Roland Garros

As every year, the end of May is pilgrimage time for me. And as every year, it is a great pleasure for me to be at Roland Garros. What a fantastic tournament!

For once, we managed to get tickets through the Internet. We were on the Susanne Lenglen court, where Serena Williams got soundly beaten. Certainly because she does not know how to play on clay. And nobody does better than Rafael Nadal. What an impression he gave during his 6-1 6-1 6-1 demolition of Jaarko Nieminen. He was even more impressive than the previous year. His vision of the game, his movements - including sliding on clay, his tactics, his forehand and most improved, his backhand. After seeing his performance, I predicted he would win the tournament. And surely he did.

One of his main competitor would be Novak Djokovic. I had enough time to take a picture of him bouncing the ball before serving. He does that at least 25 times before each service. I guess even champions have strange habits.

I also had the chance to go back down the memory lane, with the last game of Gustavo Kuerten. He won the tournament three times with his brilliance. But his back is giving his trouble. The spectators could not stop with their Mexican Wave during his double game.

I must also mention the Swiss players. I was happy to wave my flag during Patty Schnyder's game. She played well and on the same day the Swiss electorate, in a populare vote, showed tolerance and openess towards foreigners. Quite a few of my friends saw me on TV - did you as well?

Syria - Today

Let's start here with our hotel in Damascus. Such a nice indoor court. We felt then welcome from the first minute.

After that, a little tour through the souks. There are many shops and three things stand out. First, the fact that all the shop attendants are men, even for shops selling traditional women's clothes. And this is also the case in banks, restaurants, hotels. The society has found its equilibrium - probably there since years - but is this really sustainable? The second is that Chinese goods are slowly making their way into the souks, especially when it comes to children clothes. The third is the feeling of safety. The sellers are not aggressive at all and the vibe is relaxed. This is a good surprise.
But is this really a surprise... The president's picture is all over the place. He is keeping a watchful eye on its people. Nevertheless, the presence of the security apparatus is not as visible as in Egypt. We travelled throughout the country and never were stopped by the police.

This stability in the country contrasts with the troubles in many neighbouring countries. While we were there, there suddenly was an outburst of violence in Lebanon. And then, on the other side, there is Irak. We took the road to Baghdad. But a trip to this city will be for another time.

Syria - Christian and Muslim period

Let us start with the interesting story of Saint Simeon. In 400 AD, this shepard wanted to live an ascetic life, away from the people, so that he could connect with God. He decided to stay on top of a pillar, first 3 meters high and finally 18 meters high. Pilgrims would come from afar to see this extremely pious person. His way of connecting with religion by staying and praying on top of a pillar spread in the region and even further afield. The legend says it went as far as Central Europe, where it faltered because of the cold weather... So Saint Simeon would preach from the top of his pillar and shout his advices, but he refused to speak to women and would not allow his mother to come close to his pillar. He died in 459 AD. Local people decided then to build a church around his pillar. This church was the biggest at this time. Pilgrims came from far and took away pieces of the pillar as souvenir. St. Simeons' pillar is nowadays reduced to a big stone.

A few years later, in 636, the Muslims entered the capital city of Damascus. They chose an ancient Aramean/Roman/Christian temple to convert it into a Mosque. They actually let the Christians pray inside the Mosque for a few decades. But then, under the Umayyades, Damascus became the capital of the Islamic world. The whole site was then converted into a splendid mosque, that required seven years of taxes to build. It is now the third most holy mosque after Mecca and Jerusalem.

Then, there was a period of constant conflicts between the Muslims and the Christians. The most famous symbol is the Krak des Chevaliers. It was build between 1050-1250. It very impressively dominates the whole region and was a key post for the Christian Crusaders on the way to Jerusalem. It is a huge fortress with an outside wall and its 13 towers and the castle itself. Inside, it is like a town made for around 2000 people, with a church, stables, baths, warehouses with supplies to last for 5 years and of course, many rooms. This castle was actually never conquered. Indeed in 1271, the Muslims surrounded the castle, which had become the last outpost of the retreating Christians. So after a month of siege, the Crusaders agreed to abandon it, in exchange for a safe escape.
Approximately at the same time, in Aleppo, the second city, the Muslims built and reinforced the Citadel. The walls and the main doors are impressive. It is a big and as solid as any of the Crusader's castles.
A last example of the new techologies invented by the Muslims are the norias - wooden water wheels. They are more than 20 meters high and were used to scoop water from the Orontes river and deposit it into aqueducts. A very efficient way to irrigate the neighbouring areas.

Syria - Greek and Roman periods

The most impressive monuments and sites in Syria are without doubts the ones dating from the Greek/Roman period. In chronological order, we first visited the town of Bosra, with its splendid Roman Theatre. This town has an old history but it is at the time when local man, Philip, became Emperor of Rome, that the town gained the status of metropolis. The theatre can contain 15000 people. There are also remnants of the old town with gates, public baths, columns and markets. As is often the case, many buildings were later cannibalised by buildings from other rulers, the Christians built churches, the Mamluks mosques and hammams.

Apamea was built 2300 years ago by a general of Alexander the Great. The town is surrounded by good grazing land and at one stage was home of some 500000 people, but also of 3000 horses and even 500 war elephants. The key attraction of the town is its main street, decorated by parallel colonnades on a lenght of 1.8 kilometers. It is an amazing sights. Here we should thank a Belgian team that did "reconstructive archeology", meaning that it rebuilt the columns that were scattered and covered with sand and weeds.Let's keep the best for last: Palmyra. I do not think I have ever seen such an extended and well preserved site as this one. Maybe it is also the fact that it is in the middle of the desert, next to an oasis.

Most of the temples that we still see today today from 200 AD. It served as a major trading post between the Mediterranean sea and the Euphratis/Tiger rivers. There were many caravans stopping by. Levying tax on them was the main revenue source of the town. The first picture actually shows the "agora", the place where trade was taking place. Most writings were done both in Palmyrean, the local language, and in Greek, the language of trade. The Romans gave large freedom to the free city. The local people were allowed to build a temple in honour of their God, Bel. The temple is in the middle of a huge courtyard, where many sacrificial animals were killed. The temple itself is very well preserved. It is also noteworthy that it was later transformed into a church and a mosque. Local families were still living on the premises until the 1930's. A hotel - where we stayed - was constructed by the French almost on the ruins. Our guide told us that he hopes this hotel will soon be destroyed. Selfishly, it is true that it is an unforgetful experience to have breakfast in the middle of this splendour, but this is not the best way to preserve the site.

Syria - craddle of civilisations

Syria's history is incredibly rich. On one side, the Euphratis/Tiger rivers have led to the emergence of Mesopotamians. The town of Mari was built around 5000 years ago. Today there remains very little. In the Aleppo museum, we could see this greened bronze lion, a symbol of this early civilisation.

On the other side, there is the Mediterranean sea. Here a town called Ugarit became the first international port and was at its peak - around 4000 years ago - the most important town on this sea. It is quite unusual that a successful town would develop that much when it was not for religious or military reasons. Quite a few innovations originate from here. The first one is the paped water system and drainage. The French are still searching through the ruins to find further evidence of the wealth and efficient organisation of the city.

The second one is the Ugaritic alphabet. At that time, there existed only two writings: the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians and the cuneiforms from Mesopotamia. But these two were complex pictograms, whereas the Ugaritic alphabet greatly simplifies the system with 30 symbols, each representing one sound. It is very likely that this alphabet was the ancestor of the Greek and Roman alphabets. The tablet pictures represents a complete alphabet.

Finally, the town of Amrit was built 2600 years ago by the Phoenicians and later conquered by Alexander the Great. Today, there remains a necropolis. These monuments have four lions around the base and underground there are funeral chambers. There is also a temple and a stadium. The architecture boasts a mix of Persian, Egyptian and Greek influence.

Federer at Estoril

On the outskirts of Lisbonne took place the ATP tennis tournament of Estoril. Nice little tournament, where it is difficult to buy a tournament T-shirt.

Federer decided to play at this rather minor tournament to get some practive on clay. On Friday, his quarter-final opponent was the local player Frederico Gil. It was the first time that a Portuguese player took on a World Number 1.

The spectators were nonetheless very supportive of Federer. Not so many people were waving flags, probably because the weather was unsettled to say the least. Federer's game was interrupted three times (!) by showers.

In the end, Federer prevailed 6-4 and 6-1. He was as usual very light on his feet, although he was not yet sliding like one should on clay. He made some very nice shots and his balls had much speed on his forehand. We saw a few aces, some volleys and a couple of long rallies. Good practice game. Federer bettered the record of his girlfriend who managed a quarter final there a few years ago. Federer mentioned that she was angry at him that she did not come to the stadium today. Good player with a good sense of humour.


Later on Friday, World Number 4 Davydenko also won his game, but with more difficulties. Eventually he was the one who faced Federer in the final played on Sunday. Federer won after Davydenko gave up in the second set for obscure reasons.

Lisbonne

After a short flight, there we are in Portugal. That is the beauty of Europe - so much cultural diversity in such a small space. Lisbonne is a beautiful capital with imposing white buildings, big squares, large avenues and many statues symbolising all the country's heroes.
The vibe is relaxed and it is a pleasure to sit in the little restaurants and enjoy some local food, even if it looks funny at times.
Lisbonne is most of all well known for its glorious past and its position at the Western-most tip of Europe, facing America. One symbol is the Monument of Discoveries.
Further down the Tage river, there is the Belem Tower. If you happen to go there, remember to look for the sculpture of a rhinoceros on an outside wall of the tower. The architect was surprised to see such an animal brought back from Africa, especially since the animal was one of the few to make it to the shore, when the boat capsized in the bay.


In the neighbourhood, the most impressive building is the Monastery of Jeronimos. Of course, I am not saying that because it bears my name (actually, it was there before I was born, so I should say that I bear its name...). Indeed the construction began in 1502. It took 50 years to complete and was financed by taxes on the trade of spices.
Inside, it is filled with rich ornaments. The most spectacular one is the stone tomb of the great explorer Vasco de Gama. In the background, a painting with Saint Jerome.
It is a must to walk inside the church and the monastery. It is a two-storey cloister, which was a novelty at the time. It has a rich array of decorations: arches, windows, ornaments, gargoyles.


On a final note, it is there that was signed the Treaty of Lisbonne in 2007, giving birth to the latest European Union Treaty. Another reason to be proud of this building. And a sign that Portugal can project its glorious past into the present.