Baalbek. Romans used slaves to bring these marble columns from Aswan, Egypt via water and over land through Syria. Did I mention the columns are 20 meters high?
Look closely - I included a human in this one to give a sense of scale.
America University of Beirut. This tree is where David's family friend used to play as a child.
Apparently cats are well cared for on the AUB campus.
Site of the Rafik Hariri bombing. We visited the memorial by the Blue Mosque earlier. An eternal flame burns across the street. Seeing this was incredibly sobering.
Awesome cafe/bar we wandered into.
Bobo, Tony's dog
Lantan and Bobo waiting for a treat. They both wear pajamas at night. Lantan's says "FBI." Hey, they're ex-street dogs from China - they're hard core.
Byblos. Makes claims to being the most continuously inhabited city. Although it seems like a lot of cities make that claim. I was going to make a joke about them fighting it out for the title with Damascus, then thought better of it.
Our wonderful hosts: Tony, Yumi, and Christopher
"Oh waitress, what type of animal did you say this was?" "It's chicken!" Riiight. Apparently everyone has their own strategy for serving pork in a country that is 50% Muslim.
Food options in Cairo airport: coffee, sweets, and McDonalds. This airport was like the cantina in Star Wars - an amazing range of dress and language. However, the thrill wore off around 2 am when we still had 2 more hours to go. Free wifi, though. Go Cairo!
I'm pretty sure this is Amsterdam duty free, as opposed to Cairo or US.
