Morning update

Well, everyone thought this was the safest area of town to be in, but the continued sporadic gunfire and occasional booming of something larger belie that. Hezbollah is on the move all over town, apparently. They have shut down the pro-government TVand internet station. We still get BBC and Al-Jazeera English and feel as well informed as is possible in this chaotic situation.

We just heard that Hezbollah now controls West Beirut, where we are...

We are well out of any likely line of fire, have provisions for a few days anyway and feel safe as long as we stay put in our apartment. Apparently one of the board members at Tom's school has invited all the staff to stay in his mansion outside Beirut. And Ben says the State Dept. has been working on evacuation plans. But for now, staying in is definitely the thing to do.

We are trying to keep busy. Tom says the gunfire interferes with being able to hear the TV...

Escalation

Evening, local time

How quickly things can deteriorate...
Most of the news reports that come out of Beirut have not indicated the reality. But this time we can hear the gunfire. We are staying inside and are safe. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail. We are also hopeful that the step up in conflict will prompt a compromise. Who knows? Lebanon and its people are genuinely fantastic. It is just these special interests that are more like mob families who keep everything on edge.

The UN radio advises us to stay indoors and away from windows... We live on a short, quiet street and so shouldn't be in anyone's line of fire.

Thankfully our VHF radio, phone, cell phone and TV are all operational, so we feel well informed. Our English TV channels are BBC and Al Jazeera English. We have food and water, and have just opened a bottle of wine to combat the jitters...

The gardenia on the balcony picked this day to bloom for the first time.

Day's update

So far so, well, not SO bad. Outer roads are blocked and the airport is closed. UNRWA was open again , though most people could not get there. All schools were closed. The area where we live (Hamra) is safer than most, there are no political hotspots here. About half the shops are open, but with roads into the city cut off one wonders how long supplies will last. Let me remind fans that if it comes to it, we would be evacuated by sea (a short walk--near Tom's school) and thus the aiport closure is not a worry.

Hmm...does the fighting stop when the call to prayer rings out?

Situation

Dear Readers--

There was a general strike called for today, so most people stayed home and many shops are closed. There were some demonstrations, road blocks and tire burning. Nothing in our area, or even close. The army is everywhere and seems to be on top of things. Tom's school was closed and UNRWA let staff go home early.

We have a VHF radio tuned to the UN security station and are keeping our eyes open. There is hope things will be back to normal tomorrow.

Not to worry, at least not at this point!


K and T

Cyprus

Ready for vacation, and with four currencies in my purse (Lebanese pounds, Euro, Turkish Lira and a few stray US dollars), we boarded the 25 minute flight (45 counting takeoff and landing) to Cyprus, hoping we wouldn’t need Cyprus pounds, too (we didn’t). When we had booked a hotel in North Cyprus by email they quoted the rate as “the equivalent of 100 pounds Sterling in Euros or Turkish Lira.” Ay yay yay.

We arrived Good Friday evening of Orthodox Easter, in the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus. The waterfront in Larnaca was jumping. Larnaca has been continually inhabited for 4,000 years. Cyprus first struck us as California, but with driving on the left. Similar climate to Lebanon but much more developed and orderly, and lots quieter.

Tom did very well with driving. It takes a little while to get the hang of, and one does keep hitting the windshield wiper instead of the blinkers. We were glad we had opted for an automatic, and didn’t have to mess with locating the gearshift, too.

The next day we headed for North Cyprus, the Turkish speaking side. Once we found the border crossing (many roads run between the two entities, but there are only four border crossings, plus one more in Nicosia for diplomats) we passed through quickly. Had to purchase separate car insurance for the days we would be there.

Famagusta is a port city in Turkish Cyprus, in the southeastern part of the island. The old part of the city, where we managed to find a hotel, is surrounded by Venetian Walls (early 1400s), about 15 meters (~50 feet) high and up to 8 meters (~25 feet) wide. Beyond them is—or was--a wide moat (see below). Tom had a run that evening on top of the city walls. (This adds to his list of historic jogging locations, which includes the hippodrome in Rome). The walls are intact around the old city, but you can’t walk all the way around as there is a military outpost on the waterfront. At one of the towers, Othellos’ Tower, named for the staging, perhaps, of Shakespeare’s play in Famagusta, lay a pile of large round balls. Not for cannons, as I think first, but for catapults.

Not far up the coast from Famagusta lie the ruins of the ancient port city of Salamis, which goes back to 700 BC Assyria. After being destroyed by the Persians, the Romans took over in 58 BC and built aqueducts, extensive baths, with hot and cold pools and resting rooms, and a theater for 15,000. There is also a 4th century basilica on the site, with a few bits of mosaic tile floors and decorations remaining. Did the people who made these things ever dream they would last ten centuries??

I saw on the brochure that there was a latrine that could seat 44 people and had to see it…here is a reenactment by Tom.

Driving along the Mediterranean coast, we made our way to Kantara castle. Wow. Incredible views from one of the three Byzantine era castles in a line across mountain tops along the north coast of Cyprus. They used to signal each other with lights. The views of the sea and half the island are fabulous. On a clear day you are supposed to be able to see Turkey or even Syria.

The next day was a three castle day…almost. We got to the third one, a well developed tourist site, too late to enter.

First was Buffavento Castle, second in the line after Kantara, on a bluff overlooking the Mediterranean. No walls needed here, because there is only one possible entrance. It is built on solid rock, and is quite a climb to reach it.

Second was Kyrenia Castle, down at the port of Kyrenia. Built by the Byzantines, and eventually taken over by King Richard the Lionhart, who captured the island in 1191 on his way to the third crusade… He then sold it to the Knights Templar, and shortly after, to his cousin, the King of Jerusalem. Apparently the Venetians later gave up the castle without a fight. Inside the castle walls there is an exhibit with a 3rd century BC shipwreck, including all the cargo of almonds, figs (only the seeds remain), clay pots of wine, and stone flour grinders, which may have been used as ballast.

St. Hilarion is the third castle in a row on top of a mountain peak. It is said to have been the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Snow White. It is terribly picturesque, and fun to explore, ruins spread out along the peak. In the royal apartments, a stone window seat offers a magnificent view of the countryside below and the sea beyond.

We stayed two nights in Bellapais, Northern Cyprus. Lonely Planet guided us to a terrific place to stay there, called Gardens of Irini, just yards from the house where Laurence Durrell penned Bitter Lemons of Cyprus. The B&B where we stayed was populated by artists, and it shows—so tasteful--and also cats, who roam about and are happy to come into your room and sleep on the bed if you agree. Peaceful, quiet, with voluminous geraniums, cascading bougainvillea, erupting petunias, even a small pond with blooming lilies…
To get there one must travel up and up, on narrow, donkey-width roads between lovely old buildings—after folding in the side mirrors…(see Tom navigating at right) but it’s so worth it.

We left Northern Cyprus for the south, through Nicosia, the capital, divided city. Most of the city lies in the North. All the old city lies within star-shaped Venetian walls. Over the border (which took some finding), in the Republic of Cyprus, we were struck by the differences—affluence, mainly—in the busy downtown, with high rises absent from the other side.

We didn’t stop but only passed through Nicosia on the way to the Troodos Mountains. Distances are small in Cyprus; one could easily drive the length in half a day, the width in a day.

In the Troodos, another great place to stay, a small hotel in the tiny, picturesque village of Spilia--The Marjay Inn. Incredibly quiet, with a fabulous restaurant down the street featuring traditional food on handmade plates, everything done with care and taste. We had a great hike the next day, 7.5 kilometers around Mt. Olympos—not much of a mountain, though there is a bit of skiing. The trail was almost completely flat—Tom ran and I walked. It offered two different views of the Mediterranean, to the northwest and northeast—not far. A wonderful trail!

We heartily recommend Cyprus--for those too timid to visit us in Lebanon!!—so long as you stay away from the main package tour places (which are substantial).

We made our way around the island, maps unfurled, butchering place names as we went; Kakopetria became Krakatoa, Kantara Cassanova, Trachydopolopolis was that dinosaur sounding place, and Buffavento bouffant hairdo. There are lots of Brits on the island; the natives must be used to the butchery.

The last two nights we stayed at another place we found on the agrotourism website—a tavern/inn about 10 miles and light years from Pathos, city of beach umbrellas and restaurants touting English breakfasts (which, if you don’t know, involve a cholesterol kaleidoscope of sausage, eggs, toast with butter and marmalade, baked beans and ham). The Inn featured 6 foot geraniums, swallows nesting in the lobby, and goat crossing signs on the road nearby. Great food, too.

On our way across the southern part of the island to the airport the last day, at a restaurant in Limassol, a man pulls out a ladder, climbs onto the roof, disappears, and reappears five minutes later carrying a full bag of fat lemons from a nearby tree. Cyprus.

On the departures signboard at the airport, there were flights for:
Thessaloniki
Manchester
Zurich
Krasnodar
Cardiff
Heraklion
Vienna
Kuwait
Budapest
…and of course, Beirut

Spring in Beirut

We went to a concert in an old church, Eglise de Saint Joseph, having been invited by the talented and lovely young lady (makes me feel old to use that term, but what else?) who leads hiking trips each weekend for an ecotourism NGO. I asked how old the church was. "Oh its not old," she said. "The French built it when they were trying to make everyone French. After the Ottomans." Old being relative.

The concert was the Lebanon National Symphony Orchestra playing a Bach double piano concerto (2 baby grands--how had they survived the various conflicts??) and two other peices. Very nice. One featured a clarinet soloist from Hungary and a Romanian bassoonist. Both were into it, swaying with the music and sharing a smile from time to time. There is a free concert here almost every Friday night! Rich donors.

Spring seemd to burst out in about one day. Suddenly the jasmine, roses, bougainvillea, hibiscus and more were in full bloom. In the countrside it was apple, almond, apricot, walnt and cherry trees. Mind you we don't see plants on every block like you might in other cities. Somehow, in the otherwise sterile, grey, walled, and prison-like UNRWA compound there are a dozen or more rose bushes, and even a flowering tree.

Two hikes and two ancient wonders

Last weekend: A hike along a river near Batroun, with a group from ACS (Tom’s school). As we approached the area the group leader said, “This part of the river there are mines.” Gold?, and salt? run through my mind.—no, dummy—land mines. “But where we are going is safer,” he says. “SafER?,” I ask. “Safe,” he says.

It was a lovely stroll along the river banks, perfect short-sleeve weather, with lots of wildflowers. The group was ready for picnic time; one young lady had carried a nargileh (water pipe) in her backpack, another a thermos of Turkish coffee. And lots of potato chips and chocolate.

We walked over a bridge that had been there "since before there was money." It was, long ago, the only link between the coast/Bekaa Valley and Syria--part of the Silk Road! Here is T at the bridge
Coming back down into Beirut, you could see the air hanging over the city, yellowish and thick. Ick!
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A billboard: Lusty Laundry
A restaurant: Flobby Diner
KFC (yes, KFC) Sign: “Drive thru kids area”
A store up in the mountains: Mini market Jesus
Things you’d never see in America department: children on adult’s lap in front seat of a school minibus; also, the stairwell at the four storey UNRWA office building, smelling faintly of smoke, from something one of the cleaning staff had cooked on a hot plate in a closet, in the stairwell.

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Saturday we went to Baalbek for the second time, and to Anjaar, ancient Ummayad city. Baalbek knocked us out again; it's Temple of Jupiter is the largest Roman temple in the world. And it's Bacchus Temple the best preserved. Just jaw-dropping, the whole place.

Someone remarked how different it would be if in Italy or Greece—tidy, no chunks of fallen columns or statues lying about the grounds. Certainly nothing ancient you could touch or sit on like you can here.

Anjaar—forgot the camera, sorry!—only one reconstructed wall standing, but a large, walled Umayyad City from 700 AD.

Sunday, hiking in one of the cedar preserves in the mountains. Incredible scenery—the most beautiful in the country, and some of the most breath-taking we’ve seen anywhere. But not a lot of cedars. Emperor Hadrian’s emissary in the area carved words into the rocks in several places, laying down the law about not cutting down certain species of trees. Even back then (1200 years ago!!) they could see that the forest needed protecting.

After the hike, we stopped at a 1,000 year old church (below).