Beirut

I have to say I wasn’t expecting to like Beirut a lot. Everyone I met seemed to stress that it was a modern city, and given that I most of this was said in Damascus that seemed to be stating the obvious. After I arrived into my hotel I was sitting down with my friendly host and she was explaining where the sights were and then warned me to stay away from the area where Hizbollah have a large tent erected in the South of the city. It’s not in an area you would be likely to wander into by chance but it was good to know anyway.

Wandering around the downtown which comprises only new buildings alongside a minority of buildings that haven’t been rebuilt yet, so beside some lovely new sandstone buildings stands a building that’s roof is falling in, has had no windows for some time and has rusted and warped metal coming out of every façade. It’s quite a contrast but somehow seems to suit the city. The city also abounds in BMWs, Mercedes and flashy sports cars. It’s not a poor city by any stretch of the imagination, and after each bout of violence and turbulence it suffers, from civil wars that ripped the social structure of the country to shreds to crippling Israeli invasions it seems to have kept bouncing back. Most Lebanese speak French, English or both, alongside Arabic and have successfully played the (obviously lucrative) role of mediator and middleman between the West and the Middle East.

The infamous Green Line that divided Christian East Beirut from the predominantly Muslim and Druze West during the worst of the civil war where every faction was fighting every other and crossing from one side to the other was literally taking your life in your hands with snipers all around is no more. In its place is Martyrs Square the city’s heart, on the edge of which is the beautiful Al-Amin mosque, looking like a newer version of Istanbul’s blue mosque (where I heard the most beautiful call to prayer I have ever heard anywhere in the world), next to the lovely Maronite cathedra of St. George. Around the corner are more churches and mosques and even the remains of a synagogue.

The waterfront area known as the cornice in the West of the city is Beirut’s most popular evening strolling spot where many come also to watch and friends set up their sheesha (or argile) pipes and smoke as the world goes by. But for the lively Beirut night life East Beirut excels and there is a huge selection of cafes, restaurants and flashy bars that stay open till the very early hours. Prices are similar to most of Europe though so it won’t necessarily be a cheap night out. You have been warned!

Yesterday I visited some more of West Beirut including the American University, one of the best in the Middle East that teaches exclusively in English and attracts the cream of the academic crop from the region and far beyond. The campus is very pleasant with sea views, parks with plenty of benches, tennis courts, a football pitch and some very pretty girls! Afterwards I wandered around Hamra, a predominantly Muslim area nearby in West Beirut and the difference is striking – from dress to architecture to interactions between the people it’s like stepping into a different world. Beirut is most definitely a city of contrasts but that’s precisely what makes it interesting, alongside the frienly locals who are very easy to meet and hang out with and there is a real buzz and optimism about the city that makes it certainly worth a visit.

Tomorrow South Lebanon!

- David