Returned from Beirut

Spent the holidays in Beirut Lebanon this year in order to spend time with my daughter who is studying there.  Wanted to see what her living situation was like, and to visit the place that fascinated and terrified me as a youth.  Growing up in the Eighties, my impression of Beirut was of bombed out buildings and sniper fire during the 15 year civil war.  Today, most of Beirut is rebuilt, with occasional vacant, bullet-riddled buildings that remind not only of the war, but of the beauty that existed before the war and justified the nickname, Paris of the Middle East.

The bar scene is vibrant, the food is off the hook, and worthy of the Travel & Leisure claim as World's Best City for Food. Apparently the nightclubs are fun and thematically varied, but I left that to the younger generation. The history is intense, from the Phoenician ruins in Byblos to the Roman temples in Baalbek, the Ksara vineyards, and the early form of recycling in Anjar, an Ottoman city with re-purposed Roman columns and capitals.

The best part was having my family together for the holidays.  Seeing my daughter navigate the chaos of Beirut, slipping from Arabic to French to English seamlessly, and meeting her friends and neighbors settled my nerves and allows me to sleep a little more peacefully on this side of the ocean.

Now we look forward to all the surprises and opportunities 2017 will bring.