We were up early to get to the institutes that began bright and early at 8:30 AM. I went to Georgia Heard's class on Enhancing Reading Comprehension Through Poetry - and she is the master. Julie joined me for the afternoon session because it was so good. By 1:00 we were free to roan the city. We joined the Camponeschi's to try to use up the remaining parts of our Acropolis tickets that allowed us to see several other sites. Ancient Agora was closed (again) but we enjoyed trolling the Monastiraki flea market, the original Olympic Stadium and Hadrian's Gate, the National Garden. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to clean up for a good dinner to celebrate Julie's birthday. Before dinner we went to an intimate gathering for a fantastic concert
of piano and violin featuring pieces by Fritz Kriesler, Mozart and
Prokofiev. The musicians were from Austria and very good. After a
culture-starved 6 months in KSA, this was heaven. Drinks before dinner (tsipouro) at Strofi's Taverna, wine with dinner, and drinks after dinner (mastika) - so we rolled on back to our hotel - only after enjoying the night view of the Acropolis from the rooftop restaurant. Magical.
There are police, and barriers, in Beirut. Our first 2 days in one neighborhood were quite peaceful. Yesterday we walked further, to see more typical signs of concrete barriers and razor wire and military guards around the former President's house, and then today around the Saudi Arabian embassy. We also note the flurry of construction activity, both buildings and roads; yet in amongst the renovated sleek apartment buildings and shopping malls are old walls pockmarked with bullet-holes, and empty shells of buildings including the bizarre alien-looking building in the center of town. Cole and I attended a lecture by Tariq Ramadan at the American University of Beirut -- educational, fascinating even though Prof.Ramadan was speaking quite academically and not wanting to get tied down. The question-and-answer session was even more enlightening, to hear the emotional and articulate ripostes and sallies. About 400 people attended. ...
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