Cultural Spot ...
L e b a n o n (I)
Lebanon is situated at East coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded Syria on the north and east, and Israel on the south.
The reason for my husband and I to visit Lebanon, is to explorer the land where ancient Phoenicians originated and to show respect to this great nation who established ancient Carthage in Tunis and nominated "Europe" ever since.
Our journey took place at the first week of June. Without making any reservation with a travel agency in advance, we decided to simply take a direct flight from Tunis to Beirut and found a hotel after landed. Our hotel, Palm Beach is located at the beach promenade at Majidiye with a fantastic view towards the harbour. Being attracted by mild sea breeze and beautiful, tidy beach promenade, we took our first walk in Beirut after check-in.
In my coming text, I will select some very interesting and historically important spots to share with you our trip and some travel tips in Lebanon.
Beirut
Beirut is situated on a peninsula extending westward into the Mediterranean Sea and in between Al-Ashrafieh and Al-Musaytibah hills, boundary with other city by the Dog River. It is Lebanon's biggest city and the capital.
On the way driving from airport to downtown, my first impression was as if in Italy. However after next two and a half days solid sight-seeing inside Beirut, my impression about the city has been changed differently. Beirut is a window to reflect the concept of Lebanon - a mixture of multicultural country. This is particularly highlighted by its unique architecture styles. Walking in downtown Beirut, you can easily find a mosque and a church sharing a same wall. The buildings standing shoulder by shoulder through ages, present their harmony and unique style to every visitor. You can also see a cathedral is functioning as a mosque nowadays. It seems, all of these are naturally and authentically arranged.
The history of Beirut is more than 5,000 years. Archaeologists have excavated 7 layers in the downtown areas. These ancient civilizations are Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader and Ottoman. Perhaps, this explains why Beirut is a melting spot of multicultural.
Brilliant modern architecture of Beirut is of course highlighted along the sea promenade. This creates a very interesting contrast with downtown historical monuments. It makes people easily connect the past to the contemporary by shifting your eyes from one spot to another.
Beirut was named as the top place on earth to visit by "The New York Times" in 2009 and also listed as one of the 10 liveliest cities in the world by "Lonely Planet" in the same year. I can only confirm, Beirut deserves its outstanding reputation!
Must-sees
- Lebanon National Museum, located in downtown, small but excellent. It is one of the best museums I have visited.
- Nejmeh Square, located in the center of downtown and surrounded by 6 commercial streets. All streets and buildings are fully renovated and decorated by granite or lime stones. You will also find many cafe or restaurants in the streets. It has also walking distance to the Archeological site, Roman Baths, two St George Churches, St Elias Church, Marounite Church, Amir Assaf Mosque, Amir Mounzer Mosque, Al Omar, Al Kabll Mosque, the Grand Serail (Government House), Beirut City Council, Mouawad Museum and so on.
- The Pigeon Rocks (or Rawcheh Rocks), located in the Rawsheh Bay after the Manara Lighhouse if you walk along the sea promenade from Paris Avenue and Corniche El Manara. Beautiful rocks standing in the crystal clear sea water. Some private boat owners selling tour around the rocks. In my opinion, the view is way more impressive from distance above the corniche.
College Hall
- American University of Beirut (AUB), located at the Ramlet Al Bayda Beach.
- Yacht Harbour, located at Majidiye where Beirut meets internationals. Newly built, purely contemporary style with many porch cafes and restaurants along the wooden walking path.
Cafes & restaurants
- Gouraud Street at Gemmayzeh area, located behind the Beirut Port. This is a street dominated by gourmet restaurants, clubs and trendy pubs.
- Yacht Harbour, full of porch cafes and restaurants
- Nejmeh Square, full of tourist cafes and restaurants
- Dardachatat Cafe, Ain Mreissy branch, located at Avenue Paris on the sea promenade with a beautiful sea view. This is our favourite Turkish cafe, 5 min walking distance from our hotel. We liked it so much that during our stay in Beirut, we almost visited there everyday. They have delicious traditional snacks, turkish cafe, tea, water-pipe and so on. Try their "white cafe", you will be surprised!
- Al Bohsali, a traditional oriental delight shop since 1870, located in downtown, Riad El Solh Square. This is our favourite shop. Because all of their delights are freshly made and they open 24 hours together with a cafe.
Travel tips
- Travel period: 7 to 8 days enough
- Hotel: Lebanon is a small country. If you are first time in Lebanon, highly recommend to stay in a hotel in Beirut and booking day-tours with a local tour company to travel inside the whole country.
- Tour company: Nakhal. This company is recommended by our hotel. We had very good experience with their services. All of their tour guides speak at least 3 languages fluently, Arabic, English and French. Each day tour covers 2 to 3 sight-seeing spots. A delicious and huge Lebanon lunch is included in the tour. They always select a first class restaurant to serve our lunch. I still remember our lunch in Sidon was at a beach club restaurant next to the Sidon castle and with the view to castle and sea. And in Baalbeck, our restaurant was located next to a beautiful mountain stream where they only open services during summer time.
- Currency: There are ATMs everywhere inside Beirut. All commercial services accept Lebanon Pound and USD directly. You can even draw USD at ATMs.
To be continued
