Since I got back to Amman in August it feels like I’ve been constantly on the move, working with Project Amal ou Salam (which I’ll be writing about soon) and spending a couple of long weekends in Beirut with friends old and new. I am so lucky to be able to travel this region easily, and see so many versions of what we know the Middle East to be.
Both trips were approached without any sort of itinerary, the second was was very spontaneously booked because I was having a bad week, there was a national holiday and when someone asks me to go on a trip with them I find it impossible to say no. It was a reunion with a very good friend and some wonderful new ones, and I’m very happy I went even if the same country twice within the space of a month seems a bit much. I will do a little list of recommendations below, of restaurants, places and things to see.
- The Sursock Museum - is free and very cool and a great gift shop.
- Street Art - there must be an actual walking tour of street art in Beirut and it would be very worthwhile.
- Mar Mikhael - lots of cool cafes and tiny art galleries, can easily do a relaxed day walking around this area.
- Tannourine - go on a hiking tour, see some Lebanese Cedars.
- Sour - a cute fishing village if you have time, definitely not a priority.
- Le Chef - good food and good service.
- Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque - those ceilings.
- Downtown farmers market - Fridays(?), good to go for lunch.
- PlanBey - Treat yourself, and everyone you know, very good prints & graphic novels as well as handmade food gifts.
- Corniche - 10/10 would sea again.
- Jbeil - Beautiful, sea, castles, good sea food.
- Breakfast Barn - if you are the sort of person who likes oat milk and chia seed pudding, which I am.
- Makan - different cuisine every week, sit in the adorable courtyard.
- Mezyan - good Lebanese food.
- Onno - good Armenian food.
Obviously the sea is in there because we all know how life-changing I consider by the water to be. In my opinion you should always travel with people who want to make the effort to watch the sunset over a body of water because it will 100% be wonderful and make for a top Instagram photo. Beirut is not centred around its waterfront in the same way a lot of other places are but a walk along the corniche is a perfect pre-dinner activity.
Food-wise there are of course a number of Lebanese restaurants and the food across Lebanon is absolutely excellent. There are also so many cool cafes and restaurants with everything you could possibly crave, I’ve eaten sushi, a classic avocado on toast and a thousand coffees. I would of course recommend you had cuisine native to the region during your trip but if you want good food then Beirut can deliver on all fronts. Also, as very little of this is readily available in Amman without me bankrupting myself, I took the opportunity to exercise my #basic tendencies.
Lebanon is beautiful and wonderful and I adore it but it wouldn’t be fair to say any of that without giving a voice to the people I met, and know, who actually live there. A lot of Lebanese people are less enamoured with their country, the political instability, daily power outages and the influence of big business taking over buildings damaged by the civil war. Wandering into an art gallery we talked to the owner about the culture of Beirut, which feels so cosmopolitan and very genuine with it, only to be told that actually most people are all too aware Beirut has ‘copied’ capital cities from around the world. Buildings are being redeveloped to mirror the skyscrapers of London and Dubai and with it, Beirut is losing its classic architecture both Arab and European.
For sure, Lebanon is a country still finding its way and Beirut a city discovering how it can exist with all its multiple influences and communities harmoniously. I could not recommend it more highly, especially given that travelling options in the region are so limited and given that Lebanon is, comparatively to Jordan or Egypt, a much simpler excursion in many ways, for a first time traveller in the Middle East.
Personally, they were both absolutely perfect weekends, and I have completely fallen in love with Beirut. They were also much needed breaks where I travelled without my laptop, without doing any work, with hardly any access to wifi. I was reminded a lot of being in Paris, not just because of the French, but because of the way those weekends in Lebanon made me feel, the way a proper weekend break can make me feel like the things I’m worrying about aren’t big as I’m convinced they are.
So once again I’m calling on that post-weekend-in-Paris feeling where I realise how how many cool things I get to do, that maybe despite everything I actually choose this for myself. Even though, come December, I’m going to be offering up my soul in exchange for sitting in my parents house watching Christmas-themed daytime TV and being drenched to the bone by what is affectionately known as ‘British-summer just a bit more consistently cold’. Everyone has told me I should do at least one Christmas abroad so I guess this is the first one, and hopefully, the only one.
*****
I’m on Instagram - clairegillesp - it will never not be Lebanon-based content.
I’m on Twitter - @clairegillesp - more tales of being taken for a ride by my dentist and Conservative Party Conference hilarity.
I’m listening to the podcast Dissect Season 1, which goes song-by-song through Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and is a great analysis lyrically and technically.
And finally, a public service announcement: people who do not make you feel good about yourself do not deserve to see what you’re doing, babe, just block them.
xx
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