Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Beirut

We had a blast in Beirut, from the landscape to the people to the vibrant mix of french and arab cultures the trip was amazing!! It was so fun to be there with my cousin and for us to connect with our heritage in the "Waton" (Homeland). We met up with some guys from my program who were in Beirut for the weekend and we had fun touring the city and seeing the sites with them.

Here are some of the highlights:

Jeita: These grottos are thousands of years old and are located on the outskirts of Beirut. It is quite a treck to go see them but even the drive was interesting because we got to see more of the lush green forests and mountain terrain of Lebanon. The caves are giant and are filled with impressive stalagmites and stalagtites. The upper grotto was over 50 feet tall and was miles deep. The formations of rocks inside the grotto were so intricate and beautiful. The grotto has been forming since the end of the last ice age!!!! there was a cross section of a stalagmite to show the aging/formation process and only the newest inch and a half has been formed in since the birth of christ. Time passes so differently in the natural world. We were not able to take pictures inside but I did purchase some postcards :)

The lower grotto was an underground lake!! We took a boat ride through the grotto which was so fun!

Corniche: Beautiful walkway right along the Mediterranean Sea. It was so nice to see families and groups of friends walking along as well as people excersizing, fishing and selling souveniers. Beirut has such a different feel than Amman. The beautiful ocean, unique architecture, and green trees everywhere definitely got me feeling inspired!

To be continued...

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