A drive through the mountains with many panoramic views.

The grapes grow by the millions here.

We spent a day heading up and over the mountains and into the Bequa'a Valley. It is mostly agricultural but is also home to some amazing Roman ruins in the city of Baalbek. We spent most of the afternoon climbing around and discovering the ruins. These ruins alone can justify a trip to Lebanon. I took several hundred pics, but my space is limited here so you will just get a small sample.

Em standing in front of the massive columns. It is hard to believe such magnificient structures could be built without machinery.

They are really not as heavy as they look. ;)

Inside some Roman tombs.

Our next stop in the Bequa'a Valley was the potato chip factory where my brother in law, Walid, is head of operations. We got the royal treatment and scored plenty of free samples!! The salt and vinegar chips were just coming off the line - still hot inside the bag. Yum.

All those salty chips made us thirsty, so we stopped off at Lebanon's most famous winery, Ksara. We took a tour of the caves where they store many casks of wine. These caves are mentioned many times throughout history and date back to the Roman era. The Romans stored their best wines here, as the cave temperature is constant year round.

Em and Anna in front of Ksara winery.

The many bottles of wine stored in the caves. They also had countless barrels. The caves store approximately 2 million bottles of wine!!!!

One too many for this little tyke! ...Just kidding, she fell asleep in the car. We took a tour of the cereal factory, which is also mananged by Walid.

We got up early Friday morning to go watch the kids at their tennis lesson - very cute to watch them play....priceless. I was quite amazed with their technique at such a young age (especially considering the racket is almost as big as they are!). Here are some action shots:

We took another drive up through the mountains - chauffeured by my sister. Some of the sights:

A dilapidated building which still bears the damage from the civil war.

A natural stone landbridge. It spans 62m, is 58m high, and is 17m thick. That's Em on top in the red shirt - for size perspective. We hiked around and climbed underneath. Last time I visited in 2004, there were people rapelling down it....could be a fun thing to try next time we visit?

This is one of the few ski resorts in the Middle East. Because of its exclusivity, it is quite expensive to stay in the lodge. It is a popular destination for the oil tycoons from Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi, etc. Yes, they do get lots of snow here in the winter. Too bad it's summer and I don't have my board with me. :(

We took a walk with the kids to the local convenience store to get ice cream. It is a little scary to drive on the mountain roads. Many of them do not have guard rails, and the road often teeters on the edge of very steep cliffs. Be careful if you look out the window as you are driving!! I guess it's a good thing someone put that large stone there - that should help. :)

Hanging out with the kids....actually the kids are hanging ON me. We were already getting a little teary eyed on our last evening with the family.....gonna miss them a lot.

One final pic with the family. Em and I want to thank Walid, Karen, Thomas, and Anna for being such wonderful hosts. They made this a very memorable visit..... we only wish we could have stayed longer. We finished our Beirut leg of the trip with an amazing dinner with some of Walid's friends (who were gracious enough to pick up the hefty tab too) at a very nice restaurant on the Mediterranean. We then spent the night in Jounieh and had an early flight to Cairo where the adventure continues.....

(...another blog including the Pyramids coming soon)