Being in Beirut

The pictures I ever remember seeing of Beirut are bombed buildings, men with guns and desert-looking land. Because of this, I want to show you a different side of the city and listen to your response. This is the view from our room at Hotel Mediterrane on the Corniche. Pretty spectacular, huh?

This is a self-portrait with daytime view of our locale.

Melissa and I took a stroll along the Corniche with her friend Jonathan, who lives in Beirut and showed us around a bit. He's the shadowy figure below.

The atmosphere in Beirut was considerably different than what we experienced in both Jordan and Syria. You know those pictures of Beirut I referred to earlier? Well, I did see buildings which were bombed in the war last August, lots of men with guns and some desert-looking land. Some other observations I made were:

• The French influence evidenced in architecture, number of French-speakers and the language written on signs;
• The Western influence evidenced in style of dress (MUCH less conservative than Syria and Jordan), restaurant chains (KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks) and cars driven; and
• English is widely spoken.

Beirut was the only place in the Middle East we visited where I felt a little uneasy. The night we arrived, the bodies of two young males abducted from Beirut were found in the south. This fueled the atmosphere of political uncertainty and increased the number of security checkpoints. Overall, I'm glad to say I've been to Beirut, but it's not a place I plan a return visit.