240 Hours in Lebanon continued...

The biggest symbol of Beirut’s rebirth is the downtown Solidere district, the city center revitalized by the vision and moxie of Rafic Hariri, the late billionaire and prime minister. While completely renovated, it still contains sites and monuments spanning 5,000 years and layers of civilizations. The newly chic neighborhood with renovated Ottoman arcades, designer boutiques and sidewalk cafes, is very inviting. By day the many cafés welcome you with café blanc (boiled rose water), but by night the area becomes a center of nightlife that would make the most confirmed New Yorker jealous.

Josh strikes up a conversation with the next table. The Lebanese are quite fluent in foreign languages. Many speak several, including English and French. “Beirutis are very social,” says Afif Erem, a student at AUB (American University at Beirut). “You sit down next to somebody at a bar and the next thing you know, you’re going to dinner together.” NightlifeBeirut, the city that never sleeps, has something for everyone once the sun sets. Heed this warning when you come: Unless there’s a special reason for eating early, nobody would dream of coming out to dinner until eleven p.m. or heading home until three or four in the morning, often with new friends in tow.

 

Downtown offers an endless selection of restaurants, cafés and clubs. Indoor restaurant seating is virtually non-existent, with all dining outdoors on the sidewalk, and, at the shore, a seat with a Mediterranean view. Everything from traditional Lebanese to Chinese, American, French and Italian cuisine can be found on the narrow streets there. Letting the hours slip by while gossiping, laughing and smoking the argile (water pipe) is effortless and addicting.

We walked through the streets of Beirut on a Saturday evening. What we saw might have made New York or London seem like backwaters by comparison. Women with glitter around their eyes averted them shyly, as well dressed men attempted to flirt. Hip-hoppers danced out of a late-model Mercedes, and BMWs jammed the narrow streets; couples zoomed in and out of the huge, Virgin Megastore (open till 1 a.m.). Pleasure in Beirut is what you make of it.

In the last few years, nightclubs have appeared faster than you can keep track. “It’s a natural progression to get up from your evening meal and burn the calories off as the night progresses,” says our new friend Nadim Elewar. “The beat and the ambiance, the large selection of drinks, and the people dressed to impress draw you in. We meet at a new club every other night. Nothing ever gets old in the new Beirut!

“For the full throttle party person the night may never end,” she continues “You just can’t show up at midnight at BO18 or the Basement [two underground spots renowned for their eclectic rhythms and cutting-edge DJs], and expect to have fun. They are just getting going at two a.m.”

These clubs are only two of the many with special features that keep you coming back. BO18 has a retractable roof that opens at night, while the Basement combines a rustic décor with rotating art exhibits for its own special feel.

Whatever your preferences in party going, Beirut can fill the bill.Seeing the Sights—to the SouthA 30-mile drive along the sublime coast takes us to Eshmoun. Here, we walked through the marbled Phoenician temple complex built for the healing god of the same name. Legend has it that the Lebanese goddess Astarte fell in love with a young hunter. Afraid to endure the cultural wrath of returning the love of a goddess, he escaped her advances by mutilating himself and died. Her desire to be with him was so great that she brought him back to life in the form of a god. Yes, Lebanese passion runs deep.

The area was covered with colorful wildflowers, and the adjoining fields were full of banana trees with bright blue protective bags around the green stalks of fruit. “I never thought of Lebanon as a banana growing country,” Josh remarked.”

Just minutes from Eshmoun is the old seaport city of Sidon. There was never people as filled with pride as the residents here. Like other Phoenician cities, Sidon was under constant attack. At the end of the Persian era in 351 B.C., and with defeat imminent at the hands of Artaxerxes III, the Sidonians refused to submit to the invading forces. They locked their gates and set fire to their city. Over 40,000 died. Today Sidon is a bustling seaport with busy streets, small shops and patisseries. Oh my God, I can smell the patisseries from miles away before you pass by Sidon traveling south. “On the plane you said it was the air that defines Lebanon,” Josh said. “It seems as if the passion it evokes is its defining factor.”

“Maybe it’s the air that drives the passion,” I shot back. As we continue our drive south, we are about 50 miles from Beirut. This brings us to Tyre, once the trading capital of the world. The desirable location was of particular interest to Alexander the Great. Around 332 B.C. he set out to conquer this strategic coastal base. He is said to have spent years building a causeway out of debris to bridge the waterway in his undying effort to add Lebanon (known as Phoenicia then) to his list of conquests. Once within reach of the city walls, Alexander finally was able to surmount their defenses.

“More passion. Check,” said Josh. Seeing the Sights—to the North“Skiing? In the Middle East?” Josh was amazed to say the least.

As strange as it sounds, Lebanon’s mountains are ideal for skiing and other snow sports. With the Faraya ski resort just one-hour from Beirut and the historic Cedars ski area just two hours away, day skiing is quite feasible. An attractive ski bunny remarked to Josh, “Two hours ago I was walking on the coast of the Mediterranean in a summer dress, and now I am getting ready to ski. Where else on earth can you say that?”

For those who come without their own ski clothes or equipment, rentals are readily available. You get an entire outfit (skis, boots, poles, gloves, pants, jacket, and goggles) and a lift ticket for just $50 per day. There are few trees at the tops of the mountains and no marked run, so you are free to ski wherever you please. And the views are spectacular. How many other ski mountains can treat you to a view of the Mediterranean Sea?

The Cedars of Lebanon, or Al-Arz, are the pride of the land. The trees appear on the Lebanese flag as the symbol of resiliency and determination of the Lebanese people. As you enter this area, you can see that there is more than one significant site to explore. The spectacular Holy Valley gorge hangs over the lush Qadisha River, running past red-roofed villages. The village of Becharre here is worth a visit. It’s where the internationally known poet Gibran Khalil Gibran was born and buried. The Gibran Museum there houses his paintings, drawings and personal effects.

Even so, the real attractions are the Cedars themselves, standing in the most beautiful and dramatic place in the country. The ancient grove contains the oldest trees in the world, the last of the lumber that fueled the region’s meteoric growth in ancient civilization. Centuries of trade have taken their toll, and barely 400 mature cedars remain.

To many, Baalbek, a 49-mile drive from Beirut, is the highlight of any visit to Lebanon. On another day, we left Beirut early and headed northeast over the mountains, passing some of the country’s loveliest summer resort areas and continuing into the Beqaa Valley. Located on a hillside overlooking this valley, 8th century Anjar is the only archaeological site that contains artifacts of just one civilization: the Umayyad, first dynasty of Islam.

This was just a warm-up compared to the Roman ruins of Baalbek. Named after the Phoenician sun god Baal, it is the most gigantic complex of Roman temples ever built. Its columns are the tallest ever erected, and its stones the largest ever used for building. The ruins of the temple of Bacchus are the most well preserved in the world, and the number of ruin structures, dating back 5,000 years, is overwhelming.

Each year Baalbek hosts a music festival that brings in some of the world’s greatest talents to perform against this awesome backdrop. International stars regard the festival’s invitation as a great honor.

“All around me, people are transformed by the magic in the air created by the singers as they take on a larger than life glow from the giant moon,” says a man next to us. “There’s something about the air in Baalbek.”

Before getting back to Beirut, we stopped at the port town of Byblos, whose history spans 7,000 years. Byblos is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Long before Greece and Rome, this ancient town was a powerful, independent city-state with its own kings, culture and flourishing trade.

 

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