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.