Our First Few Days in Lebanon

We left Athens for Beirut, Lebanon on the morning of Thursday, July 28th. Since the taxis were still on strike throughout Greece, our hotel concierge called a private car for us. On the way to the airport, our driver informed us that once we reached the drop-off area, we needed to pretend that he was a friend of ours, or else he could get into trouble for violating union regulations. After he helped us take our bags out of the trunk, Nish and I both leaned in for hugs but he shook our hands instead. So much for being our "friend."

Our flight was relatively quick and the guy sitting next to us turned out to be a half-Greek, half-Lebanese citizen of both countries. We enthusiastically made plans to meet up in Athens after we all returned from Lebanon - which of course didn't happen - but it was interesting getting his take on both places.

Nishant's friend, Morgan, picked us up from the airport and while driving to downtown Beirut, we quickly realized how similar Lebanon and India are, from the traffic to the general condition of the buildings. The pollution isn't as bad in Lebanon, though, and it is also cleaner than India, probably since it's a much smaller country.

Morgan, Nishant and I met up with his mother, Wafa, and some of their family friends at a cute coffee shop on Hamra. Hamra Street has a ton of boutiques and cafés and is only a few blocks away from the American University of Beirut. Our first couple days in Lebanon consisted of taking in local sights, eating traditional Lebanese mezze, and experiencing the crazy nightlife in Beirut (not to mention adjusting to the stifling humidity).

Malek-El Batata: King of Potato

The beautiful Beirut coastline

On the coast

The American University of Beirut

Nish at the American University of Beirut
(you can see of the entrance gates in the background)

Caribou Coffee!

Café  Hamra 
(I'm so proud of this picture bc I set it up :) )

Nish enjoying a beer

Traditional Lebanese mezze

Out with friends at Al Mandaloun nightclub

Nish and I

 More to come... :)

Greece & Lebanon - 2011

I have to admit that I've been a little afraid to start this blog post.  It's a daunting task to begin organizing 30 days of vacation and 1600 photos, but I can't imagine not sharing everything we saw and experienced while we were away.

Nishant and I left for Athens, Greece on the afternoon of July 25th. To say we were excited is an understatement - the thought of getting away for an entire month without having to worry about work or our upcoming move was amazing.  The flight to Amsterdam was long, but the following one to Athens wasn't as bad. We landed in Athens around 4pm on July 26th. After 16 hours of travel, we were looking forward to getting straight to our hotel. We spotted a line of taxis upon exiting the airport and made our way over to them in the hopes of quickly grabbing one. This was, as we would soon learn, wishful thinking - as it turned out, the cabs were on strike (which begs the question: WHY were they at the airport?) and we ended up having to take the train into Athens. While this doesn't sound so bad, "taking the train" consisted of lugging our baggage on and off three different trains while attempting to read the platform signs (in Greek) and adjusting to the stifling heat. It took us about two and a half hours to get from the airport to our hotel when it should have taken us at most 30 minutes by cab. Even after emerging from the underground train station in Athens, we walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction before realizing our hotel was on the opposite side of where we were headed. The only consolation was an amazing view we got of the Acropolis while running between train platforms.

The Acropolis

We were pleasantly surprised at how nice our hotel/room was (especially since we booked the best deals we could find online via hotels.com).  After showering and napping for a bit, we headed to dinner at a nice spot called Alexander's a few blocks from our hotel.

Still pretty tired...

Nish is refreshed!

July 27th:
After a good night's sleep, Nish and I woke up bright and early the next morning. We were excited to get a move on and see Athens before it got too hot.  We arrived outside of the Acropolis gates around 8:30am. I couldn't wait to see the ancient citadel through Nishant's eyes. He shares my love of history, but being so busy with medical school/residency/fellowship the past nine years has prevented him from traveling as much as he would have liked to. Needless to say, he was in awe - it's hard not to be - when we reached the top. Seeing such a monumental piece of history can be a little overwhelming. When you look at the Acropolis, you're witnessing the evidence of the rise and inevitable fall of even the greatest and most powerful of civilizations...it reminds you of how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things and of how short and precious life is.

Me at the base of the Acropolis

The Theatre of Dionysus
(some of the front-row seats are still intact!)

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus
(concerts are held here to this day)

The Porch of the Maidens

The Parthenon

Our next stop was the Acropolis Museum, which is beautifully designed. Often in places like Greece and Lebanon, developers begin construction on buildings only to discover ruins underground. In many cases, they pick up and find a new location to build. The builders of the Acropolis Museum ran into the same problem, but instead of moving, they decided to continue building directly above the ruins and make sections of the floor glass, allowing visitors to look down and see the ruins right below.

Nishant in front of the Acropolis Musuem
(you can see the ruins below)

After the museum, we took in some more sights around Athens, including the Arch of Hadrian, the Panathenaic Stadium (which hosted the 1st Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896), and the ancient Agora (my personal favorite).

A tiny view of the Acropolis through the Arch of Hadrian

 Nish super excited to be at the Panathenaic Stadium :)

Nish is a champion!

I liked her pose

Nish in front of the Temple of Hephaestus

Dinner time!

Vino time!

More to come in upcoming posts...!

A Quick Update: Graduation, NY, Our Summer Trip and School

Today is Nish's Fellowship graduation, and I can't stress enough how proud I am of him! He's an amazing doctor and, not at all surprisingly, his patients love him. There are few people in the world who are completely passionate about what they do, but my Nish is one of them. Congrats, Dr. K! :)

After graduation, Nish and I are catching a red-eye to New York, and we're so excited! It's been awhile since we've been able to enjoy a weekend in another city together without having a set agenda. We plan on running around, visiting friends and eating everything in sight.  Hopefully the humidity doesn't kill my hair (i.e. Monica Geller Bing in that Friends episode where they go to Barbados). Not a pretty look.

Towards the end of July, we'll be heading off on our trip to Lebanon and Greece. (Turkey got axed because Nish and I realized we needed more than ten days to really get a feel for the country - hopefully next year!) We'll be visiting Beirut, Athens, the islands of Santorini, Milos, and Sifnos, and touring the Peloponnese, where we'll end our trip in Ancient Olympia. I've put together a pretty awesome travel binder, if I may say so myself.

The Cover of Our Amazing Travel Binder

When we get back, we'll be making our move down to Newport Beach, where we're this close to signing a lease at an apartment complex we love. *Crossing our fingers*  In October, I'll be starting a Masters in Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University, which I'm thrilled about.  After about two years of school, I'll start a supervised internship in order to obtain 3,000 hours of clinical work, which will then qualify me to take the Marriage and Family Therapy licensing exam. I'm on my way to becoming a therapist!

So, as you can see, lots of exciting developments. Can't wait for the next couple months.

Busy Busy Busy - Part II

April 8th Weekend: San Diego for Shaily's & Vishal's wedding

April 22nd Weekend: Colleen is in town - wedding dress shopping???

April 24th: Cirque du Soleil w/Mama & Papa

April 29th Weekend: Vegas with the girlies!!!

May 6th Weekend: San Francisco for Priti's b-day :)

Mid-May: Mom's coming to LA to stay with us!

May 27th Weekend: Camping in Santa Cruz with the Kumar-Joshis

June 10th Weekend: Hopefully San Francisco for Priyal's graduation from dental school!

June 24th Weekend: NEW YORK

July 1st Weekend: Neha's & Hirsch's Wedding

Mid-July: We're moving to Newport Beach

July 23rd: Aghi's & Sana's Wedding

July 24th: Off to Greece, Turkey and Lebanon...

Start Spreadin' the News...

It looks like Nishant and I can look forward to another great trip - at the end of June, we're going to New York! We're heading to the Big Apple for one of my work events, but we also plan on celebrating his graduation from Fellowship. Here are just a few of the places I can't wait to eat at:

Russ & Daughters

 This place supposedly has the best bagels & lox in Manhattan!  And it's only a block from where we're staying...

Kati Rolls

At Kati Rolls, you get a spicy mixture of meat and vegetables in warm Indian flatbread! It's great any time of the day, but it's even better when you're drunk or hung over!

53rd & 6th Halal Cart

In one word: amazing! Out of 1,576 reviews on Yelp, the Cart has an average of 4.5 stars. Enough said.

Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar 

A chocolate bar? Easily the best idea ever! With items on the menu like 'Cookieshakes,' 'Chocolate Chai,' and 'The Spectacular Melting Chocolate S'Mores Sundae,' you can't go wrong.

L'Express

Home of the best shoestring fries and Moroccan-spiced lamb burger I've ever eaten!

Lombardi's Pizza

 Dubbed 'America's First Pizzeria,' this place has been serving up the Napoletana staple since 1905!

Not sure how far we'll get after all that eating, but I'd love to hit up some of these places, too!:

Central Park

The American Museum of Natural History

Times Square

Our Big Fat Greek (Turkish and Lebanese) Vacation!

This summer, Nish and I are heading to Lebanon, Turkey and Greece for a bit of an extended vacation. Our friend Morgan has generously offered to take us on a tour of Lebanon - the coast, the countryside, the villages, the ruins, the nightlife, and - most importantly - the food! In Greece, we'll be seeing our friends Troy and Liz, whose baby is being baptized there in the Greek Orthodox Church. We're so excited for Turkey as well. I've always wanted to visit Istanbul, a modern metropolis of cultures, beliefs, and attitudes set against an ancient backdrop that has served as the capital of some of the world's most influential empires: Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman. I'm going to attempt to keep a travel (b)log to document our journey, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be. I can't wait to share our travels with everyone.

Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, Lebanon 

Whitewashed Buildings in Santorini, Greece

Yeni Cami (New Mosque) in Istanbul, Turkey

I put the pictures above in random order, but just realized that the layout is actually chronological: 

1. A Pagan temple from an era well before monotheism was advocated. 

2. Buildings topped with crosses that represent the Greek Orthodox Church (one of the earliest forms of Christianity).

3. A mosque representing Islam, which came some 590 years after the advent of Christianity. 

Decisions! Decisions!

Over the past few months, Nishant and I have gone back and forth about what we're going to do after he graduates from fellowship and University Housing officially kicks us out at the end of July. He'll be joining a private practice in Newport Beach in addition to working at rehabs in Orange County and continuing his gig at a research clinic in Torrance. I will (hopefully) be starting school in October and working part-time. We weren't sure whether or not we wanted to give up the income and benefits we're getting with my current full-time position, so we considered moving to somewhere in the South Bay (i.e. Hermosa Beach or Manhattan Beach) so I could keep my job. After an eye-opening weekend filled with discussions about our future and a candid conversation with his soon-to-be partner at the practice, we ultimately realized that moving to Newport - though a huge change and slightly precarious situation financially - would finally allow us to embark on the first few years of marriage that we've been so eagerly anticipating.  We'll both be furthering our careers and will be able to spend more time with each other (and less time commuting) - two things we're really looking forward to! Come August, the Kumars will be living in Newport Beach!

          

My Loves

This past weekend, we celebrated Mama's and Papa's 40th anniversary with a special dinner at Benihana.  Afterwards, I got the chance to spend time with three of my favorite people in the world - my hubby and my sisters. We ended up at a small club on Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, and we pretty much spent the entire night with each other - and ONLY each other.