This weekend we decided to brave the snow and rain and venture again over the mountains and across the boarder to Beirut for some retail therapy with the girls. Maybe it was the snow or maybe it was Beatrice's singing while waiting in the queue, but for the first time we were given our visas for Lebanon for free (and rightly so as I've argued before with the passport control guys as the sign clearly indicates that it's free to enter for one day); Flo was very happy at the achievement which she put down to her good humour with the official.
The journey, which is hectic at the best of times, was particularly perilous this weekend as there had been quite a dump of snow up in the mountains and the snow clouds were still thickly smeared across the mountain tops. On the way down towards Beirut the melt waters use the roads as the easiest route down to the sea making it slippy and also difficult to spot the many potholes.
We arrived in Beirut in one piece and had time to visit the little slice of heavenly retail cake (bare in mind we live in Damascus) that is the Grand ABC mall. Here we bought the kids some toys and treated ourselves to some proper burgers at Casper and Gambini's (they serve a selection of mini burgers, one of which Beatrice polished off on her own).
After arriving at the our Hotel (Hotel de Ville), the girls had their afternoon sleep and then we headed out for dinner. We planned to eat at Al Dente, but they don't open until 20:30 which was a little too late for Beatrice. We therefore went to Le Relais de L'Entrecote but were surprised to discover that they ONLY serve steak and frites which was of course not suitable for Beatrice who NEEDS her vegetables.
This morning we found a large supermarket (TSC Plus close to the Grand ABC Mall) where we stocked up supplies to the tune of about USD 600 and I'm surprised that we managed to get it all in the car, let alone drive it back over that steep and bumpy road back to Damascus and not get charged for importing goods at the boarder, but the plucky little Land Rover takes it all in it's stride like a little donkey.
The boarder crossing was without major incident and thank heavens Apple invented the iPhone which turns out to be perfect for entertaining Beatrice in the back of the car while her mum is getting passports and visas stamped (blagging her way through the Diplomatic desks to avoid the queues at the normal desks).
The journey, which is hectic at the best of times, was particularly perilous this weekend as there had been quite a dump of snow up in the mountains and the snow clouds were still thickly smeared across the mountain tops. On the way down towards Beirut the melt waters use the roads as the easiest route down to the sea making it slippy and also difficult to spot the many potholes.
We arrived in Beirut in one piece and had time to visit the little slice of heavenly retail cake (bare in mind we live in Damascus) that is the Grand ABC mall. Here we bought the kids some toys and treated ourselves to some proper burgers at Casper and Gambini's (they serve a selection of mini burgers, one of which Beatrice polished off on her own).
After arriving at the our Hotel (Hotel de Ville), the girls had their afternoon sleep and then we headed out for dinner. We planned to eat at Al Dente, but they don't open until 20:30 which was a little too late for Beatrice. We therefore went to Le Relais de L'Entrecote but were surprised to discover that they ONLY serve steak and frites which was of course not suitable for Beatrice who NEEDS her vegetables.
In the end, we popped up the road and settled on the Japanese restaurant Sake and we weren't disappointed; the food was excellent and Beatrice devoured a plateful of saute'd vegetables as well as helping out Flo and I with our orders; even Ottilie was catered for with some cucumber sticks.
This morning we found a large supermarket (TSC Plus close to the Grand ABC Mall) where we stocked up supplies to the tune of about USD 600 and I'm surprised that we managed to get it all in the car, let alone drive it back over that steep and bumpy road back to Damascus and not get charged for importing goods at the boarder, but the plucky little Land Rover takes it all in it's stride like a little donkey.
The boarder crossing was without major incident and thank heavens Apple invented the iPhone which turns out to be perfect for entertaining Beatrice in the back of the car while her mum is getting passports and visas stamped (blagging her way through the Diplomatic desks to avoid the queues at the normal desks).
2 comments:
Ohhh ik heb jullie weer gevonden! Weer de site gewijzigd?
Ik lees dat het jullie goed gaat. Fijn. Wat een schattige dochters heb je en wat wordt Beatrice al groot!
liefs!
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