Sign In
Blogs from Beirut, Lebanon, Middle East
Advertisement
November 11th 2012
When I told my Lebanese barber back home I was hoping to swing by the "mother country" on our world trip, his response was lifted straight from Lebanon's patriotic script, infused with that Lebanese/Australian accent of the young that I don't quite get; "MATE! Lebanon is fooly seek MATE". His next line was a given. The Lebanese cliche of; "Mate. You can ski in da mawning and go sweeming at da bich in da aftanoon mate". With those adulations in mind and Istanbul in the plane's rear view mirror, we were Beirut bound. We call it chaos. The Lebanese call Beirut home and it began at the airport. Our flight coincided with a plane load of devotees returning from the Hajj and the terminal resembled a ticker tape parade for a victorious sporting team. In the ... read more
September 10th 2012
10 September Our last evening Beirut was very low key. After our adventure to the ABC mall, we went back to the hotel as Bill had really come down with whatever bug I had. I went to dinner to le Chef (a ho hum experience – the hommus and wine was good. Can’t vouch for the half cold bland kibbe smothered in white sauce!) The next day, after breakfast (and with Bill feeling better) we set out for our last half day in Beirut. We visited the Mohammed Al-Amin mosque, where assassinated prime minister Rafic Hariri is buried. Yaye, so happy we visited it was so beautiful. No matter how many mosques I visit, I am still in awe of the large domes, gorgeous chandeliers and the intricate artwork. Once the call to prayer was called, ... read more
September 8th 2012
We are at the end of our sojourn in Lebanon. I left the last blog at Bacharre. As it turned out we didn’t go to play billiards the last night at Bacharre, rather we had a nice evening under the grape vines chatting with the hotel owner and shared a bottle of wine. The next day we were on to Byblos, but first we went for another hike (!) in Tannourine reserve, which is the second largest cedar tree reserve in Lebanon. After that we arrived at Byblos. Byblos is a lovely medieval town on the Mediterranean. Not long after we arrived, we hit the beach and rewarded ourselves with a couple of bottles of Almaza, Lebanon’s beer. Then we went for a walk through the medieval souk. Byblos is such a pretty town I wish ... read more
September 4th 2012
I am restarting my blog for our 2012 trip – Lebanon and Europe for 2 months with my boyfriend and travelling partner Bill. We have now been in Lebanon for 4 days and are well into our intrepid trip. After an epic flight from Brisbane we arrived in Beirut eager to explore this one country in the Levant region of the Middle East we have yet to visit (with the exception of Israel & the Palestinian territories). Our hotel in Beirut turned out to be the perfect location for nightlife in Beirut. Gemmayze, and in particular, rue Gouraud, is filled with bars, nightclubs and eateries. The next day we set out on foot to theneighbourhood and Hamra. What surprised me with Beirut is the amount of money centered on centre ville and the Hamra area with ... read more
August 14th 2012
We wtorek rano pojechalismy z Q. do Bejrutu, gdzie w słońcu było 39 stopni, a w powietrzu wisiała wilgotna chmura spalin. Miasto w dalszym ciagu jest jednym wielkim placem budowy, ukurzonym, chaotycznym, gdzie rządza samochody, drzew nie ma zupełnie, nie mówiąc już o kwiatach. Parku nie ma żadnego, więc każde nowobudowane kondo chwali się, że ma zieleń - de facto wymanicurowany skrawek trawy. Jedyną naturalną przyrodniczą konstrukcją w mieście są tzw. Pigeon Rocks- dwie skałki oddalone nieco od brzegu, de facto toaleta pigeonów. Szklane architektonicne cudeńka z basenami na dachach przeplataja się z wojennymi ruinami. Świateł dla pieszych praktycznie nie ma, bo w tym upale mało kto spaceruje, a jak już nawet są światła, to nie ma wcale gwarancji bezpiecznego przejscia. W marinie stoją l... read more
Advertisement
June 6th 2012
We flew into Beirut looking forward to eating kebabs, felafel, hummus and enjoying a few drinks, and it hasn’t disappointed. It seems kebab eating is acceptable at all times of the day, they also eat a sort of cheese pizza thing for breakfast so we have taken full advantage of both and no doubt put back on the few kilos that we lost in India. But its not all been unhealthy, in the bars they like to serve carrot sticks with beer so we’ve managed to have one of our five a day while enjoying a beer or two. There is apparently a lively bar scene here but unfortunately our budget has us in bed before 9pm when the happy hour ends… Beirut is a really easy city to walk around as its pretty small, didn't ... read more
April 10th 2012
Only a short trip - five days, but enough time for a little look around. However, I've only been home a day and already I know that I'll be back at some point...this city is staying with me. I based myself in Hamra, which turned out to be a good place for me - dusty, busy and slightly chaotic, with utterly mad traffic - to cross the road, don't wait for a gap - you'll never get across. Instead, just step out. Somehow, the traffic - already slow, although bumper to bumper - slows even more for you. I was escorted across Hamra Street on my first day there by an armed soldier, who stuck out his hand to stop the cars. Think he just got fed up of watching my utterly pathetic attemps to cross ... read more
April 6th 2012
It's everywhere and most of it is really great - very little rubbishy tagging and much more political statement (well, on the whole). Most of this is from around Hamra..... read more
December 17th 2011
You haven’t seen Beirut until you’ve seen Beirut at night. It’s at night that the city wakes up and everyone comes out to play. With their troubled history, no one understands about living for the moment better than Beirutis. They do it right. Whatever your predilection for nightlife – from American swing dancing to Arabic belly dancing; from shaking your hips to Latin beats to shaking your dreads to reggae rhythms – you can find it in Beirut. One night I went to a church to hear the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and the next to a grunge bar to hear a friend DJ. From the quiet contemplation of well-coiffed residents to the lively head banging of the oddest couple I’ve ever seen, one a gangly man in hot pants (complete with prosthetic ass and Pinocchio nose), ... read more
December 10th 2011
More often than not, I can get the feeling of a place as soon as I arrive. Within minutes, I know that I love it, or that I want to leave on the next available bus. Beirut has not been such a place for me. I’ve been here for over a week and I’m still confused as to whether or not I like it; still confused as to what Lebanon is all about. It’s a country of incongruities with a complex national psyche that short-stay visitors will struggle to wrap their heads around. I’m not wholly convinced that life-long residents fully understand it. Like most of the Middle East, Lebanon has a long history of occupation that dates back to the dawn of civilization. From the Babylonians to the Ottomans, the Phoenicians to the Persians, almost ... read more
