When I was a kid, the first thing that came to mind when someone mentioned Beirut was the image of a very dangerous, war-infested place. After all, from 1975 to 1990, civil war ravaged Lebanon and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. I honestly never saw myself stepping foot on Lebanese soil.
Fast forward to 2011….
The end of Ramadan was marked by Eid – a celebration in Islam. Not to mention, it brought with it a 5-day weekend! So to take advantage of this free time, Meg and I booked a last minute trip to Beirut, Lebanon. Each of us have coworkers who raved about the renaissance of the small middle eastern country so we decided, why not?
The result – we are so glad we did. What a beautiful, historic country!
Pigeon Rock – our first stop in Beirut!
Nejmeh Square was unfortunately sponsored by Rolex!
A reminder of old Beirut – the rebuilding is still under way
On the claimed largest single stone in the world
The ruins of Baalbek were pretty vast
Score! Our first (and only) Lebanese winery, Ksara
Near our hotel was the Hamra District Festival coinciding with the Eid holiday
Awesome view from Fly rooftop bar
Living in up at night at Najmeh Square
In a cable car adventure, we headed up to see the Harissa – Virgin Mary statue
The Virgin Mary statue turned out to be a pretty spiritual place
Roman ruins in Byblos
Cool tomb from thousands of years ago in Byblos
Lunch overlooking the Med – not bad
Grinning and bearing it in front of a blasting stereo at a bar in happening Gemmayzeh
