This tiny painting of the Sidon skyline was done 16 years ago from a photo. At the time I was in high school in Dubai and had yet to visit Lebanon. But I dreamt about it from the pages of a large book that featured photos of the country from the 1970s. Problem was, the book was all in arabic so I had no idea what most of the pictures were about.
Last week when I visited Sidon I discovered where the photo was taken from: inside the Sea Castle looking towards the port! So of course I had to take a photo of the view for myself.
Sidon was fascinating. After the Sea Castle, we drifted through the most mesmerising souks. As SA said, we were all so blown away by the souks that none of us took any pictures. It was like we were in a maze and there was too much eye candy all at the same time. We stopped by Khan al Franj (the French Quarters), then went on the Soap Museum. What a treasure. I'm so amazed I had never heard of this place before!
This was my first trip to the South of Lebanon with SA. We went all the way down to Tyre. Every other time we've visited it didn't seem like a smart thing to do. Of course the fabulous new beach clubs are south of Beirut, around Damour and Jiyyeh, and we went there, but never as far as Sidon or Tyre. This was the first time I could say to family and friends "we're going to the South" and their response was positive. Some people I met even thought it would be cool to go all the way to the border. I didn't think that was such a great idea.
Well, looks like we made it down there at the right time, because if we were there this week, we would have missed out on some awesome places.
7 comments:
I had no idea you lived in Dubai! My sister lived there for three years; her husband was working there. They've just moved and I'm sorry that I never got a chance to visit her over there :-(
That's so cool that you got to take a photo for yourself of somewhere you not only dreamed of, but also painted!
Hats off to the luck of your timing too!
Did you get to buy any soap from the museum?
What a captivating story! I love your painting, and I am delighted by the idea that you actually visited a place that was in your imagination for so many years! How neat that it met your expectations and then some! Lovely photographs too.
I love your painting! And how cool to then look at the pics you took. I love this series of posts. So sorry about the close call with your brother. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt!
rania-
i'm so glad your family is ok!
i was thinking about you and your family this morning when i was reading the paper.
much love
beth b.
thanks for all the kind comments everyone! i spoke with my brother and parents a few hours ago and they made it up to the mountains safely. phew! I am soooo relieved they finally got out of beirut.
becky, i lived in dubai in the late 80s to early 90s, right when it was starting to boom but way before it turned into the crazy place it is now! we hardly had a movie theatre worth going to, and the road to get to my home was dirt! its probably paved with gold now...
i did buy soap, but not from sidon, i bought it from tripoli! i'll post more about that next week...
have a great weekend, everyone...i'm headed for the beach soon! yay!
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