Wednesday, June 6th to Friday June 8th, 2012
When I first arrived in Riyadh, one of the things people were always asking is "where do you plan on travelling to?" The ability to travel as one of the reasons I decided to come here but I didn't actually have an answer at the time. The usual, Dubai, Bahrain, Oman came to mind (although I have no real desire to actually go to Dubai). Many people mentioned Beirut to me. At first I was kind of like "no way.....too dangerous". Lebanon always seems to be in the news and my impression became of a dangerous protesting country where people were always shooting things. I didn't have to be here very long before I met more than a few Lebanese people however who totally changed that impression and made Beirut a "must see" city for me. Sure there could be trouble but I'm very often reminded that I live in the Middle East. It's an often unstable part of the world and something could always happen. So with that in mind when my friend Lola suggested we head there on one of our weekends off, I jumped at the chance.
I have to mention that getting out of Saudi is no easy task. We require exit/re-entry Visas every time we want to leave and come back and like everything else here that means annoying paperwork. I complicated things a little more by requesting a multi-exit/re-entry (that way I can leave and come back as many times as I want over the next 6 months). These have to be requested well in advance and forms have to be sent and signed, sent somewhere else, signed again and sent somewhere else (etc. etc) . By the time I realised all this had been done it was a week before we were heading off. There were a few tense moments where Lola and I thought they might not come through in time but alas they did and first thing Wednesday morning (ok not quite first thing but pretty early) we were off.
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
My first look at Beirut from the MEA (Middle East Airline) plane. MEA is the national airline of Lebanon and I have to say it was pretty nice. Lola and I were pretty surprised that they served us wine on the plane. I'm told you need to be out of Saudi airspace before alcohol can be served. Not sure if we were or not but they did not delay in cracking open the bottles.
On arrival at the airport we had to decide how much money to get.....and what currency. The ATMs let you take both Lebanese pounds and US dollars. We opted for Lebanese pounds but quickly found that they can be used interchangeably. If you pay with USD you will get LBP back but that's ok.
Our next job was to find a taxi to the centre of town. That was super easy. The taxi drivers found us. They were very quick to show us their ID proving they were the airport taxi company and once in they whisked up away to the city. Some taxi drivers are a little less honest than others but everything I read said stick with the airport taxis. I had no idea what to expect of the city once we headed there but my first impressions were pretty positive.
The view from the back seat of the taxi on the way to the hotel.
The view from our hotel room. Like many countries in the area western hotel are guarded by military personal. I can't imagine this is a very exciting job. Most of the time at least one of the these guys was sitting on a chair a little ways down the sidewalk talking with the taxi drivers.
Our plans for the weekend were pretty open. Lola and I had downloaded some travel apps (for Ipods/Iphones) that gave us some tour ideas so after settling into our hotel room and celebrating the start of our weekend away with some champagne we headed out to find the Corniche.
Ahhh the Corniche. The Corniche is Beirut's seaside promenade. It's a great place for a walk or a jog or a bike ride.
Palm Trees!!!! Ok there are a ton of palm trees in Riyadh but for some reason they are just better when next to the Mediterranean Sea......or any body of water.
From the Corniche. McDonald's always ruins the view.
Some of the street vendors you will find along the Corniche. It looked and smelled good but I wasn't quite brave enough to try Lebanese street bread this early on in my trip.
A wonderfully beautiful place and it was so nice to just be able to walk around and enjoy the sunshine. It's one of those small things that my more restricted life in Riyadh doesn't allow me to do.
After a little bit of walking we decided we needed to find another site recommended to us in the travel guides so we headed up to Hamra Street. Hamra Street is a great place to find stores and restaurants and bars etc.
I want to go back to the earlier thoughts on the safety of being in Beirut and Lebanon in general. Of course it is not advisable to spend a lot of time near the borders (with Syria and Israel) and Tripoli is currently off limits and of course they tell you to avoid the Southern Suburbs of Beirut.......that's Hezbollah supported territory, but wandering through the streets of Beirut I felt nothing but perfectly safe. People are so friendly and nice, always willing to point you in the right direction if needed. Plus the fact that the 2 official languages of Beirut are French and Arabic (let's face it though my French is still much better than my Arabic) and most people have at least a minimal understanding of English, means communicating is simple and easy. It honestly felt a lot like wandering around old Montreal or Paris. The city has a very European feel to it and you certainly can see the French influence. They actually refer to Beirut as the "Paris of the Middle East" for various reasons, and you can see why.
And taxis are so easy to find.....that wasn't just an anomaly of the airport. Well, actually if you just walk down the street they will honk their horns and find you. There are several different types of taxis in Beirut but in the end all of them will get you to where you want to go. You can get a "taxi" which is more expensive but will take you directly where you want to go, or you can hop in a "servis" which is much cheaper but is more like a car pool so the driver will stop and pick other people up along the way. Either way you seriously don't have to walk much more than a few metres without having one honk their horn at you or there might just be drivers standing around on street corners waiting for passengers.
One of the buildings near Hamra street. We were a little lost for where to go and what to look for but we stopped by a hotel (not the one we were staying in....we really should have planned better but whatever) and the concierge gave us a nice map and some suggestions for some nice restaurants.
Eventually we grabbed a taxi back down towards the Corniche to grab some seafood for dinner. One of the things that you will have a hard time finding in Riyadh.....good seafood. I guess that makes since considering we live in the middle of the desert.
After a great dinner and a few drinks it was back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. We had a busy day of touring ahead of us.
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
Lola and I had hoped to go on a great walking tour of the city but to are dismay it didn't run the days we were there. At first that didn't make sense to us but then I was reminded that although Thursday/Friday was the weekend in Saudi.....it was not the weekend in Beirut, so we had to make other arrangements. We managed to download a walking tour app to Lola's IPhone and that gave us an idea of some of the places to check out. It gave us a nice little map, step by step directions and of course a little information on the location when we got there.
The history of Lebanon is honestly something I knew very little about before I got here but I quickly started to do some reading and learnt all kinds of things. The history of the city goes back a good 5000 years. Layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab and Ottoman civilizations have all been found during excavations in downtown Beirut.
To give you a quick rundown: after the Romans, Beirut passed to the Arabs in about 635, from 1110 to 1291 it was in the hands of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and eventually it came under Ottoman rule (like everywhere else). In the second half of the 19th century Beirut was developing close commercial and political ties with European imperial powers, France in particular. After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Lebanon was placed under the French Mandate. Lebanon achieved independence in 1943 and Beirut was named the capital at that time. It was a major intellectual, commercial and tourist centre in the Arab world until 1975 when the Lebanese Civil War broke out. During this war the city was divided between a mostly western Muslim part and the eastern Christian part. The central part of the city became a sort of no man's land. The years that followed have seen a few more conflicts including the 2006 conflict with Israel.
One of the many statues you will see around town. Not sure who the man is but I love his surroundings.
One of the things I love about this city (and many others), the old and the new right next to each other. I'm not sure I've ever been in a city with as much rebuilding as there is in Beirut. The city is very loud with the sounds of jack hammers and things (like I know the names of construction tools).
Leading into one of the many cemeteries in the city. It looked very nice and peaceful sitting off a major road and surrounded by all the noise and confusion of the city.
Looking down one of the streets in the city. This one is wider than some and with a few less cars. There seem to be no rules when it comes to parking and scooters seem to be able to drive wherever they want (including the sidewalks). I think driving here would be a major adventure because walking sure was.
This was the actual first stop on our self guided walking tour. This is the Barakat House which was designed and built in 1924. Two more stories were added in 1932. It housed middle class families until the civil war when it housed Christian militiamen. It became a vantage point for snipers and suffered severe damage. After years of neglect it was slated to be demolished in 1997. Heritage activists saved it and now it is being fully restored and will soon house a museum (I've read 2013 but there is still a lot of work to do before then).
On our way to the next stop. I found these beautiful flowering trees all over the city. Just added to the whole atmosphere.
Also on the way to our next stop. Whoop, whoop.....Thug night.
This is Martyrs' Statue that can be found in Martyrs' Square which was the next stop on our tour. This statue is one of 2 remaining structures of the original square. The other is the Opera House......which is now a Virgin Mega store.
The statue commemorates Lebanese nationals who were hanged by the Ottomans during World War I. This has been a very popular place of protests and demonstrations, the most notable being the anti-Syrian government demonstrations of the Cedar Revolution and anti-government opposition rally that took place in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
Yes, those are bullet holes. One of the things I was told to make sure I saw was the old Holiday Inn because the walls are full of bullet and mortar holes. The Holiday Inn sits with a few other damaged buildings in an area of Beirut that was a major battle ground during the civil war. It didn't take long to drive through this city however to learn it is not only the hotel that bares the scars of the conflicts this city has seen over the years. Although the buildings around the city are being rebuilt and those bullet holes are disappearing, I'm guessing you will always see them here.
Here is a picture of the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque. I like this picture because you can also see the bell tower of the St. George Maronite Cathedral that sits right next to it. Considering the civil war saw Christians and Muslims fighting each other, it is great to see these 2 buildings sitting right next to each other. I'm told that if you travel throughout Lebanon, this will actually be a quite common scene. The cathedral was built from 1884 to 1894 while the Mosque was built from 2002 to 2007. It was former Lebanese Primer Minster Rafik Hariri that had the Mosque built on this spot however it was his son who inaugurated it because Hariri was assassinated in 2005. He is buried in a Memorial shrine right next to the Mosque.
A little information about Rafik Hariri, who was Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and then again from 2000 to 2004. He is widely credited with the reconstruction of Beirut after the civil war (which lasted 15 years). His assassination lead to many changes in Lebanon including the withdrawal of Syrian Troops much to the chagrin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Many demonstrations took place after the assassination because many believed it was at the hands of the Syrians. Of course there is also evidence that Hezbollah was in fact responsible. Syria controlled and protected Lebanon for many years and because of that a lot of the troubles you are seeing in the country at this time is between pro and anti Syrian groups. Just another example of how the violence in one country can have effects in others.
Inside the Mosque. A very beautiful mosque. We did have to dress up in abayas and head scarfs to visit but of course living in Saudi that is totally normal for us. At least they let us take pictures.
Of course we made a stop at the Cathedral as well (no pictures allowed) before heading to our next stop at the Roman Cardo Maximus which sits next to the cathedral.
These are the remains of an old Roman market. They were found in 1963.
This is the Riad El Solh Statue. Riad El Solh was the first Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1943 to 1945 and then again from 1946 to 1951. He was seen as a very important figure in the fight for independence and is credited with uniting the different religious factions in a common fight. He was assassinated a few months after leaving office by a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
This is the Lebanon Parliament. A few moments after I took this picture I got yelled at by the guards. It turns out this is one of those buildings I wasn't suppose to take a picture of. All the razor wire around the property should have given it away but until the yelling we weren't actually sure. Of course taking pictures of government buildings was on the list of things we weren't suppose to do while in Lebanon, along with taking pictures of anything Hezbollah related and abducting children (it was on list of warnings on the UK government site Debi found for me).
I'm not totally sure but I think this is a church (cross on the bell tower). It is across the street from the parliament and next to the roman baths. I just like the look of it.
The ruins of the Roman Baths. They were discovered in 1968/69 and a thorough excavation and cleaning was done from 1995 to 1997. They are right downtown and surrounded by benches and park terraces. It would be a nice place to take a lunch break. You can see the remains of the columns that would have supported the floor and allow hot air to circulate.
We had one more stop on our historic landmark tour (the Magen Abraham Synagogue down the street from the baths. They are currently under heavy renovation), before heading off on a new tour of the downtown area. Well, first we stopped for some refreshments.....where we found ourselves in the area of the Beirut Souks. Souks of course are usually known as market places or bazaars but here it just means stores. So Lola and I went shopping.
It was much warmer in Beirut than we probably expected so some shade and a drink was appreciated. By this time it was still pretty early so we had a full day ahead of us still.
We managed to shop for an hour and a bit before we decided we needed to stop and eat. Lucky for us the Souks are also full of cafes and restaurants.
We found this great roof-top patio to enjoy a nice glass of rose and a meal. Just what we needed before setting back out for the afternoon.
The view from the rooftop. So nice and relaxing.
In the Souks.......a very nice area of town. Of course there is good shopping in Riyadh however the fact that we can't try anything on makes shopping difficult and frankly not nearly as fun. Lola and I took the chance to try on and buy a few new things. This area has some very affordable stores but the more you walk the more you will find the not so affordable stores. This area of town is home to all the high end designers.
We hit a few more shopping spots (as pointed out in our shopping tour app) and then headed back to the hotel to unload our purchases. Our next stop was the pool/patio area of the Intercontinental hotel for some relaxing and some sangria. I must say, the sangria was good but the service was not so good. Considering how much they charge for rooms there we were not very impressed. But not to worry it was just an afternoon stop before heading out for the night....plus since we weren't actually staying there it didn't really matter.
I found this in the hotel. Just reminded me that we weren't in Saudi any more.
After showers and changing we made our way down to a part of town (ok back to the Beirut souks area) where there are a few little restaurants and pubs and bars etc. for a few drinks and some food and to check out the atmosphere. We weren't sure what to expect on a Thursday night but it was a very busy and popular place. There was even some entertainment on a public stage near by.
Some of the entertainment......a whirling dervish. I know them from Turkey so was a little surprised to see them here. Interestingly enough though there are a lot of advertisements for vacations and real estate opportunities in Turkey. I'm still trying to figure out the connection between the 2 (I mean without going way back to when Lebanon and so many other countries were controlled by the Ottoman Turks) but no such luck so far.
After a bit we made our way to a different part of the city. Lola and I kind of think we were taken for a ride by the taxi driver but we found our way to a bar that has karaoke (Thursday seems to be karaoke night in Beirut). Quite an interesting experience, and I don't mean the fact that songs were being sung in English, French and Arabic, but the fact that the owner and his friend took a particular interest in Lola and myself and we found ourselves being practically force fed chicken wings. Seriously a fun but interesting experience.
Lola singing away. We later did a Destiny's Child duet before heading out. We had one more drink at a Irish pub before making our way back to the hotel. Thursday nights do not end that early in Beirut which is always a good thing to know.
Friday, June 8th, 2012
We unfortunately had to head back to Riyadh on Friday but not overly early so we had sometime to check out a bit more of the city. Total bonus was that our hotel gave us a late check-out (we were good until 1800- 6pm) so we were able to store our bags and go back to hotel to change before heading to the airport).
We made our way to the far end of the Corniche to a place called Pigeon Rock or The Rock of Raouche. Raouche is also the name given to to this area of the city known for it's upscale apartments and cliff side restaurants.
That's the Rock of Raouche behind me. It was a really beautiful area. It is on the shores near this rock that the oldest evidence of human existence in the Beirut area has been found.
Looking back along the Corniche. This is Beirut's most western tip.
That's a different view of the Rock Of Raouche.
We then made our way back to Hamra Street to see if we could find one of the restaurants that was recommended to us. We did manage to find it after a little bit of a wander.
Just another example of some of the buildings you will find in the city. I just found it interesting and surprising (because things didn't always seem to be where they should but at the same time never appeared out of place).
Lola checking out her GPS to make sure we were going the right way. I tell you, cell phone GPS are the best ever. This walk took us through the much more Muslim park of the city. You certainly noticed that the language changed from English and French (in other areas of the city) to English and Arabic in this area.
We enjoyed one more meal outside on a patio before heading back to the hotel to change and pack. Then it was off to the airport. Yes we had one more glass of champagne before boarding the plane and then it was back to Riyadh.
So in summary, Beirut was fantastic. I totally hope to be making a return visit soon and this time to check out a bit more of the country. I'm told Lebanon is beautiful (they also have a ski hill in the winter so it might be a great place to take a winter holiday and get a break from the Saudi heat).
And if anyone gets a chance to visit.......Beirut I mean, I highly recommend that you do. It's not known as the "Paris of the Middle East" for nothing.
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