ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Lebanon, Crossroads of Empires: Jordan to Crete

I’ll cut right to the chase about Lebanon. It was FABULOUS!! It was one of the best days we have had so far, a definite highlight! Baalback exceeded everyone’s expectations. We had lots of time to explore the site, and used every minute. We then had an excellent lunch with traditional Mediterranean cuisine: hummus, tabouleh, shish ka bobs, fresh pita bread, local beer and wine… all while overlooking the gorgeous, not to mention massive, site.

In the city center of Beirut we walked through the fairly modern downtown and drove along the green line and along the corniche, observing the war damage from the late 80s and early 90s. We didn’t witness much of the ‘new damage’ from last year, but the few things we did see, bridges bombed out, the detoured roads we had to travel on because the main highway was so badly damaged… all were a chilling reminder of the world we do live in. Still, we all felt very safe and the local people were so nice, kind, and welcoming. We all wished we had had more time….it was not the city we expected and we didn’t have the feeling of insecurity that we thought we would have either. It really was a wonderful day. Our ship sailed at 2300, so we had the opportunity to see Beirut by night.