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So sang The Weather Girls, but in reality it’s just raining rain. Lots of it.

Lebanon’s winter storms have hit suddenly and with a vengeance. For the past few days we’ve had steadily dropping temperatures and an almost constant rumble of thunder, together with sporadic torrential downpours. Today it only got up to 21 degrees - a far cry from the 30 plus temps of a month ago.

Of course the Lebanese being the hot blooded Mediterraneans that they are, they’re now all rugged up. I kid you not. I had to pop up to the ABC mall last night and half of the locals there were wearing scarves, coats and long black boots. But it was still 20 degrees and I had a t-shirt on. Go figure.

So with the end of daylight savings last weekend and lots of rain, it’s looking pretty gloomy and miserable all of a sudden. Which is kind of nice after the endless months of summer, but it’s looking like it might be a dismal winter.

Although the silver lining is that the ski slopes should be smoking in another month or so…

With the bottom falling out of the Aussie Dollar we even have to send Mitchell to the bank just to keep up!

A while ago I wrote about exploring the ancient Roman ruins in Tyre (here and here). The old colonnaded road down to the sunken port is a fascinating spot, with sections of the ancient harbour submerged under the Mediterranean. It’s quite special to stand on the ruins looking down at all the marble columns lying on the seabed.

One of the enduring features of this coastal site was an old relic seller who would inevitably attach himself to any tourist wandering among the ruins. The old guy - Jamal was his name - had skin the colour of tanned leather and would point out little secrets, like the remnants of human bone from where the Romans buried their slaves. He would also tell how, as a younger man, he used to dive down to the ruins under the sea to find sunken coins, icons and other treasures. He would then pull out an old wooden box containing some special finds, which of course were available at a special discount for such a kind and respectable Australian as myself…

When I first saw him he had a collection of Roman and Greek coins, as well as a ladies hair pin, a comb and some Crusader icons. Naturally I bought a few, paying too much and not really knowing if they were genuine antiques or were simply forged by his cousin and then buried in the backyard for six months to “age” them appropriately.

Who knows.

Anyway, I was down there the other day and was very saddened to learn that the old bugger’s dead. Apparently there is a rival coin seller in Tyre and they got into a turf fight a few weeks back. The fight got heated and the rival shot and killed Jamal. Now the rival’s in the clink and Jamal is no more.

So I’m saddened that this great old guy who was so full of character is gone. And I wonder who else will be there to fill the void, to unearth the hidden secrets of the Roman port, and to flog off some pilfered treasure?

There are a number of Crusader castles in Lebanon, remnants of the many battles fought between Christian and Muslim armies in the 12th and 13th centuries. One of the most interesting - though perhaps least well preserved - is Beaufort Castle.

Located 1000 metres above the Litani river and with a commanding view to the south and west, Beaufort has been the castle to possess in Lebanon. During the past 800 years it changed hands several times between the Christian and Muslim forces. Even as recently as the civil war in the 1970s and 1980s, Beaufort was initially held by the PLO and then by the Israeli Defence Force. And no wonder: looking to the south you can see into Israel and up to the disputed Golan Heights. This map shows its strategic location.

Unfortunately, through all of these battles the castle has been severely damaged. Most recently, the departing Israeli forces blew up their fortifications at the site, damaging other parts of the castle in the process.

Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating spot to visit, particularly given the Hizballah branding and propaganda that adorns it today. (By the way, the “Islamic Resistance” referred to on the poster is Hizballah.)

On Nanna’s last weekend here we enjoyed a nice drive up into the Chouf mountains (last visited in June). A particular highlight was exploring the lovely Beiteddine Palace, which as you can see here, is still officially the summer residence for the Lebanese President (though is not actually used as such). It’s a wonderful old Ottoman palace built in the early 19th century, and unlike many historical sites in Lebanon it has been carefully and tastefully maintained.

After our explorations we headed a little bit further uphill to the Mir Amin Palace Hotel, another former Ottoman palace. The hotel has a great restaurant on the courtyard, which as you can see here has a terrific view out over the valley down towards the distant Mediterranean Sea.

We ambled up without making a booking and quickly feared that we’d have no chance of getting a table. But the waiter looked at Sheridan with her sticks and decided what the hell, we could have the reserved head table looking out over the valley. So we had a delicious lunch of Lebanese mezze and nargile (Alex’s little vice), enjoying the view and the wonderful cool breeze.

Lovely!

Who would give a three year old a drum kit for his birthday?

Elie, you’re fired.

Here’s a few pictures from Mitchell’s third birthday party. As you can see, there was a huge cake (much bigger than we expected when we ordered it), balloons, sausage rolls and of course a jumping castle!

With Mitchell’s birthday looming this Thursday, I thought I’d trawl through the mountain of photos that we’ve got and have a look at how the little dude has changed during these last three busy years.

So here’s a series of photos of Mitchell from birth to now, at six monthly intervals.