On Monday October 29 we paid Hassam $US100 (see pic again below) to drive us south through Echmoun and Sidon to Tyre.

This church just south of Sidon is where Mary is supposed to have waited for Jesus while he went on to preach to the Canaanites. Good Jewish ladies weren’t supposed to go into pagan lands, so he went on without her. Allegedly.

This is the actual grotto in which she waited. Allegedly. Here I am beseeching her to nag her son and her father-in-law to let me into Heaven when I kick the bucket, even if I don’t quite manage to give up sin.

At least she had a nice view while she waited.

Here I am having a bet each way at a mosque in Sayda (Sidon).

Who doesn’t love a good old castle? This one’s at Sidon. Go crusaders!

By the time we get to Tyre we’re overdue for lunch.

The grapes were excellent – crisp and sweet. The persimmons were lush and juicy but I have a bit of a problem with soft squishy fruit. Fourteen years in Darwin and I still don’t like mangoes either. The flavours are good; just don’t like the texture.

Back streets of the old Christian town in Tyre.

Little Christian tableau.

This pic appears in an earlier post but chronologically it belongs here. We met the guy on the left in Tyre, just before going to Al-Bass (below), vast Roman archaeological site featuring this magnificent restored arch and…

….this huge hippodrome, best-preserved in the world and second only in size to the Circus Maximus in Rome.

The pole down the end represents the turning point, and the bleachers down there are the best seats in the house because it’s where all the spills and crashes occurred.

It’s absolutely huge…