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| Beautiful blue waters off the coast of Saida |
A few weeks ago, on the way back from a beach trip to Sour, we made a quick stop in Saida for some ice cream. Its a city just along the coast, south of Beirut, with beautiful views of the water, an ancient castle which seemed to be floating in the sea plus it was less than an hour from Beirut. I figured it would be a great first solo trip in Lebanon. Luckily I didn’t listen to the dissenters and decided to visit anyway.
At the last second a new friend agreed to come along for the ride and we had an excellent day just visiting the castle, wandering around the souq’s twisting path ways and visiting interesting museumes.
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| Remains of the Sea Castle built by Crusaders in 1228 |
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| Colorful head scarves for sale in the souq |
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| The crowded passage ways of the Souq |
Of course no trip is complete without a tasty meal. We each tucked into a deee-licious falafel sandwich for lunch that likely weighed more than a two-year old child.
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| The shop owner prepares my gut busting falafel sandwich. |
Sure, Saida may not be as cosmopolitan as its big sister to the north, but there are definite charms about the city. Also there’s quite a bit of history here with it being an important landmark in Phoenician, Greek and Roman history. More recently, it is also famous as being the birth place of assassinated Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri.
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| One of many poster of the former Prime Minister Hariri hanging in Saida |
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| Beautiful example of a traditional home found in a small museum above the souq |
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| If I could fit this in the overhead compartment, this would be sitting in my living room. |
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| Wall of soap bars at the Soap Museum
Midway through the day one of the shop owners began talking to my friend who is currently here studying Arabic and working on a projet for her masters thesis. They launched into a spirited discussion about the history, religion and politics of the city. He ended up giving us a guided tour of the old city then inviting us back to his shop for coffee and further discussion.
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| My new friend China gets a tour through the narrow streets of Saida |
After a month here in Lebanon I have finally found a friend who will smoke the arghile pipe with me, so China and I finished off the day sitting in colorful plastic chairs along the corniche, smoking a grape and mint arghile and making plans for more side trips outside of Beirut. All in all, a well spent day with a new friend in a new city. That’s what traveling is all about for me.
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| And look what was waiting for us at the end of the day |
