I Believe

The week finally ended after finishing a series of meetings and work over three days in Syria. It was a good end to the year with all done and dusted. Now ready for a new phase in the project come the new year. On the last night in Damascus, we went on a 30 minute walk to the Old City to our favourite restaurant - however was full - we regretted for not making an advance booking. So off we went on a search for alternative and found this one. This restaurant has an amazing ambiance inside, well decorated, the main dining place is set in an old courtyard. The place was well patroned.

Eating out with families and friends is one of the main social acitivities for the locals here. We were told that normally people would go out for 3 hours in a restaurant for hokkah and dinner. Hokkah or water-pipe for smoking is everywhere to be seen, used by both men and women. My Syrian colleague told me that women only picked this habit recently. Five years ago there was hardly any women smoking hokkah. But now it's a common sight, though not as bad as smoking. Herbal fruits are used as flavours so the smoky air does smell quite sweet.

Then back to Holland yesterday, welcomed by cold and rainy weather. Now everybody at home are on a break. I am on leave through the Christmas period. Kids are on their school break into the first week of the new year. We got plans to travel on the road over the coming week. Hopefully the weather and the road conditions are on our side.