Kabul was once a beautiful city, bustling, full of schools
and businesses and elegant Roman-style government buildings.
The Darulaman Palace, built in 1923, is a ghostly sign
of Kabul's former splendor. The road to the palace used
to be bordered with tall trees. But the trees have been
cut down, so now the long road winds through rubble.
If it were intact, the palace -- five stories tall, with
an inner courtyard -- would rival any in Europe. Qayum
Karzai told me he remembered going there when he was a
child and eating ice cream in the gardens.
