Day 12 of travel: Low key beach day in Cyprus
Day 12 was lovely and low key. I woke up, went to a beach
restaurant for breakfast, laid out by the beach for hours, rented a bike and
rode around the city center, the waterfront, and to the Salt Lake, went on a
run, had dinner and blogged by the sea, and went to bed. Cyprus is beautiful
and calming, and the people are very kind. I understand why it is such a
popular vacation destination! You can see the growth through the sheer number
of buildings being constructed. Tomorrow I head off to Beirut for the final leg
of my journey before heading home and moving for my summer internship.
Day 13 of travel: Beirut and Northern Mountains
Lebanon! I woke up and headed to the airport for a 10 a.m.
flight out of Larnaca. The flight was only 40 minutes, and I landed in Beirut
after an easy flight at 10:40 a.m. and was greeted at the airport by my good
friend from school Jeff. Two things immediately struck me about the country: 1)
They take USD as a currency alongside the Lebanese Lira (you can even get USD
out of the ATMs!), and 2) there are military people machine guns EVERYWHERE. I
learned that the USD dates back to the 70s when Lebanon experienced extreme
inflation, and that the machine guns are a carryover from years of occupation.
Our first stop was to grab coffee at a port-side restaurant
in the Sunni part of town (Lebanon is a religiously diverse country, and the
city of Beirut is divided into thirds with sections for the Sunni, Shiite, and
Christians. Armenians also live in the northern part of the country). The port
was full of yachts and our restaurant was full-fledged French – even the menus
were only offered in French. Fun fact – a large portion of the Lebanese
population can speak French and the culture is still heavily influenced by the
French occupation at the beginning of the 1900s. After coffee we visited
Teleferique, which is a gondola that took us up the mountain side to a church
and a statue called “Our Lady of Lebanon”. The church had beautiful vaulted
ceilings and the view from the top was incredible.
Afterwards we took a drive
about an hour and a half north to the village where Jeff grew up. There, we
went to his parents’ house for a traditional homemade Lebanese dinner that
included rather exotic dishes like a goat kibbeh tartare (raw goat meat) that
you eat with oil, thin bread and mint, as well as a bread bowl full of herb,
goat fat and goat meat and beef dumplings. Jeff’s parents urged to me to take
second and third helpings of each dish, so I was absolutely stuffed by the end
of the meal. During dinner I got to learn a lot about the history of Lebanon,
what it’s like with all of the migrants from Syria and Palestine, village life,
and stories from Jeff’s childhood. We ate out on the balcony, so I got to see
the sunset over the mountains during dinner too. It was lovely. Jeff’s mom
boiled some mint leaves for tea, and after a cup I was feeling very sleepy so
went to bed early.
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| This was only desert! We were absolutely spoiled. |
Day 14 of travel: Mountain exploring
I slept in late then had a nice breakfast of various
Lebanese pastries that Jeff’s mom made for us and some Turkish coffee. They were delicious! I especially liked the one with cheese and olives baked into it. They have a garden on their property, so all of the olives, mint, onions, and cherries that we enjoyed were all grown on sight!
Our big
activity for the day was to take ATVs through the mountains on a guided tour
with one of Jeff’s friends. It was a blast! We saw the cedars (the forest that
inspired Lebanon’s flag), the town of Ehden and various orchards that grew
figs, cherries and olives. We even got to take the ATVs off road through a
forest preserve, which was thrilling and beautiful terrain. We made it to the
top of a mountain, but unfortunately the weather was rather crummy so we didn’t
get much of a view with the fog. We made it back down just before the heavy
rain, and I spent the afternoon resting and reading.
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| The Cedars |
In the evening we went to
check out a covenant in the valley, which included a cave church and beautiful
gardens. We were there after sun set, so it was deserted but extremely
peaceful. Afterwards we went to grab a drink in Ehden where I got to enjoy
watching Arabic music videos at the bar, then headed home.
Day 15 of travel: Beach and club
We slept in and had a slow breakfast (I got to try a sweet
porridge that Jeff’s mom made) then loaded the car to head to Beirut. Our plan
for the day was to go to a beach club, but the weather up in the mountains was
looking daunting – heavy clouds and intermittent rain. It was also rather cold,
so I was hoping that the weather would improve as we made our way into the
city. Luckily, it did just that. Over the course of about 15 minutes of driving
the temperature increased 15 degrees and the clouds started going away.
We
stopped by a beach club called EddeSands, but there weren’t any people there
due to the recent rains and the colder weather. The bright side, we entered
without paying a fee. By the time we sat down the clouds were back, so we
didn’t go to the beach right away and instead had a beer in the covered
restaurant area while hoping that the sun would come back. After about 30
minutes the sky cleared completely, and we had the beach pretty much to ourselves!
I read and basked in the sun for hours, and it was glorious. We even caught a
beautiful sunset, but unfortunately, I didn’t have my phone with me and
couldn’t capture any photos.
Afterwards we headed further into the city
(stopping along the way to try a cheese and spice filled pastry) and made it to
Jeff’s brother’s apartment around 8:30 p.m.. His brother had a friend over, and
one of Jeff’s friends from growing up joined us too, so we had a few drinks at
the apartment before heading to a warehouse club known for its house music. We
had to run through the rain to get there, but it was a really cool experience.
In the club everyone was evenly spaced bobbing to the music in their own way.
Of course, I joined in 😊 My only complaint about the evening is that
by the time I got home I reeked of smoke from the club.
Day 16 of travel: Exploring Beirut
My final day! We started off slow after the late night out,
but then went to a mall area and a Lebanese restaurant with an outdoor patio
for lunch. Our friend from school who is interning with the UN in Beirut joined
us, and we all caught up for a couple of hours over food and coffee. It was
entertaining to see how much our friend had learned about the country over the
past week, some of which Jeff was even surprised to learn! After lunch we lounged
back at the apartment for a bit before heading out to rent bikes to tour the
downtown area. It was a great idea on Jeff’s part, and the three of us had a
blast. I loved the stunning sandstone architecture and seeing how the culture
changed across the various parts of the city. I was also very surprised to find
many roman ruins scattered throughout the city. Our bike ride ended with a
stretch of road along the sea at sunset, putting the perfect capstone on a
lovely and adventurous trip. We finished the night with a late-night dinner at
a cool roof top lounge, and I was off by 3:45 a.m. the next day to begin my
long and arduous journey home. Many many thanks to Jeff and his family for
hosting me in Lebanon!
