Lebanon adventures: our first day in Beirut

by Layla

Gazing out of the aeroplane window as we approached Beirut International Airport, Roz reading her book with the relaxed expression of one who does not specifically seek out worries, I gazed at the sea below and thought 'my goodness, we're flying so low we're about to land in the sea!' Nobody else seemed overly concerned and then just as our wheels were essentially skimming the waves, a runway appeared out of nowhere, and we landed safely. On to the airport, where we had heard that whether or not British people required a visa or not, or had to pay for it or not, depended on the whim of the day. As we were waved through passport control without so much as an untoward glance, we lamented the lack of new, fancy visa in our passport, but grabbed our luggage and headed for the taxi ranks. Where we encountered our first experience of haggling, Lebanon style. I'd already read that a taxi should cost about $25, so when the first man said '$40!', I replied "No, $20!", with which he said 'okay' and proceeded to convey us to our hotel.

My goodness our hotel is fantastic. Feeling extravagant and in desperate need of a bit of relaxing luxury after an extremely difficult few months at work, Roz had over-ridden my miserly tendencies and booked into the glorious Hotel Albergo, Lebanon's top boutique hotel. In an old French mansion, in the posh end of town surrounded by beautiful architecture and fancy restaurants and bars, Hotel Albergo oozes olde-world style. We were shown to our suite. Oh yes indeed, our suite, with giant four poster bed with lace canopy, multiple sofas, and fab bathroom complete with jacuzzi bath, decorated in impeccable 19th century French style, was made perfect when a man delivered a giant fruit bowl, turkish delights, and fruit juice on a big silver platter.

We changed and headed out where we found a lovely Lebanese restaurant in a pretty old building, filled with Lebanese people, which we took as a good sign. We filled ourselves with hummous and suchlike delights, before heading back to our room for a drink in our living room, a read of Time Out Beirut, and a much-dreamed-of early night. As we climbed into bed we found they had put two tiny chocolate macaroons by our bed, on a little saucer that proclaimed 'bon nuit' and an envelope with a letter informing us of the clocks going forward. I was very concerned about how I would convince Roz to a cheaper and less glorious hotel later in our holiday...

Today we woke up after a fantastic sleep and headed for nearby Tribeca for breakfast bagels. We then set off on an explore of the city. From our own fancy French area, Achrafieh, we walked down the hill to Gemayzeh, near the port, and got tangled up in the finishing post for a 111km race from Damascus to Beirut. Onwards to downtown, which was rebuilt after the war, and is all wide streets and fancy shops and outside restaurants. There is something excellent about most shops being closed on Sundays. Families wandered around the streets, blowing bubbles and flying kites in the sun.

We kept walking onwards to Hamra, the arty, intellectual quarter, where there are a clump of universities. Much older and less expensive, I'm not sure we quite bonded with it, but walked through to the Corniche, a lovely promenade by the sea frequented by Beirut residents. We strolled along with everyone else, and dined in a great outside restaurant right next to the sea. Fantastic hummous again. I love food here! Afterwards I lured Roz to Luna Park, the adjacent, somewhat run down fairground which has a ferris wheel which always excites me. I dragged Roz across the somewhat deserted ground to the wheel and before we knew it, we were soaring above Beirut. This was a bad moment for us both to remember we are a tad scared of ferris wheels... but the view was good and we were very entertained if somewhat alarmed. By the time we got off, we'd started a trend and the locals poured on.

We walked onwards along the Corniche to the famous Pigeon Rocks, essentially some big rocks in the sea. We were not as overwhelmed as we had hoped, so headed inland, back to Hamra and a cool arty cafe that Roz has identified in a guidebook. Though we happened upon this internet cafe, so thought we should take the opportunity to tell you about our trip so far... watch this space for the next episode.