iraqOriginally posted on my site GunnarLarson.com on 2/20/2006 11:10:51 AM
The doorman came running to the passenger side of the car. “Welcome sir,” he said. “Thank you very much,” I said. I probably looked and acted a bit out of place for the four star Le Bristol Hotel in Beirut. I was expecting something, well… different. >
Beirut is the capital city of Lebanon. US Citizens are strictly discouraged to visit the country. The US Department of State Travel Warning: “The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to carefully weigh the necessity of their travel to Lebanon…Americans have been the targets of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past.” Lebanon is smack dab in the Middle East with roughly 250 miles separating it from Iraq.
Lebanon has been seething with violence since 1500BC. Religion has been the most recent source of violence in Lebanon, mostly between Christians and Muslims. We saw buildings, most notably to me the old Holiday Inn, with gaping holes in the side due to warfare. There are visible signs of gunshots all over buildings in Beirut. With all that, Beirut is considered the Paris of the Middle East and it lives up to its title.
I have not stayed in many “fancy” hotels before, so while we were checking in and a butler greeted us with a tray of orange juice and the candles were burning on the table next to the kali lilies, I just had a smile on my face, knowing that our $40.00 US dollars a night was very well spent.
Even with its history of violence, Beirut is very westernized. There are Land Rovers, roving about, along with Cadillacs and Porsches. Sure there are traditional Lebanese restaurants, but they sit next to Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, and let’s not forget Dunkin Doughnuts. The nightlife is very robust with clubs, bars, and hukka bars that are very stylish. After the civil war the former Prime Minister Rafi Harrari’s mission was the rebuild Lebanon. He did quite well. All the buildings downtown are new, mostly hiding scabs of the civil war. Now, the city is very clean and well put together. It all looks like it will continue to progress too, sadly not under Harrrari’s guidance; he was assassinated just over a year ago, allegedly by Syrian forces.
We commissioned a tour guide and car and drove two hours outside of Beirut to visit Baalbeck, the largest Roman temple in the world. Baalbeck is described as “one of the wonders of the world.” Just the immensity of the temple is miraculous. Because it was first started before the birth of Christ, Baalbeck is now ruins.
The intricacies and the time it must have taken to build this massive structure is nothing less than phenomenal. As I write this, I still cannot get past my amazement on how they actually acquired sandstone from Egypt, carving statues by hand, carved designs on the roof, hauled fifteen-ton full pieces of limestone, and it was all done by hand. Thousands of slaves built the temple to honor Venus. I cannot fathom how hard and exciting it must have been.
It was very awkward for me to be in Lebanon and feel so welcomed and safe. I really believed that we would be in a rough area ravaged by civil war and desperately hanging on. It was not that at all. Now instead of violence, Lebanon is seething with prosperity and hope that they can retain their title of being the Paris of the Middle East.
