Lebanon

Downtown Beirut

 So, I’m back from Lebanon, my bags are unpacked, and I am on my normal weekly schedule. The break went by so quickly, and now I have about ten days until I leave Jordan and fly back to the states. It’s so surreal to think that I will be back in Columbus. Before going on spring break I didn’t feel that I was ready to go home at all because there was so much left to do. But now that I got to see and experience another country, and so much of it, I think I can go home without feeling that I left without accomplishing something. It’s still a bit bitter sweet, I’m excited to see my family and friends, and even though my work week here isn’t particularly exciting, it’s still exciting to live in another country, and experience another culture, but now after such an amazing vacation in Lebanon, my feelings about going home are leaning towards sweet. 

Downtown

Now, about my nine days in Lebanon. It was amazing. Beirut truly is the Paris of the East, a modern people and a historic city. I got to see so much of the country, 5 cities to be exact. Beirut is a beautiful city, with a vibrant life, stunning architecture, a gorgeous beach, the friendliest people I have ever encountered, but with a very rough history, which is very evident when walking by ruins of bombed colonial buildings, facades, and sculptures riddled by bullet holes. It’s amazing though to see how much progress has been made in that city, I was looking through a book at a museum showing before and after pictures of the reconstruction of the historic downtown. After the war, the facades were filled with bullet holes, streets cracked and filled with overgrown plants and trees consuming the buildings, it looked like a post-apocalyptic Paris. That same area today is breathtaking, and looks just as it did, if not better than before the war. 

Main square downtown

Another thing to that I was amazed about Lebanon is how well things appear to be running. For a country that doesn’t really have a government right now, or is in between administrations, everything seems to be fine, there are friendly army and police men watching the streets, workers cleaning trash keeping the downtown spotless, and more importantly, the Lebanese seem to have a huge love for life, even if there is instability in the government, they continue enjoying themselves. 

Maronite Cathedral and the Main Mosque

We arrived in Beirut on Friday night, checked into the hotel which is on a lively street near the American University of Beirut, so the area is filled with cafés, and shops. After checking in we went out for dinner and to explore the area a bit. The next day we got up fairly early to do a walking tour of the city, we went to the gorgeous green, tree filled AUB campus that overlooks the Mediterranean sea, down to Gemmayze, an area filled with beautiful old buildings. The old architecture in Beirut is beautiful, it’s heavily influenced by 18th century Italian architecture, like many of the buildings found in Rome, painted in pastels, with white trim, but them mixed with classic Arab architecture, with high pointed-arched windows and doors, and stained glass, enclosed balconies, other Arab motifs. We took a stroll to the historic down down where the architectural style changes a bit, featuring large, imposing beige  Arab buildings, with pointed arches covering the walkway, medieval mosques and churches standing side by side, Roman ruins, a large clock tower in the center square, a newly constructed souk, and every store that is way out of my budget. We walked over to the Place des Martyrs, a once grand central square that is under heavy restoration, at the center of which is large bullet riddled sculpture from the early nineteen hundreds commemorating the Lebanese Martyrs that were hung by the Ottoman Empire in WWI. 

Building in Gemmayze - Beirut

I really want to see Beirut in 15 years, there are only a couple of dozen or so buildings in the downtown that are still heavily damaged from the war, but most all of them have signs saying that they are going under reconstruction to become museums, art centers, or government buildings, and in addition there is so much new construction that is happening right now, high-rises, parks, and squares. 

Place des Martyrs

On Sunday we finished up our tour of Beirut, taking it a bit slower, visiting Pigeons Rock, a large rock formation off the coast, and seeing a few other sites. On Monday we took a bus to Balbaak, a city with impressive Roman ruins, in eastern Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley. The ruins were beautiful and in great shape in comparison so many other ruins I’ve seen. We spent our day there, and then went back to Beirut for the night. Tuesday morning we took another day trip to Byblos and the Jeitta Grotto. We first stopped at the Jeitta Grotto, an impressive series of caves featuring an upper level cave, and a lower level which included a boat ride. After the caves we went to Byblos to explore the old city, which claims to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, though Damascus actually holds the title, nevertheless, Byblos is very old. The old downtown is close to the coast, and consists of old short stone buildings, olive and palm trees lining the cobble stone roads creating canopies, medieval cathedrals and mosques, nunneries, gardens, and extensive Roman ruins and a large Crusader castle, it’s adorable. We walked around the restored castle, through the gardens of the cathedral, and relaxed on the coast. The souk was colorful, though very touristy, selling cliché Middle Eastern gifts, and pricey cafés. After exploring the rest of the old city we went back to stay the night in Beirut again.

Bombed building in Gemmayze

Ruins of Balbaak

The next day we packed our bags to head north to Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, which is mainly Muslim and much more conservative than Beirut. The newer city is really unattractive, but the historic city is very nice, and was mainly built in the 14^th and 15^th century (I think it’s a trend in the Middle East to have a beautiful old city in the center, and then surround it with ugly cement buildings that look like prisons). The old downtown is literally a maze, there is a huge souk, with dozens of mosques, tiny arched alleyways, small squares, cobble stone buildings and streets, large wooden doors and overhangs, connected by draping fabrics. The souk consists of many sections that sell anything you need, meat, fruit, clothing, scarves, shoes, hand made soap, gold, and trinkets. They are all connected to each other, the fruit souk ends becoming the textile souk, or one leads through a low archway becoming the soap souk. Once you get in the souk it’s very difficult to find your way out. The gold souk was by far the prettiest, it was particularly clean, draped fabric blocking the sun, polished dark wood doors, and merchants displaying their tiny shops filled with beautiful gold. Next up was the soap souk, which smelled wonderful. Apparently Tripoli has an ancient tradition of soap making, and in the 18^th and 19^th century, anybody who was anybody in Europe bought only the finest soap which was all made in Tripoli. For the most part they still make the soap the same way as they always have, which was demonstrated to us by a young kid who talked a lot. We next went to the old citadel of Tripoli which was the historic city in the 1st century, and then became a crusader citadel to lay siege to the city later in History. That night we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast which was in an old house, and there was an old grandmother that would walk around and lounge in the living room. The family was very kind, and breakfast in the morning was very good, consisting of fresh croissants and coffee. 

Street in Byblos

At around ten in the morning we got our bags on the bus, and went to a small town way up in the mountains in western Lebanon in the Qadisha Valley, famous for the Lebanese Cedars that grow in the area. We stayed in a small town by the name of Bcharré, saw some of the sites around the city which included a Phoenician obelisk, and numerous churches, The day was very relaxing, and the location was breathtaking, situated right on the top of a huge green valley with waterfalls all around, and large snow-capped mountains in the distance. 

We made our way back to Beirut on Friday to see the Nation Museum of Beirut which was closed all weekend because of Easter, and to go to another area of downtown which we had not previously seen. It’s a beautifully restored French colonial arts district of Beirut, which was apparently heavily damaged after the war, but no one would ever know by seeing it, small windy roads, large colonial buildings, boutiques and cafés, it looked just like Paris. 

Souk in Byblos

We flew out on Saturday afternoon, and I was a bit disappointed when I saw the desert again, I didn’t realize how much I missed greenery, which central Jordan does not have a lot of. It was a wonderful vacation in Lebanon, and I loved seeing another side of the Middle East, a more modern, yet more historical side. Like I mentioned, I only have ten days left in Jordan, this weekend the Junior Fellows are going to Aqaba, and then I leave the following Thursday. I feel like I’m reading the final chapter of a long book that I somehow rushed through. 

Crusader Castle in Byblos

Byblos Cathedral 

Bekaa Valley

Tripoli Citadel

Gold Souk in Tripoli

Old House in Tripoli

Mosque in old Tripoli

Phoenician Obelisk in Bchaaré

Bcharré

Restored arts quarter in Beirut