بيروت ليلا

Det är vackrast när det skymmer – it’s most beautiful at dusk. The Beiruti sky was amazing the other day.

AUB

The Corniche

فن شوارع الحمراء

Thought I’d post some shots with street art from in and around Hamra. This first one is very classical, not a fascinating piece of art maybe, but I like that it’s in Arabic. What better language to do graffiti in than stylish and beautiful Arabic? For those of you who having trouble deciphering the letters, the text says “Graffiti from Beirut”.

Stencil art is hugely popular here. Love it.

The classic silhouette above belongs of iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, here saying “boos elwawa” meaning “kiss the wound”, or, a qualified guess, like the English expression “kiss and make it better”.

And finally, a message of love. Yalla!

الحمراء

For every day that passes, I like Hamra, where I spend most of my time since this is where both my place and the university are, more and more. Gemmayze on the other side of downtown Beirut has definitely got a nice vibe as well, with pretty buildings, winding little side streets and excellent drinking and clubbing. I love to go there, during the day for killing a few hours at a café, or at night for some of that first-class Beiruti party life.

I’m very happy to be in Hamra though, for being conveniently close to AUB of course, but also for the unmistakably friendly and folksy atmosphere. And, the very best cafés in the city. Favorite spots are combined library and café/pub Ta Marbuta, artsy De Prague, hugely popular and laid back Café Younes, and Bread Republic, not least for their excellent lentil soup and super delicious homemade crispbread. I bought the goodie bag below the other day for only 3000 Lebanese pounds ($2), filled with crispbread of different flavours: thyme, cumin, paprika or sesame and poppy seeds. Delicious!

اظافر وردية و السماء الزرقاء

These trees line many of Beirut’s streets, and walking beneath one of them the other day, the leaves just seemed in perfect harmony with the blue sky.

I like this shot! Love how the balconies have changed with time. And the colours are beautiful.

To me, this is an excellent image of Lebanon. Old grace finished of with some of that contemporary superficiality and glamour.

لا للتدخين

Just a quick one, about something I’m very sad to have missed yesterday: a nonsmoking night in Beirut’s Gemmayzeh area. In a city where every café, bar or restaurant bathes in a constant tobacco haze, the idea of a nonsmoking environment is a far fetched dream. But such a pleasant one! Yesterday was the second night the Gemmayzeh pubs cleared their tables of ashtrays, and I hope to see it happen soon again. Then I’ll be there for sure.

واجهات المدينة

مقهى كيتش

One of my favorite spots so far for coffee or lunch is the combined store and café Kitsch in Gemmayze, a tranquile and stylish little place just off busy Gourard street. I especially like the – of course – kitsch and pretty lamp made out of spoons and tiny cups. Mirjiam, it got me thinking of you actually! Like it too?

برنارد خوري

One place I look forward going to is the spectacular club BO18, designed by renowned Beirut architect Bernard Khoury. The club is built underground with a superedgy design where the metal roof opens at night to reveal the black sky to the crowd. It’s located in al-Karantina, an area with a disturbing history; in 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War, there was a massacre on some 1500 of the Kurdish, Palestinian and South Lebanese residing in the area at the time.

Several of Khoury’s projects in Beirut have been part of and/or responses to the gigantic rebuilding of the city after the wartorn years, and building BO18 in al-Karantina he says, is a reaction to the explosive conditions inherent in the location. He is very critical to much of the large-scale reconstruction of downtown Beirut – I second him; to me, it’s a schizophrenic place, with brand new houses built to resemble the old ones, but now inhabited by expensive designer stores and pricey restaurants rather than genuine street life – and attempts instead to create buildings expressing how scars from the war affect Beirutis today.

فن الشوارع

Arabic style emoticons, much more stylish than the regular ones. See, in so many ways is this a beautiful language!