Blogs from Beirut, Lebanon, Middle East - page 3

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 lśniące motorówki bogaczy z Zatoki... read more

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

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

Beirut is everything I thought it would be – a city of ramshackle, industrial-looking structures – and nothing I thought it would be – an über-cosmopolitan metropolis of chic stores and trendy cafes bedecked in Christmas decorations. Churches outnumber mosques three-to-one, which is the same ratio that M-16 toting soldiers outnumber civilians, at least as far as I’ve seen. But, then, I haven’t seen anyone. Beirut is eerily empty. There are no crowds and hardly any traffic. There doesn’t even appear to be places for people to occupy, to eat, to drink, to hang-out. There’s no historical center, no real downtown, no parks or small, cheap eateries. It took me the entire day to find falafel! Where are the street vendors? Where are the street musicians? Where, indeed, are the people?... read more

It was with a heavy, yet beautifully unburdened heart that I boarded a plane that would carry me away from Istanbul – a place that was beginning to feel like home. I knew the side streets and shortcuts, where to find the best tahinli and cheapest tea. I’d built a small community of friends and established a routine of sorts. But rested and empty, it was time to see something new. The destination was Beirut and the company was unexpected. A spunky young Canadian teaching English in Istanbul, Ada, and I had found the same cheap flight to Beirut and the same person to host us there. The only thing of note on our short flight to Beirut was the screening of the pre-fight safety video. I normally block out the seatbelt fastening instructions, but Pegasus ... read more