We had such a good adventure in Lebanon. I’m going to have to break this into 2 blogs just because of the number of pictures I have to include. So, warning: these are going to be long blogs, but they are filled with so many adventures just like we had while there. I thought about dividing it by each day, but instead have decided to divide it by the cities we were in. So, keep in mind when reading about some cities, like Beirut and Sofar that the adventures spanned several days. So, let’s get to it!

Beirut

The first city I’m going to talk about is the first one I got to see: Beirut. Beirut is also where we spent the most time. We often went on day trips and ended up back in Beirut. It’s where the main family home is and where 2 of Sami’s aunts live. It was amazing to meet them both too. They are so sweet, and his cousins were interesting to hang out with. I really enjoyed meeting his family. The house was pretty cool too. It’s a tall building and each floor is a flat that someone lives on. It was interesting to see how things were laid out in that way. Though I think I prefer their house in Sofar (more on that later).

I finally got to try the restaurant Sami is always talking about in Beirut too: Bar-bar. It’s more of a fast food stand, but we got the most delicious manakish while we were there, and it was super-fast and cheap too. We also checked out several other restaurants around the city from a kebab place to a cute brunch place to a couple cafes overlooking the water. Those were really nice to just sit and admire the view (when there wasn’t too much hookah smoke around). We could just sit and talk at one of those for a while. Speaking of just sitting around and hanging out, we spent quite a bit of time just walking the city. We walked it with Sami’s family sometimes often to get juice or snacks or souvenirs, but there were a couple times that Sami and I got to walk around it alone too and that was nice and romantic. I wish where we currently lived was more laid out for walking together. It was a nice and healthy way to just enjoy each other’s company.

One of the big things that I’d really, really wanted to do while I was there was see Raouche, and we definitely got to do that. It’s just such an iconic symbol of Beirut that it would have been a shame not to see it, like going to San Francisco and not seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. It was just a tad disappointing that there was a lot of trash around it though. I wish people were more respectful of the environment. It’s a problem almost everywhere I’ve lived and travelled (Japan being the exception). We can do better humans!

Mount Lebanon

While we were in Lebanon, we took a day trip to Mount Lebanon to see the Christian Monastery there celebrating a patron saint from Lebanon: Saint Charbel (religion helped to shape tis part of the world and it will crop up a lot in these posts, fair warning). This is also a place that Sami’s dad travels to every time he is in Lebanon to pay respects. Saint Charbel is a patron saint that was Lebanese and you find shrines and tributes to him all over the country. Something some people may not realize is that Lebanon has a very healthy Christian population (44%) compared to most other middle eastern countries (5%). Only Cyprus has a larger percentage of Christians in the country. But anyway, the monastery was really cool and there was a service going on which was interesting. Out of respect though, I didn’t take too many pictures and the ones I did take were outside of the actual monastery itself. I do recommend making a trip there though if you are Christian or if not if you are interested in Old-world Christianity / Catholism, religious history, and/or patron saints.

Bchaalah

After visiting Mount Lebanon monastery, we made a short road trip to Bchaalah to see the world’s oldest olive trees. These are some of the oldest olive trees in the world and they live at some of the highest elevations known to have olive trees. These things have led some biblical scholars to believe that the olive branch the dove brought back to Noah was from these trees. Even if you aren’t religious, you can still appreciate the age, beauty, and uniqueness of these trees. Not to mention that the road trip up the mountain was an amazing view. I wasn’t even talking that much in the car because I was amazed at what was happening outside the window.

Cedars

Another day trip we took was hiking the famous Lebanese cedars. The Lebanese cedars are so famous, they literally put it on their flag. And this is also for a religious reason: it’s believed that when Noah was told to go find wood to build an arc, he used cedars from the cedar forests that stretch across Lebanon and into Syria. Which brings up a good point, on the way to the cedars was the closest we came to the Syrian border. The effects of the fighting in Syria became more obvious: we passed more refugee camps, saw more military checkpoints, and the guards in them appeared more serious (though this could be a biased perception). But once we got to the cedars, everything was so peaceful. Hiking in the cedars was one of my favorite things we did the entire trip! I loved it so much. The elevation was pretty high, so I ran out of breath quickly, but it was still so peaceful, almost too peaceful though (like there were no animals at all, weird). The views were spectacular though. I’d love to do that again. 10/10 highly recommend.

Batroun

One of the day trips that we took with Sami’s aunt and one of his cousins was to Batroun. This was an interesting city that was filled with history. Also, they apparently are famous for their lemonade, so you know we had to give that a try. Spoilers, it was so so so good. I would so go back just for another lemonade. While there we also checked out some of the beaches, they were ok (I’m not really a beach person or I probably would have enjoyed them more), an old Christian church that had been around for hundreds of years, and part of the Phoenician wall (this was my favorite part). We literally walked out on to a beach and onto the wall. It was nice just hanging out by the water. And the water! It was so blue and clear! It was very tempting to just jump in until you looked at the shore and saw all the trash (Come on humans!). Overall, I really liked this day trip and hanging out with Sami’s family.

Jeita Grotto & Harissa

Another day trip that one of Sami’s aunts accompanied us on was to Jeita Grotto and Harissa. Jeita Grotto was beautiful. It was nominated for the new 7 wonders of the world and was ranked number 11. It’s this giant underground limestone cave with huge stalagmites and stalactites (no pictures were allowed inside the grotto, so you are going to have to take my word for it). There were two parts, the top in which you just walked around in wonder that something so beautiful was created so naturally, and the bottom lake area which you were carried around on a boat to wonder how something so beautiful was created so naturally. It really is a wonder to behold. And outside of the grotto on the grounds is a botanical area and a bunch of statues that are interesting and fun to take pictures with. 10/10 highly recommend.

After checking out the grotto, we drove to Harissa, which is a city of high elevation looking over the city to the water. It is so beautiful and worth seeing. You can drive to the top like we did which allows you to appreciate the views or you can take the telefrique from the bottom to the top. We chose to drive this time. There are plenty of nice areas to take pictures, a play area for kids, and a bunch of restaurants inside. Although the food in those places were not that great, so I’d recommend finding somewhere else to eat. The views are worth seeing though.