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Days five and six of our working visit to Lebanon

Beirut 21 and 22 November 2025

Waking up in Byblos is never boring.

The view from the breakfast table on the Crusader castle and the Mediterranean Sea is phenomenal and if we look to the right we see Beirut.

Georges comes up with the idea of visiting the fortress of Mseillah. For the past two years, the fort has been subject to a restoration project and today a meeting has been organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. For us, this is an excellent and unique opportunity to expand our network.

At the end of the tour through the fortress and the adjacent restored watermill we are spoiled with traditional Lebanese sandwiches, coffee and tea.

After a week of hustle and bustle, it is wonderful to take it easy for the rest of the day. We drive into the mountains and visit the monasteries with the tombs of Saint Rafka and Saint Hardini and Estephan. The weather is beautiful and we enjoy the serene peace here. At the end of the afternoon we drive to Batroun and just catch the beautiful sunset. We take beautiful pictures and then walk to the school to pick up Bart to go to Byblos.

Of course not before we grab a nice cup of ice cream at Hilmi's.

Day 6 of our working visit.

And then it's Saturday again. Our last full day here. Sunday we leave again for, rightly, our cold little country.

The main goal of this day was to visit the orphanage in Zahle.We were expected there around 13.00 pm, so we had time to visit the ancient Roman city of Anjar beforehand. Bart came with us today. Very nice to be able to show him a little more of the beauty of this country. Until now, he saw little more than the schools where he works when he is here.
We drove via Damascus Road, over the top of Lebanon mountain, via Chtaura into the Bekaa Valley. We made a stop for coffee and Knefeh and drove past Zahle towards Anjar.

The visit to the old town was again a nice impressive experience with Georges' explanation. We were the only tourists at this special historical place.

We continued our way to the Ksara wine castle, where we bought a nice bottle of Eau de Vie to take with us to the Netherlands tomorrow in our suitcase.

Then towards the orphanage. We have no idea what and who we would find there. Upon arrival we were overwhelmed by the cheerfulness, the warmth that the house exudes. The orphanage was founded 30 years ago by Sister/Mother Virgini, a compassionate woman with a mission.
She came from a wealthy family by Lebanese standards. Reluctantly from her father but supported by her mother, she followed her dream and founded this orphanage. The furniture and other furnishings have not changed in those 30 years. It is well maintained and that is necessary, because no money has been coming in from the government since 2021. The money from donations is desperately needed for food and good education. The rest is less important.

There are currently 65 children living there and Sister Virgini has adopted 17 children, aged from 0 to now 33.De oldest children have good jobs and some work in the 'family'. We brought a large box of chocolates for all the children and from the Netherlands a few bags full of beautiful knitted sweaters and cardigans in all sizes, made with love by the wife of a UNIFIL veteran.

Wonderful to see how well they turn out to end up here.

We got coffee and cookies and to our great surprise a large group of children came in to sing songs for us.

To generate some income, a Christmas market was set up in the adjacent garden room where everyone can buy homemade items. We bought some tablecloths for Christmas before we left and have now got a good idea of what this orphanage can use.

In Zahle, Bart, Charles and Jeannet climbed the watchtower with The Lady of Zahle. The elevator didn't work, but the view over the Bekaa valley is phenomenal here, so we took the stairs.

Next to the Lady of Zahle a brand new Russian Orthodox church has been built and we couldn't resist taking a look there too, before we drove back to Byblos.