This lovely mountain resort town is perched above the eastern end of
the beautiful Kadisha Gorge and at the foothills of the Cedars of Lebanon.
It is the brith place of Lebanon's most famous author
Khalil Gibran. It has a small museum which pays tribute to him.
Beiteddine palace was built over a period of thirty years by Emir Bechir Chehab II.
It's architecture reflects the typical oriental architecture of the 19th century Ottoman Era.
It is remarkable for its glamorous
arcades, multicolored mosaic floors, reception rooms, harems, hammams
and even by its guest house "Diyafa" where passing guests were lodged
(French poet Lamartine stayed once there).
Detail of the Sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos, seated
on a cherub throne, before an offering table, 13th century B.C (National Museum of Beirut).
Around 1200 B.C. the scribes of Byblos developed an alphabetic phonetic script, the precursor of our modern
alphabet. By 800 B.C., it had traveled to Greece, changing forever the way man communicated.
Located in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, Baalbek is an ancient city
that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Originally
Canaanite (3rd century BC), the Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines,
and Arabs successively occupied Ba'albek and left their imprints on the
place, often modifying what existed previously.
www.kaftoun.com
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Friday Morning Run - January 13, 2012
This week I ran six times with a total distance of 25.39 miles. My week started with the stressful news of the illness of the Coach's brother and ended with the tragic news of the death of Yusef Fadlalla (RIP), one of our group early runners. Yusef apparently collapsed about 50 meters from his house after going for a jog. Although the death of any loved one is so devastating to the ones left behind, I think it is even worse seeing our loved ones sick and suffering without any possibility of recovery and us helpless to do anything about it. Perhaps Yusef was blessed to die such a death without pain and suffering? Although I don’t know his family, I really feel for them and I wish I could do something to ease their pain. I know Mayssaa and Ahmed are both very sad about it and I offer them my sincere condolences.
The death of anyone we know should remind us of how blessed we are. We are still alive! God is blessing us with his grace every day and is giving us health and the ability to run and be happy. Let’s celebrate our fortunes and work to increase goodness on this earth. How? Each one has to find his way and have impact on others such as the coach is doing with us. Remember that the attitude of one individual rubs on others around him, so as author Paulo Coelho says, you should avoid these words: "Someday", "may be", "I will try", and "if". Just do it!
Live your life so it would have meaning after you are gone.
God bless our coach and his family...
Love you all! Love running...
Data for this Friday morning run is at the URL: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141204636
Photographs from Wellness Running Friday Morning 10 Miles Run - January 13, 2012
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