My Daily Walk to School

We looked at many many apartments before we found the one in which we now live. The most important feature for me was that it be located close to the Tigerkid`s school. The reason being that the traffic in this city is atrocious and we only have one car. If we had to drive to school, I would need to drop off Tigerpapa at work and then continue to the school to be there by 7:50 am. Then, I would need to return to the school twice to pick up the kids because they are let out at different times (Tigerboy is still in kindergarten). Our real estate agent kept telling me that it only takes 10 minutes to drive to the school from here or there but she was LYING. She meant that it only takes 10 minutes to drive to the school if I was living in some freaky parallel universe where I was the ONLY one driving to pick up my children at their respective finishing times. Not only that, there are many days here where the roads are blocked off for various reasons (usually peaceful but you never know....). Also, keep in mind that the Tigerkid`s school is one of 3 schools in the same neighborhood and they are all connected. One of those schools is the American University of Beirut and huge. Anyhoo, I finally ditched the bad agent and found our place all by myself. What I didn`t realize is that the walk to and, more importantly, from school would involve a lot of stairs.

This is where we enter the campus of one of the other schools in the area. It`s really great that this campus opens it`s gates to the parents and children of our school because it is a major shortcut. The entrance is on the other side of the street beyond the red-rimmed triangle sign (notice all the traffic!):


Isn`t it pretty:


Beyond the trees you can see the Mediterranean sea:


Here comes the first set of stairs:


And the next:


Oh look! Some more:


And MORE:


Then we arrive at the school (once again, notice the cars!):


It`s not so bad on the way down. It`s going back that`s the killer. Here is our "resting tree" on the way back:


Continuing back:


Over on the righthand side of this picture is the home of the president of the school we shortcut through. He has two black labs that are very friendly. Most days the kids stop to pet them:


Last set of stairs on the way back:


Home sweet home:


I get to do that 3 times every day...woohoo!

P.S. Look who`s waiting for us every day: