The Sun Also Rises In Afghanistan: Beirut Wrap Up

I got back from Beirut last weekend and had a seriously wonderful four day vacation. Joel and I walked everywhere (a luxury we don't get to enjoy at all in Kabul) and ate such fresh food. Think: a lot of humus and eggplant dip with pita and haloumi cheese. On our first day in Beirut, we walked down from our hotel in Hamra to the ocean/promenade called the Corniche and stopped at a cafe on the water to grab lunch. Much to our surprise, our lunch came out accompanied by olives, pickled carrots and a full plate fresh veggies: tomatoes, radishes, cucumber and a bunch of fresh mint. You have no idea how much little things mean after months of oily disgusting food.

The city has so much history - we ventured downtown to St. George's Church that was recently excavated. As part of the excavation, they preserved the bottom layer of the church - showing off Byzantine, Mesopotamian, Roman, Ottoman layers. Each had a different style and shaped the Lebanese architecture in a certain way. It was very cool. And right down the street from St. George's Church is Al-Omari Mosque with a bright blue dome, which is reminisent of the Blue Mosque in Instanbul. I loved how Churches and Mosques lived side by side, and how old merged with new.

Downtown Beirut outside of St. George's Church

Our old ad agency, Grey, is located in Beirut so we went up to the offices one day, which is actualy like 20 mins outside of Beirut but the drive is straight up into the hills. From there, the city reminded me a lot of Vancouver with the ocean and the mountains. Joel and I obviously ended up hitting the town every night - Beirut is known for it's nightlife after all! We discovered gems from low key bars (perfect for watching the Arsenal-Barcelona game) to more whole-in-the-wall Beirut-chic places introduced to us by our buddies. This one place called Torino in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood reminded me of the East Village, but less grimy and more European hipster/artist. On our last night, our agency guys took us to a bar called Behind the Green Door that had no sign outside, but inside it was this 60s retro lounge with crush velvet banquettes. Very cool.

Our last day in Lebanon, we took the drive out to Byblos to check out the ruins. That was by far the best day. The whole week was breezy/spring weather, but on Friday it was around 20 Celsius and perfectly sunny. We hired a guy named Ali, who was recommended to us by friends who had found him somewhere downtown Beirut at 4 AM the last time they were in town. Apparently this guy picked them up, found them falafel at that late hour, and was automatically their tour guide for the rest of the week. Ali was a sweetheart and Byblos was fantastic. The view out to the Mediterranean from the top of the fort was just beautiful.

Joel taking in the view from the Coliseum

View from the top of the fort, Byblos

Town of Byblos

After Ali took us on a walking tour of Byblos, we were back in the car, headed to our last stop: Harisa. In order to get to Harisa, you need to take a small gondola (or Telefrique, as they call them) up this super steep mountain and at the top there is a church with a Rio-style Jesus staue next to it. I have to admit, it was only partially awesome. I freaked out on Joel a couple of times when he insisted on shaking the two person telefrique on the way up. Please refer to the pictures below. Unfortunately, the ride down the mountain marked the end of our trip. We headed directly to the airport and back to Kabul.