chillin in beirut

No really... it's true the mention of Beirut never conjured the feeling of relaxation in my mind, but it does now that I've been there! We stayed at Jerome's friend Saseen's house for five nights... hanging around, doing laundry, shopping, going out in the evenings, and sleeping in. It was pretty chill after the relative chaos of Aleppo and Damascus. And some hotels we've had lately leave something to be desired (note, always ask for clean sheets as it's not assumed you care! Okay, I have to admit we've been paying $20/night), so it felt great to be in a real home again.


I spent a lot of time at home with Arse the cat. Don't be jealous Minou, I'll be back eventually!!


Out on the town with Saseen.

Sometimes we even walked around town:

At the American University of Beirut. If you have two physicist + political scientist jobs open up, we're available!


On the way to our favourite restaurant Le Chef, where we ate three times because of my addiction to their chick peas and garlic dish.

Jordan

After chilling in Beirut for five days, we arrived yesterday for our whirlwind tour of Jordan. Beirut was great. Wonderful food, good nightlife, beautiful location, lots going on... definitely one of our favourite stops so far! Today we visited Petra, recently voted as one of the "new" 7 wonders of the world. Maybe some pictures later - technical difficulties right now.

In Beirut

We arrived in Beirut yesterday afternoon by taxi from Damascus and are staying in the family home of one of my friends, Saseen. Last night we went for Lebanese food and Arak, a Lebanese alcohol similar to Raki or Ouzo. We will be here for 3 more nights and then head to Petra in Jordan.