The get-away ski weekend that.....got away!

The powerful bomb went off in the street between the St. George Yacht & Marina Hotel and a hotel across from it, leaving both buildings gutted beyond repair. Nothing was left to chance, when 400 pounds of explosives blew a 10-foot crater in the street under the 8-car motorcade. All the windows of our hotel, The Phoenician, 100 meters away, were shattered and the firedoors were bowed in from the blast.

This was the horrific nightmare in Beirut, 2005, when Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 other people were killed in a truck bombing on February 14. You can see on the picture above (from ABC news at the time), it was a huge blast in a normally peaceful city.

Aric and I were in Beirut last weekend and saw little evidence of the shattered windows in the very hotel Phoenicia where we stayed. Thousands of people rallied to commemorate the 5 year anniversary and marched right in front of our hotel, to the memorial of the president's tomb at the sea front.

There seemed to be no hostility when we were there, only joy and cheer and people who want to remind the world that progress - not succumbance - is the way forward, towards peace. We talked to several people throughout our visit; the story was the same: they want to move on - having suffered through 16 years of war, then peace for a few years, only to then experience a setback when the assassination occurred, people our age and younger, live each day like it is their last. The Lebanese love to have a good time and party, yet many are of the opinion that a war will start again in June, with Israel. One shopkeeper who invited us in for "real Lebanese coffee" (i.e. liquid mud) told us in a thick Arab accent: "Yanni (Arab expression for "like, you know"); "yanni, we just leeve day to day - hrow we know what hrappen later?" Yallah, indeed, how do you know? There is a huge drive by the Lebanese themselves, to rebuild the city. All the bullet and mortar-ridden, debilitated buildings are being torn down and replaced with beautiful new architecture, kept in the Lebanese style from the early turn of the 20th century.

Walking around the city, you would not believe a war might break out in June. Everything seems so peaceful. It is of course policed....there is military on nearly every corner. Tanks, soldiers with loaded big a** rifles. I snug a few pictures, when able, but you don't want to do that in the open! They are very strict about photo taking of military patrols.

The previous war had to do with Shiites vs. Sunnis and Hezbolla is somewhere in the mix of Syria backed politicians. Same old story - muslims vs. muslims vs. Christians vs. Jews.....Few people know who are the good guys and who are the bad, but we only saw upbeat and positive attitudes from the people we met. "Wherrr arrrr you frrrrom, welcome to Lebanon!!" was the common greeting we received everywhere.

The getaway ski weekend had been planned for a few months. Our friends Fiona and Angus were headed over to Beirut to ski with a group of 10-12 people, so we took the opportunity to join for what was certain to be a fun filled long weekend. Fiona told me to book the 5-star Intercontinental (I let my fingers do the walking on the keyboard and quickly found that one....super Expedia deal with airfare and hotel suite) - and was excited when she confirmed that the ski lift was right outside the back of the hotel. It was only 3 days before we left Dubai, when Aric said he looked at our hotel online and he couldn't understand how the lift could be so close, when we overlook the sea? To my horror, there are two 5-star Intercontinentals in Beirut...the Phoenicia downtown and the big chalet in Mzaar mountain resort. Who knew?? Too late to change, we instead booked a one-day ski package, with transfer from downtown, to the resort an hour away. In hindsight, probably not bad that I booked the wrong hotel, as the snow from a storm 2 weeks prior, had nearly disappeared. To add insult to injury, only two lifts out of 12 were open due to high winds. But, we got several runs in before I - too bored - decided to hit the bar/lounge/pub. Skiing in the Middle East is very surreal, I mean here we are, 40km from the Mediterranean Ocean and on one day in shorts and tank top, the next day in Ugg boots and ski jacket! Aric snowboarded a few more hours and then we just gave ourselves over to a few bottles of wine with Angus and Fiona. Turned out to be a fab ski day :)

The whole weekend was just what Aric's doctor recommended. City-seeing, window shopping, trying new Lebanese cuisine, long cafe breaks, looking at all the homes and apartment buildings with artillery holes in the walls, trying to imagine how it would have been to live through such nightmare. At night, enjoying the bars and clubs and people watching. The churches and mosques are magnificent and several are built upon three layers, telling the tale of just how old (and deep) the city really is. We got a lot of selfish relaxing and reading time in and Valentine's Day with my Habibi could not have been better.

Slim & the boys were well behaved and responsible while we were gone. No out-of-hand parties (that we can find evidence of) - no drunk Slim and the pre-made 'ready to cook dinners by mom' were all gone, so at least they ate!

Next get-away destination looks to be Istanbul, after Easter some time. It's another city waiting to be explored by the Aults.