Beirut rocks!

Although it is off the beaten path for most Americans, it was long overdue to finally visit Lebanon.  Contrary to what most of my friends think, I am not half-Libyan or from Azerbaijan despite the way my name sounds (it's not pronounced like Beijing either).  My dad was born and raised in Beirut and that makes me half Lebanese with the other half being from Pittsburgh and I don't have a joke for that.  Since I was little, I have wanted to visit the place that I've heard so many stories about, but there were many obstacles over the years including, surprisingly, my dad.  Perhaps it was because he left in the late 60s during the beginnings of war, but if there was ever a skirmish or potential for hostilities he would nix any plans I may have been devising to visit.  The closest I ever got was Cyprus which is 30 minutes off the coast and a lovely place in its own right.  However, after Amalfi, we were only 3 hours away and thank God there were no recent fisticuffs in the months leading up.  The time at last came to visit.

My sis and I were pretty psyched to get on the plane and finally make our way to Lebanon.  I've been to lots of countries and continents in the last year and a half, but the excitement and anticipation in going to Beirut exceeded any of them.  Much to my surprise, as our plane was 10 minutes from landing and you could make out the buildings and city, my dad started to tear up.  This is not something I had observed, well, ever.  No matter how nonchalantly he had been playing the return, his bluff was up before our wheels had even touched the ground.

The media in the US generally makes it seem like traveling to the middle east is akin to playing Russian roulette with a mostly loaded gun.  I find it is closer to running with the bulls in Pamplona.  It is certainly riskier than staying at home, but as long as you have your street smarts about you and don't put yourself in any obvious danger situations, you should emerge unscathed and perhaps with a rush. 

The couple my parents were staying with were old family friends who own a jelly and jams factory in Beirut and in many countries around the world.  This makes them food people and it is never bad to know food people anywhere,anytime:

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This awesome spread was waiting for us once we landed and after a week of delicious Italian food it was a welcome change.  They say middle eastern food is among the healthiest in the world so I ate as much of it as I could.  Humus, tabouleh, baba ganoush, kebbeh, shawarma, and my favorite, tomb (garlic paste garnish) to name a few.  I eat about half of those, but, in addition to being healthy they are savory. 

We stayed for the week in a town called Broumana which sits about 30 minutes up the mountains from downtown Beirut.  Topologically, the city is spectacular with downtown sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  For about 2 or 3 miles inland, it plateaus and then the mountains start giving incredible views both from the mountains and from downtown or the sea.  

This is the view from my American University of Beirut, where my dad went to college.  Pretty nice campus, huh?  He said that there were too many trees now obstructing the view as it used to be more beautiful.

The view from our friend's place where my parents stayed.   On this day it was hazy, but you can see downtown Beirut in the distance and the Mediterranean behind that.  Also visible are the many cedar trees that the country is famous for and is the centerpiece of the country's flag.

We spent our initial days exploring Broumana where my dad spent his childhood summers as it is at least 10 degrees cooler in the mountains than in downtown.  The above is the high school we he resided and the beautifully maintained red clay courts where he learned to play tennis. 

Here's a better view of the courts with me giving my seal of approval.  Even though my dad had very little formal training, he ascended the ranks of Lebanese tennis players in the 50's and 60's culminating with representing the country in Davis Cup play multiple times.  Even though I did have formal training thanks to my parents, I never came close to playing Davis cup for the USA or any other country for that matter.  I am not even that good on red clay so it all solidifies a theory I've had for years that I might be adopted.

After seeing downtown and much of the sleepy towns surrounding us we took a day excursion to the ruins of an ancient Roman town called Baalbek.  It was about a 2 hour drive due East through the mountains.

 

We were less than an hour away from Syria which is a country I never thought I'd be less than an hour away from.  Along the way we stopped by the "Largest stone in the world".

The sign can't lie.  My dad apparently approves. 

That is half of the stone with me claiming it in the name of Lebanon!  Stones and granite like this one were what made Baalbeck attractive to the Romans for building purposes all those centuries ago.  In fact, they were towards the end of the process of unearthing this guy when conquerors came and the plan was aborted.   Eventually we made our way to the outside of the ruins:

What is the Middle East without camels and donkeys?

This is the entrance to one of the four parts of the ruins.

This is the largest structure constructed by the Ancient Romans outside of Rome itself.  It was discovered a little over a century ago and they are still uncovering and joining the different parts of it. 

All in all the site was large and quite impressive.  After having been in Pompei a few days earlier in Italy, I was still taken aback by the size and intricate detail of some of the columns and designs in the construction of the buildings.  

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This fell from the top of one of the large columns and was shockingly well preserved.  Afterwards, we saw some more recently discovered ruins in a city called Aanjar where many Armenians fled and then saw an underground wine cellar.  

My sister tried to take a barrel for the road, but it was strapped in pretty good.  

The last few days we had more dinners with friends.  I swear my dad can run for mayor already as he was invited out to dinner (and most lunches) by friends.  My sister and I got the benefit of that and we checked out a lot of the surprisingly solid nightlife.  If you don't know already, Beirut has some of the best clubs in the world including one called Skybar which got voted #1 last year in the whole wide world.  I don't know who does the voting, but having seen clubs from Ibiza to South Beach to Rio I can say that they rank right up there with the best of them.  Beautiful settings, fun and attractive crowds and fantastic music are all mainstays there.  There is some footage of the clubs somewhere, but it's best if we stick to the daytime activities so as not to incriminate anyone.  

The last day we visited the Jeita grotto which was a fantastic cavern of stalagtites and stalagmites where they wouldn't allow cameras.  So instead I took this one just outside:

After, we checked out the famous Pigeon Rocks and surrounding caves

View from a boat we chartered to get up close and personal.  

All in all Beirut was a fabulous place to visit.  The weather was temperate, people were warm, clubs were posh and food was scrumptious.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to travel somewhere a little bit outside the box. 

Amazing Amalfi

Bon giorno!  A few notable things have happened since my last post (shamefully it was a while ago).  One of my best buddies got married at the church of my graduate alma-mater at Stanford which was emotional for a few reasons.  I drove up PCH in the days prior from San Diego which is, without question, a drive everyone should make at least once in their lifetime (preferably while sitting in shotgun to admire the views).  I caught up with a few cousins, aunts and uncles on that drive and also in my annual pilgrimage to Saratoga at the wonderful race track there.

But this blog is not about any of those exploits.  It's about putting "International" in International Man of Leisure.  The first stop of the 4 city trip was in Amalfi, Italy for the wedding of my cousin Emily.  The above picture is from our cliff side villa which took 55 steps every time to get up to the main road.  It was definitely good for the legs and butt, but I don't think my mom or her sisters appreciated it.

The view from the wedding ceremony.

The wedding was a beautiful yet simple one.  Less than 100 people attended and it was nice to catch up with relatives I see once every 2 or 3 years.  We stayed in Amalfi for 6 days following the wedding which gave us the chance to explore the coast and all the interesting nearby spots.  

The first one I checked out with my mom was the city of Pompeii.  This city, and basically all others around it are near Mount Vesuvius which towers over everything.  

My massive head is in the way of the mountain and I'm not sure what's going on with my hair there but you get an idea of just how large Vesuvius is.  The crazy thing is that now it is half the size before it erupted and scattered ash all over the surrounding towns including poor Pompeii.  As the story goes, the eruption happened around 79 AD and buried the entire city in 4-6 meters of ash.  The city wasn't rediscovered till around 1600 AD.  

I found this artist's depiction of the eruption.  Imagine seeing that outside your bedroom window.  Crazy stuff!

This is what it looks like today.  The city was interesting like any other older city that has been somewhat undisturbed over the last 2000 years.  One of the things Pompeii in particular, is famous for, is that when the ash covered the city over the course of 3 days, it suffocated people obviously due to the toxins present in the debris.  Most people collapsed and died from it and the ash covered them up and over time cooled and hardened around the bodies.  The bodies then decomposed to just bones after a while however the hardened ash left a "shell" in the position of the deceased.  The first people to discover the city didn't realize this and were looking for buried treasure and thus destroyed these pockets.  In 1860, a clever engineer by the name of Fiorelli took charge of the excavations.  He realized what these voids were and smartly injected plaster into them to form large molds of the last moments of life the people that died.

Pretty fascinating and a little bit creepy!  They had many plaster people like this one and some animals too.  There were a lot of people huddled around this guy to see him and the somewhat well preserved artwork on the neighboring wall.

The other popular place in the city was, not surprisingly, the brothel.  I won't go into it too much, but Pompeii had a fascination with penises.  To guide visitors to Pompeii to the brothel, they wouldn't use signs but rather penises pointed down the streets to guide you there.  You'd see them etched in the road or sides of buildings all over town.  The brothel itself was packed with tourists (some things don't change in 2 millennia) and it looked surprisingly small and uncomfortable.

 

These are 3 of the 5 pictures above the rooms depicting various sex positions.   The patrons would point to whatever they desired (like Denny's) and be escorted to a room.  Talk about having it your way.   

The rest of the trip was filled with quality family time, excellent food and nervous driving.  The main road along the coast is really not made for 2 cars to pass each other in many spots much less large tour buses that come by occasionally.  It was difficult, but I like a good challenge and thankfully I didn't run me or my relatives off the side of a cliff.

As you can see views from the water are breathtaking.  Like Venice, I'm not sure how or why they decided to force cities in places nature doesn't particularly want one, but I'm glad they did. 

 

My sister and I about to crash into a water cave. 

All in all, Amalfi was awesome and the food was exquisite!  We were lucky to be able to spend such a long time there and see Positano, Ravello and Sorrento nearby.  We also had one of the best meals I've ever had in town at a restaurant called La Caravella which I cannot recommend enough to anyone traveling there.  

Arrivederci Amalfi....