Arrival in Tripoli was on time. Wonderful airplane ride, I've never eaten so much. We got on the plane at 8:30 pm in Toronto and ate dinner on the plane at 11 pm. By the time we got into London it was breakfast time in London (2 am Toronto time). When we departed London for Tripoli, another breakfast. So we spent the whole night eating, didn't get any sleep. Lesson learned: to maximize meals travel West to East.
As we flew into the Tripoli airport you notice the foreignness of the landscape - sand everywhere with few trees. Once we got out of the airport this all became apparent. Sand everywhere and a very damp, humid heat. And this is October! Yet is still feels like a sauna. As we drove to the house, little details of this foreign country revealed themselves. The Mediterranean architecture - large, open concrete houses. And the crazy drivers, the roads are free range, people do whatever they feel, block traffic, cut you off, and run red lights casually. We arrived at the house at last. There is an orange tree, mandarin tree, lemon tree, fig tree, and date palms everywhere. Best of all the neighbouring house has a large field with cows and sheep grazing among palm treees a wonderful combination.
That night we went to the city centre, which is almost an hour drive away. The main commercial road is lined with small stores selling everything. The shopkeepers stand outside their store watching and waiting for customers. We wandered around downtown for a bit then sat down to eat some shawarma and what not. Parking, no big deal, park where ever you feel and if someone double parks you, just roll their car out of the way. My sister and I were both dead tired from eating all night and not sleeping for 30 hours.
Next day we woke up late and went downtown to check out the bazaar in the old city. Beautiful little alleyways filled with snick knacks of every shape and size. There was even one alley where they were actually making all the copper souveniers and you hear the the clanking of craftsman hammering away at the copper. We kept wandering through the old town, and eventually made it to the gate of Marcus Aurelius. In the meantime the prayer bell rang calling all Muslims to their nearest Mosque. There are five prayers per day. As I found out that night, one of them is at 6 am. Back home for lunch and then off for a swim at the foreigner housing complex beach. Nothing like the salty sea... mmm tasty!
