Woke up at around ten today. Mike and I decided that we wanted to walk around the city and do some exploring. However, it was probably prudent to first get our tickets to return home.
We used the wireless internet at the hostel to check for flights and prepared to book. I filled out all my info and clicked the book button but got back the message ‘insufficient funds’. This confused me because to my knowledge I should have more than enough in my account to buy the tickets.
However, I logged onto Wells Fargo and was shocked to find my account almost empty. Apparently my roommates in San Diego had not deposited my rent checks from a few months ago and decided to do it just now…. So now I am in Beirut with just over 200 dollars. Yikes!
I was, however, able to rearrange my funds in my savings so that I could purchase the tickets… with little to spare. I quickly sent off emails to my broker back home to wire me some funds. Lucky for me I was with Mike who could lend me some money for getting around Beirut.
We decided to put this behind us and enjoy the city. We left the city and walked towards what is called the ‘historical’ part of the city. This however, is kind of a misnomer as the city has been mostly rebuilt following the civil war.
There is a path going through the city which runs past many landmarks and historical sites. We decided that this was the best way to start. We started by walking past the Khatem Al Anbiyaa Mosque. This is perhaps the most famous and gorgeous mosque in Beirut. After this we headed over to the government buildings and the remains of the Roman baths.
From there we passed by a few of the older churches and mosques that are everywhere in the city. It was really weird to see so many Churches in a country I typically associate with Islam. However, I guess there is a large Christian contingent in Lebanon.
We eventually found ourselves in the downtown region, which is surprisingly modern. I mean seriously this could have been any city in the USA. Most of the billboards were even in English! It was really weird walking through this part of town. The look and feel was just so much different than what I had grown accustomed too.
We continued to follow the path through downtown to what was called a souq. Apparently the old souq had kept its name but gotten a facelift. It was pretty much a modern mall. Actually it pretty much was a mall. Very different from the souqs in Syria.
From here we decided to walk to the harbor and from there to the American University in Beirut. We passed many more churches and mosques on the way. We also passed many buildings that still showed signs of damage from the civil war. This included bullet holes and explosion damage… apparently these were the buildings that had not yet been rebuilt or fixed.
We made our way down to the harbor and walked along the boardwalk. By this time it was getting near 1pm and neither Mike nor I had eaten yet. We decided to stop at the local McDonalds and grab a burger. We went in and ate a burger… not bad for McDonalds.
With our bellies full we went off continued down the boardwalk and on to the American University. We got there without any difficulty, and were even let in by showing our Cairo ID’s. We spent an hour and a half walking around and exploring the campus. The campus was gorgeous. Older than the Cairo campus but with more vegetation. It had a different charm that AUC. It also had a nice ocean view.
We continued to walk around and check out the buildings. We even spent some time looking through their tiny bookstore. After we had seen all there was to see we exited the campus on the opposite side and started to head back towards the hostel. We decided to take a different route so that we could see more of the city. We even found a Crispy Cream just off campus.
We arrived back at the hostel around 5 and waited for Joel, John, and Jordan to return. They returned at around 5:30 and we all headed down to a shwarma shop they found. It was good, but not quite as good as Syrian Shwarma.
Afterwards we returned to our hostel to hang out a bit before the bars opened. We got a few beers from the hostel and chilled in the lounge with some two Austrians (Philip and Karl) and a French girl. Really fun to talk to them because they all had different backgrounds and travel stories. We chilled for a few hours and at nine decided that it was suitable late to head to the bars.
We walked down the street and onto the main strip where most of the bars and clubs were located. We picked the first one that looked good and went in. It was a four story bar, however it wasn’t very full. Apparently in Lebanon the work week is Monday-Friday not like most other Middle Easter countries who go from Sunday-Thursday. Full or not, we still had a good time.
Most of the group attached themselves to some Lebanese girls on the first floor. I however found two Brits that were living in Beirut and talked with them for an hour. It was fun practicing my Arabic and discussing life in Lebanon. After a few hours at the bar we decided to try and get into the local clubs.
The girls we were hanging out with told us that it would be hard to get in but that they could get us in. We decided it was our best shot and went with them. One had a car and she drove us to Sky Bar, the biggest club in Lebanon. We got there quickly but when we tried to get in we were told it was closing… I’m pretty sure that’s not true, but most clubs don’t let groups of 7 guys in. We decided to try one more club… similar result…. We decided that maybe it was time to get home.
We got a ride back to our hostel. It was near 2am by this point, but we were all starving. There was a hot dog stand a few blocks down from our hostel which we decided to go visit. It wasn’t exactly a New York hot dog but it sure was tasty.
Afterwards the seven of us headed up to our perspective rooms and fell asleep.
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