Our first day in Beirut. I pottered around, unpacking and assessing as the GF slept. The flat is triangular, with a balcony at the point. The bathroom is the weakest part of it, as the shower is also tucked into a narrow triangle and is quite uncomfortable (not to mention mouldy) whereas I can easily think of how to redo so that it’s less cramped. Ah well, it’s not my flat. It’s generally slightly grubby feeling, if not actually grubby, so I shall do some scurbbing in the days to come. But otherwise confortable and well decorated.
Once the GF woke we strolled down Genmayze to a Lebanese bakery, to have manakish with zaatar and labneh. Very tasty indeed. Then further down to a cafe for juice and a decent internet connection (Lebanon has one of the worst internet connections in the world). We strolled on through the downtown area with the ministerial buildings in golden stone. It was very mediterranean feeling, though one could not usually see the sea just over to the our right. Beautiful, large mosques in the Ottoman style, Maronite churches, and between sweeping piazzas, ruins from Roman times or more recently, with vegetation tumbling down the hill sides. It is a beautiful city in places. We took a photo of a statue of Rafiq Hariri and got our first experience of being shouted at by e Lebanese soldier. Then onwards, towards Hamra. First an older residential area with small old apartment blocks and very busy mosques (it was jummah) and a pretty park with an spindly Ottoman era fountain in the middle. Then the narrow streets became lined with dusty low shopping plazas and we were in Hamra. The food is supposed to be good in those parts but it was a relief that we decided not to stay there as it really was not very pleasant. I had assumed that it would be generic in the sense of chain Ralph Lauren and department stores, instead it was chain H&M but dusty and crowded, like Tariq Road in Karachi.
Lunch was at a quiet, cool restaurant that was tucked away at the back of a building. It was absolutely delicious, the first really exciting meal I feel I’ve had in a while. We just ordered a few mezze: a rocket salad with grilled halloumi, tender and flavourful and dusted with sumac; a baba ghanouj that make me feel that I had been living in a dream and had now just woken up; and a chickpea and tahini dish sprinkled with fried pita and pomegranate seeds, which was mild and complex. So delicious.
A little more strolling including past a department store called the Moustache Store (whose model was completely cleanshaven), then we took an Uber back to our part of the world. There we went up the beautiful set of stairs towards the Sursock museum. There was graffiti along the sides, greenery, tall houses with green painted shutters, derelict sites, statues of siants. Really beautiful.
Beirut graffiti has a rather apocalyptic edge to it. I shall have to take some photos so I can show what I mean.
We walked through quiet Armenian streets. They were on the side of a hill facing towards the sea, but new apartment blocks were starting to block their views and fresh breezes. I do wonder that so many houses and buildings appear to have survived the civil war. Or maybe the mood of this city is such that even recent construction soon feels old.
We stopped at a cafe on steps cascading down to Armenia Street. The cafe is owned by a set of three Syrian brothers who all look the same, with intense eyes, ready smiles and dark prophetic beards. The Lebanese coffee, my first, was very nice indeed and didn’t make me feel queasy afterwards as espressos do.
We returned to the flat to rest, then headed out for dinner to an Italian restaurant, walking now through Mar Mikhail with its trendy shops and restaurants. It looked very enticing in the night, and the scent of jasmine was heavy in the air. The shops in Beirut are in character different from those in Malaysia in the sense that they are more closed. It is sometimes hard to tell there is a shop or restaurant unless you are in front of it, staring into the window.
We had some rolled ice cream then returned to the flat to sleep.