Beirut, Lebanon, 09.11.2012 Finally!
Tobi once decided after Shanghai, Beirut would be the next place to live. I wasn't so sure. We left for Shanghai with just one baby and about 80 kg of luggage, but kids grow as do households, and so instead of moving again we went on a weekend trip - just the two of us.
It's been three years we took a weekend of as a couple - but we instantly had to think of May 2009 in Hongkong - it rained when we arrived, and it continued raining... until we left!
A mixture of old and new, Christian and Muslim, East and West. Reconstructed quite well, but still scarred by long years of war.
That one was funny - what you get in Lebanon if you order "Mixed vegetables":
After a long morning walk we arrived here at the clocktower, the perfect spot, beautiful french cafes, thousands of doves, no cars, and at least for a while blue sky and sunshine - the only thing missing was: other people enjoying and having coffee!
Beirut, Baalbek, 11.11.2012 Secret Acropolis
Because of the Beirut Marathon, we left the city early on a day trip to the countryside. Our first stop was Anjar, around 60 km east from Beirut, a settlement built at the beginning of the 8th centure. Being the only tourists around we walked around with our feet covered in plastic bags, feeling deeply grateful to be here - at least the sun was shining there for about half an hour! The silliest thing we found was a small inconspicious plant that looked like small zucchini or gherkin to me. I wanted to take a closer look and it exploded right into my face, spraying its liquid deep into my sleeves. It reminded us of jewelweed and would definitely make a good halloween joke!
Getting closer to Syria we saw a lot of refugee camps in the vast middle of nowhere - as our guide put it 'We don't have to give to much to them but at least we try'.
After long hours of driving we finally made it to Baalbek, where it started raining the minute we entered the gate. Have you ever imagined spontaneously finding yourself in the middle of a secret acropolis in pouring rain? No? Then add a very old tourguide with a pointing stick to that absurd situation - that repeats stories about Helios, the god of sun, and the temple which was built for that god because the sun shines at least 300 days a year (while our shoes got soaked as did the socks and trousers). Luckily, we had local lunch afterwards and a nice visit to a Lebanese wineyard (wouldn't have thought of Lebanon as a country of wine, but it really wasn't bad). But rain continued falling the whole third evening which spoiled our plans of going to one of the fancy rooftop bars. So we have to go back to 'Switzerland of the orient' - one day.
Berlin, 15.11.2012 Bird paradise
Berlin, 10.12.2012 Early winter
Baku, 12.12.2012 Exploring Azerbaijan
Another country I don't know too much about. Tobi went there for a couple of days and his pictures showed an interesting city I would also like to visit one day.
Berlin, 20.12.2012 Revival
Mia somehow likes my old clothing, and I like seeing her wearing it, so here is my old jacket, my woolen hat, and Ronit wearing my old skirt in picture 2.
Kassel, 23.12.2012 Christmas preparations
Binenbach, 30.12.2012 Ruppin Switzerland
Another white Brandenburg spot filled with pictures. Another beautiful walk around the BoltenmŸhle which we enjoyed a lot (after hours of complaining about the dislike of going outside).
Berlin, 31.12.2012 Happy Silvester
