Lebanon Day 1
Travel
- Charlotte to London Heathrow (flight was delayed for two hours, pilot was an hour late on top of that).
- London Heathrow to Beirut (missed that one),
- London Heathrow to Amman Jordan
- Amman Jordan to Beirut
- Too many airports
- Too much time in an airline seat
- Due to all of the missed connections Laurie and David’s bags didn’t make it to Beruit when we arrived. They made fun of him for carrying around his “big” carry-on bag all day. All of that ribbing was quickly paid back when Matt was able to put on fresh clothing the next day.
- Lots of travel planning and money wasted. No matter how much you plan, you are never really in control. Had to teach David how to go with the flow and not freak out.
- 3:30am arrival into Beirut. Surprisingly there was still a long line at customs.
- David had to tell the customs agent I was his barber to get us into the country (joke).😂
First Morning
- Early breakfast at 9am sharp, David showed up at 10am sharp. I guess he needed his beauty sleep. Pierre the “sleepy head” was there and on time.
- Day 1 in Beirut was a great tour of the city while getting the early life story of David Thaddeus.
- Sights
- American University of Beirut
- Pigeon Rock
- Beaches
- Old downtown
- East/West Beirut
- Local cafes
- Shopping for local bath soap
Murr Tower
This unfinished building was transformed into a sniper tower during was used to attempt to shoot people in on the “green line”. The green line was an area of two streets that was “no mans land” and abandoned to the point where vegetation grew in the streets turning them “green”.
BEITEDDINE FESTIVAL
We ended the night with a visit to the Duke of Wellington (hotel bar) before a trip to the Beiteddine Festival. The festival was set in a picturesque mountain palace. The venue was the interior courtyard of the palace. We attended the musical play Broken Wings, a play based the novel by Gibran Khalil Gibran, a very well known Lebanese poet and author. During intermission the clouds rolled in to add even more drama to the second act.
