Libya - 8 October 2010 (2)

Apollonia

There was no need to get the bus in the afternoon as we only had to cross the car park to visit Apollonia, which had been the port for Cyrene.

Central Church

Roman Baths

Not much of the site has been excavated, just three churches, one palace, some baths and a theatre.  They were all strung in a line between the hill and the sea, so it was quite a walk to see everything.  The theatre was at the very end.  We could not go down to it, so we remained at the top.  It was in a beautiful location, with the sea foaming over the rocks behind the stage.  We spent some time looking at it and then had to walk back.

Palace of the Dux

Eastern Church

The evening before, after I had gone to bed, the others had discovered that Ali spoke Italian.  There are not many Italian speakers in Libya nowadays, as it is a long time since the Italians left the country, and most of them are elderly.  I decided to practice my very rusty Italian, so I walked back with Ali.  It was so difficult not to start speaking Spanish, but we did manage to chat.  Ali gave me the typical chat up lines, but it was easy to put him off by revealing how old I was.  Anyway, he already had seven children by his first wife.  He said that Mahmoud had twelve!

Theatre by the Sea

We all sat on the balcony outside the hotel when we got back and had a coffee.  Then I went upstairs to crash for a while.

Long Walk back to the Hotel

I had been looking forward to dinner that evening and was so disappointed to find that there was no mashed potato.  I asked which were the vegetarian options and the waiter pointed out four of the dishes.  I helped myself to the couscous and vegetables and the waiter served me the chick peas, with an extra spoonful of the sauce, which he poured over everything.  I had just had a couple of spoonfuls, when Caroline came up and said not to eat the chick peas as they had been cooked in a meat sauce.  I was so upset that I had eaten some meat that I created quite a scene in the dining room.

I created another scene in reception and the manager came to speak to me.  He was a nice elderly man.  I don’t eat meat because I do not think it is right to eat animals, so I challenged him on the ethical issues.  I asked how he would feel if he was given something to eat and was told that it was beef or lamb and then he discovered it was pork.  Or what if he was given something and then discovered the sauce had been made with alcohol?  I think he understood how important it was to me and why I was so upset.  They gave me a mango juice and a banana and I went up to the room.

So let this be a warning to any vegetarians who travel to this area.  The definition of vegetarian food is that there are no lumps of meat.  As far as they are concerned, meat stock is vegetarian.  I started to suspect that some of the vegetables and couscous I had eaten earlier in the holiday were also cooked in meat stock.  I was quite glad that I had not felt like eating much for most of the time.

It was late when Caroline came back to the room.  I thought she would be annoyed at me because I had created a scene, but it was just the opposite.  She was positively buzzing because she had met a couple who had been in the same group as her on a holiday to China.  They had been talking downstairs for ages and making up for lost time, much to the disquiet of Ali who was wondering why she was talking to some strangers.  Her friends were also vegetarian and had been standing in the queue in the restaurant when I was complaining and they said that they completely understood why I was upset and would have done the same.