Postman's victory and photo memories from Levant!

I must go to the post office to collect a registered letter. The postman rang the door bell downstairs the other day, but by the time I made my way downstairs, he was gone. He won the race again!

I walked back in the rain through Walpole Park:

Then I sought shelter taking a shortcut through the shopping centre where I encountered these two dogs:

In the evening I browsed through some old pictures and found a big folder from a visit to Syria, one of quite a few. It was so amazing to be there, meet the friendly and helpful people, see different religions coexist peacefully, as an outsider would think. There were many thing that surprised us, but truly, we never anticipated what was to happen.... Where are the students who helped us get home by public transport after the performance at the National Cultural Centre? What happened to the wonderful jewellery maker who out of his initiative and to our great astonishment, turned out at the crack of dawn in our hotel to take us to the airport and refused any money for that. He felt offended when we offered him a box of chocolates for his children. We were his friends, he told us! Are his children and wife safe? I remember him telling us that he worked in his little workshop till late, Monday to Saturday, and on Sunday they all go to church and have a family dinner... There were passers-by who, went asked the way, would walk with us until they made sure we were on the right track. So many other encounters which gave this feeling of tactful openness and friendliness, without putting pressure on you to buy something from them. We tried to explore as much as we could in Damascus and we also took a trip to two spectacular places in the mountains. The pictures below are from that trip.

Leaving Damascus:

Some houses on the way out of the city:

Area near the National Cultural Centre:

We never ever thought that things would go so wrong in that country....