Project 23mm | Our Lady Of Lebanon - Day 2

My second day here in Jounieh had a strong spiritual context. My friend Pascal took me to see the wonderful statue of The Virgin Mary, “Our Lady of Lebanon”.

Legend has it, that this statue that watches over the city has brought peace to this part of the Middle East.

My time here was spent thinking of my own mother.

The Tower which Mother Mary stands is actually home to a small Chapel. I took a moment to spend time inside and say a Hail Mary for my mother.😢

Pascsl and I decide to climb the spiral stairs to the very top. It was precarious with people coming down as we went up.

The view was spectacular.

I was able to get a decent shot of The Basilica.

After the tour of this holy place, we rested for a while before heading out for dinner.

I must say, the food here is nothing short of sensational. The preparation, presentation and the social context of everyone sharing was beautiful. We were joined by Roderick, Tony, and Dominique.

Our food platter was stunning - five courses of different dishes all laid out to our visual delight.

Food is big aspect of Lebanese life.

The sharing is part of the community, every one dips in, its very inclusive, my friends made me feel very welcome and part of the family.

The final spread consisted of Lebanese Barbecue, Fresh Fruit, Desert and Arabic Coffee.

Babyl is one of the finest restaurants I have ever seen and also one of the top environments for fine dinning in Lebanon.

My XPro2 and 23mm Lens excelled tonight.

My camera was set to auto ISO with a minimum Shutter Speed of 1/125th. My Film Simulation was set to Astia Soft. This colour palette suited the ambient setting perfectly.

I was able to create a few portraits of my friends - more of an environmental portrait which worked perfectly

Today was lovely.

Perfect in every way.

Tomorrow will be all about Magic.

Stay tuned, thanks for reading.