summer travels 2005 Lebanon

This posting is from the summer of 05. Lebanon is an incredible Country. I stayed with my friend Dr. Huda and her family and was treated as one of the family.
Beirut is crowded and busy but quickly opens up to the sea and mountains. The Lebanese people speak Arabic and French and most speak English as well.
Scattered throughout Lebanon are bombed out buildings left over from when war was waged on Lebanese soil over 30 years ago. For all they have been through, the Lebanese people are very passionate and love life and love their Country.
I traveled into the mountains to see a valley full of vineyards at the Syrian border, palaces in the mountains and a castle along the coast of the Mediterranean. Huda drove me all around; we went to a cave, roman bath ruins and many quaint, little towns that grew up around missions. Some of the sites are grottos, like Kahlil Gibran’s birthplace, these are carved into the mountain. St. Anthony’s Monastery is another one shown here.

summer travels 2005 Lebanon (continued)

summer travels 2005 Edinburgh Scotland

The city of Edinburgh in Scotland was old and majestic. I took an intensive digital printmaking workshop in both lithography and screen print. The folks I met there were fantastic artists, teachers and beautiful people. I went alone but had no time to be lonely. My days were filled with working and the evenings were exploring and eating dinner with my new friends from the workshop.
There were festivals and music happening all around the city. It was crowded but everyone was very polite and friendly. I did some touristo shopping to send some “Morrison” and “Graham” coat of arms and tea towels and such back to family and friends.

summer travels Throssel Abbey UK

Throssel Abbey was in the Mooreland of England, east of Newcastle. The scenery was of stone cottages and rolling hills with sheep grazing. There are some photos of the lay people that were staying there the same time as me.

summer travels 2005 Newcastle UK

Newcastle England's water front was a great place to hang out for a few days. I stayed at a hostel and enjoyed the tall ships that sailed through on the way to Denmark for a race. The ship in the last photo is Russian and hugh. The photo above it is of the moorelands just east of Newcastle on the way to Throssel Hole Abbey.