The visit to the mighty Crusader fortress of Krak de Chevaliers in central Syria was a stormy one, giving the brooding castle a fitting sense of eerie doom. It happened to be March 19, one day before Operation Iraqi Freedom would begin, and during the course of the couple of hours I spent exploring the many different arches, rooms, stairwells and courtyards of the Krak, the wind and rain picked up substantially. And yet the fog persisted, which is something I've never encountered, dense fog and high ... (more)