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While the entire world expressed their grave and sincere concern at the spiraling violence in Lebanon (The United States on Monday voiced its grave concern over worsening violence in Lebanon where Hezbollah-led opposition supporters … & The German European Union Presidency on Tuesday expressed "great concern" over the continuing protests in Lebanon that have turned violent.), I decided that a skiing expedition would be in good order.

After all, we’re suffering to no extent in this place. The sun shines all the time, can’t leave the house at night, and even the supermarkets close early! At the university they disassemble desks in order to whack their fellow classmates on the head. Tuh tuh tuh. So skiing it was.

On the road the Laqlouq Getting closer

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Laqlouq, ‘cause I don’t recall the road the be that …. rural is the word, I think. The kind of road that requires a heavy duty sports bra. We left hungry, and I kept telling the kids we’d buy a manakish (local sandwich with thyme) on the road, but we arrived at deserted backwater after deserted backwater, and not as soul in sight. These little villages are all empty, and only see some inhabitants in the three summer months, when schools are closed, and everyone returns to the ‘Dai’a’ (the ‘village’, or place of birth). Narrow roads, and then you’d get stuck behind something like this for about 10 kilometers or so. What do they haul these stones around for anyway?
Okay, so we did get horribly lost. No road signs in sight either, except for some rusted ones in Arabic that were used for target practice. And there we’d stand for a good five minutes, trying to decipher the names. For those that know the region; we took the road through Mazraat es Siyad (map of all Lebanon’s backwaters). We even passed a Roman temple in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely fabulous.

We did arrive, absolutely famished, eventually, and it seems I had indeed taken the scenic route. No matter, it was pretty indeed. A good relaxant after days of uncertainty.

Laqlouq is one of the oldest ski-resorts in Lebanon, and it is not much of a resort to speak of. They have one mountain. Hill, actually. But if your are with kids, you’re not an Olympic skier and you’re not too concerned about red descents, it’s really very nice and relaxing. Especially since you are about the only ones on the slope. How come nobody in Europe knows this? In Laqlouq, you pay 12,000 LBP for a half day ski ticket! That’s 6.12 euros! Or about $8. For kids under 16 it’s only $6 (4.59) . And 4 year olds are for free. Is ANYBODY in Europe reading this? I paid 11 euros for a day of skiing. (Yes, go cry! But you don't get the burning barricades either.)

Well, I guess we won’t be seeing any tourist anytime soon. But we did manage to secure about 7 billion dollars. Lest we forget, we have a public debt of 42 billion dollars, and spend about 2 billion dollars a year on interest alone, so the 7 billion is not really going to open the flood gates. But it’s the thought that counts.

On the way back we took the 'regular' road'. It led us along the Bay of Jounieh (since the IDF bombed the bridge above the bay, we've got to take the road below, until they've rebuild the bridge again) . The bay always reminds me of Monaco. Maameltein, which is a town on this bay, much have been wonderful. A long time ago. Right now it is stacked with supernightclubs. They call them 'cabarets' in Lebanon. The unofficial 'red light district'.

Bay of Jouneih (sorry for the crummy cut and paste job).
We dropped by a friend's house, just in time to see the unset over Beirut (or actually on the right side of it.)

Sunset over Beirut
And that was it for the day. No skirmishes, riots, irregularities of street fighting today. Looks like things are relaxing.