Lebanon is a place, that will definitely make you appreciate what you have and also make you think about how easy it is to lose everything. And that it’s no good relying on the state. With electricity only functioning for 2 hours a day, outages are common wherever you are, whether you are in a restaurant, cinema, shopping or at home watching a movie. Hot water is definitely not a given, also only functional for 2 quick showers a day. And when you’re local who worked hard his/her whole life and put money in the bank to have savings for retirement, you can’t even withdraw money from the bank because all the banks in the country are blocked. Nevertheless, people still smile and help each other out. They still call Lebanon the “Switzerland of the Middle East”, even though perhaps no one can realistically believe that outdated label anymore.
Huge contrast between the expensive clubs, bars and restaurants and the dilapidated buildings, garbage and unfinished development projects.
The visit to Lebanon was in many ways a turning point, especially in the way that I arrived and left with completely different thoughts.
But what I will definitely take away is the huge welcome from M’s family, their hospitality and general calmness and probably more maturity as I had to face a difficult decision that I don’t know yet what the consequences will be.
I had a lot of concerns before the trip, mainly because of the way the whole situation surrounding Israel’s war with Gaza is portrayed in the media here. I knew I had to listen to my own intuition, but I was just bombarded from all sides that I shouldn’t go. Finally I was sooo grateful I went! 

BEIRUT

I actually had almost no idea about Beirut, but I kind of imagined it as the “Paris of the Middle East” as I heard this nickname a lot from all sides. And even though there are a few neighborhoods in the center that have cute cafes and restaurants, the architecture didn’t completely remind me of Paris. One of the things that surprised me is how VERY car-dependent one in Beirut is. It’s practically impossible to go anywhere without a car. I mean, you can in the center, but you have to live in the center. We lived in Hadath, which is the last neighborhood next to the neighborhood where Hizballah is based for most of the time. And from there, more or less everything was accessible only by car. At first I was a bit sad about it because I couldn’t imagine how I would ever live in such a place, but later I got used to it. I mean, for a week. Later on, I would probably be hit with environmental grief because you can see so much smog all around Beirut.

CLUBBING & CULTURE IN BEIRUT

I’ve had it in my head for a year that Beirut is the new hotspot for the club and queer scene. I hadn’t completely noticed it, but I’m also comparing it to Berlin where we live now, so I guess I don’t have a completely unbiased perspective. We’ve been to two clubs. The first one was Grand Factory and I was blown away by the space. But the whole vibe was kind of ruined by the security staff. Pretty much everywhere I looked there were security men watching us. We discovered a new DJ there, Joe,, who we later exchanged a few messages with and I learned how he feels about being in Doha surrounded by a loot of money but also a loot of emptiness from the crowd and the life in general there. The next club we visited was The Ballroom Blitz. They were supposed to play Habibi Funk that night, but I was somehow so full of sadness and annoyance that we preferred to leave. Later on, all these hormonal changes cleared up. Sadly (or rather thankfully?).

Metro Al Madina

An amazing place that Michel and I visited was the Metro Al Madina. It’s a newly renovated theater that offers performances with traditional Lebanese music. The show we attended was probably the best I have ever seen in regards to Arabic music and culture, Beautifully detailed costumes, great music and the whole show. It was basically a concert with a show to go along with it. Really 10/10 highly recommended.

Restaurants & FOOD 

I absolutely fell in love with all the food in Lebanon. The variety and the quality. I think we didn’t even have anough space in these 3 weeks to explore all of it but literally everyday was a blast. We ate really amazing schawarma in Burj Hammoud (Mano) and in Abou Joseph. The taste of the meat is just so different from the one in Europe. I will for sure not have any schawarma in Europe anymore since it is just so much not worth it. In Europe I feel that it is more popular to serve chicken schawarma but my absolutely favourite one is the one from beef (Lebanese people would call beef  just “meat”). It comes with parsley and tomato and reminds me of tabouleh. The chicken one comes with garlic sauce and fried which doesn’t attract me that much since I really hate to feel the taste of garlic in my mouth for x following hours. To desribe the whole food experience would be for a long run but I just have to mention sushi that we had in a bar called Tamashii – I have never had such a delicate sushi. Really also another level which I would never expect in Beirut. The bar was super cute and they were playing Tom & Jerry in the TV.  Anotther place that served a really super tasty burger was a restaurant called East Vilage in the Badaro area. I think it was my 3rd or so burger in my life and it was soooo good! I thought I am not into burgers but this one was again something different. The meat inside that we had was called “black angus beef”. I have no idea what exactly it is but apparenty it was a good one. 

 

Hikes 

OUR LADY OF LEBANON

Our first mini hike was to the village of Harissa, which has a Marian shrine and a pilgrimage site. According to Michel, the Marian shrine moves frequently and when it does, all of Lebanon comes to see the place. There is quiet music playing at the shrine that reminded me of the music in the toilets at the mall. Michel found it relaxing and ambient. We were given robes. We walked back the same way, but I didn’t mind because I didn’t remember the trip. We then had more pomegranate juice, Za’atar Man’ouche, Ayran, and very very strong coffee at the restaurant. On the way back, we stopped in the town called Jbeil which was a beautiful small time by the sea. I had my first kefta in Lebanon (called Bel Fekhara) and it was SOOO tasty. Like all the meat in Lebanon is so tasty. EVen Michel started to eat meat after like 2 years during this trip. Which made me very happy actually haha. No more borders.

In the evening we were in Beirut for a bar and dinner. The music was so loud everywhere that you couldn’t talk. This is definitely different than Europe. I don’t know if there are any regulations in Europe, but there is definitely no volume limit in Lebanon.

Falougha (Jabal el Kneise) Hike 

The next day (and also on the last day of the year 2023) we went on a beautiful hike to an abandoned house (an old TV tower). I was so cold the whole time because I was wearing only shorts and a light jacket. Along the way we met a dude with a dog who seemed very shy, but at the same time I thought it was cool that he ran the whole hill. I kind of wished I had run it too. When we got to the top, we should have seen a beautiful Bekaa Valley, but we didn’t see anything because we were right in the middle of a cloud. The house was all destroyed, after the Civil War. A special mention must go to the pomegranate box that Michel’s mom gave us. According to Michel, it was the best pomegranate he ever had. It was extremely juicy and sweet, but in a good way. True, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better one either. 

We spend the last night of the year at Kelly’s place with Ralph and friends of his. We reflected together on the whole year nad talked about challenges and goals for the following one. Michel and I felt too energetic for such a calm evening but overall it was a beautiful way to swing naturally into the next year. I was a little sad that we actually missed the new year and that we didn’t celebrate with champagne, but I thought I like variety and I like to experience events differently. So even this end of the year celebration was actually quite different than the ones before.

Bike Rides 

Zaarour

Since i really really love biking, i definitely wanted to explore the coutnry on 2 wheels. Even though I’m definitely more of a road cyclist, it made more sense to rent a mountain bike because the roads in Lebanon (supposedly) aren’t that good. I honestly didn’t think so, because the roads were good where we rode anyway. But Michel wanted a mountain bike, so we got a mountain bike. The bike I rented was old, but good to look at. Except that then we found out that one rather crucial element didn’t work – the brakes. But that was a problem on the downhill, so we enjoyed the ride up. We were veery high up and it had a very special high-mountain-range- feel to it. When we went to get the bike fixed, the guy was shocked at how far we had ridden. 

 

 

 

On the way back we exchanged bikes because I just couldn’t hold the brakes anymore. And I was also sooo cold! Like all the time in Lebanon basically.

Qornayel pines

 

Summer house of Ajaltoun 

The next days we moved to Michel’s summer apartment in the mountain town of Ajaltoun. In Lebanon, summer houses look completely different than in the Czech Republic. They are not the cute chalets we are used to, but rather classic houses with several apartments. But this apartment had the advantage of having a garden, which is definitely cool in the summer. However, since we didn’t have very good weather, it was rather cold. The city was charming though. We went for breakfast to Moulin d’ Or and explored the places around. I went for a run, but I felt very weak, so it can’t really be called a proper run. I don’t know why, but I kind of think the apartment in Ajaltoun is a little bit cursed because Michel and I had really big explosions at each other there. It’s going to take a while to feel comfortable in that place, but I definitely want to give it another chance. Maybe in the spring.

The Turk’s Road

One day after work we went for a short but beautiful hike close to Ajaltoun. We saw a beutiful house of some rich people and sooo beautiful stars! 

Grotto Jeita

One day after work, we went to Grotto Jeita. These are beautiful huge caves that hide limestone formations. I was really impressed by those stalactite and stalagmite formations. And surprisingly, the caves were warm. I was still very conflicted about the work. I didn’t know which offer to take and which not to take. I had practically made up my mind, but realistically I still couldn’t decide whether the subject matter was important to me or rather the monetary reward and experience. I’m glad that in the end I preferred the topic and what my heart and my intuition told me more.

High Mountains of Lebanon 

Definitely something I absolutely did not expect is the size of the mountains that are so close to the sea in Lebanon. I have never seen such high mountains so easily and quickly accessible from the sea. In practice, we were able to reach a height of over 2,000 m MSL within an hour and a half. to a completely different world. The entire two-day mountain trip we went on blew me away and actually every place we visited was breathtaking. Mainly also in the fact that we met almost no people along the way, and if we did, only locals who persist in the mountains despite the adverse conditions during the winter.

The Afqa Waterfall 

Firstly we visited the Afqa Waterfall which was located in a muslim village. Noone was there but Michel told me that in summer theplace is basically full of people smoking shisha and that you have to pay. I was very glad that it wasn’t the case when we visited. We also met a guy who offered us his honey. 

Laklouq

Laklouq was our next stop where we again hiked just a little bit but came to a wonderful view over ponds that are probably mainly used for agriculture. It was quite cold and windy, so I didn’t really enjoy the walk itself. Anyway, on the way back we met a local guy with a super cute dog who took us back. On the back of the jeep. Actually, it’s something I’ll probably never stop enjoying. He said that he used to do this when they were children. I didn’t. So maybe that’s why I am enjoying it so much now. 🙂 

Balou3 Bal3a

A beautiful gorge with a waterfall in a village called Tannourine. We had to pay and for some reason came at the same time as 2 other groups of people. It looked almost unreal since we really didn’t meet almost anyone during that day. 

Hadath el Jebbeh and Qnaiouer

This town was just so magical and so quiet. We had sooo tasty organic wine in a crepes place which looked so cute. It reminded us a pub in Varoy in Lofoten. The wine was really so insanely good that I can still feel the taste on my tongue now. After that we went to the one and only restaurant in the town and had reallly nice food. Rakakat jebneh (cheese rolls), Taouk (chicken skewers), batata bi kezebra (spicy potatoes with coriander) and of course tabbouleh ( my most favourite salad).

In Qnaiouer we spent a night in a wonderful cottage (or rather a cabin). There was a guy who was taking care of it and we were supposed to bring him cigaretter which we did. We set up a fire inside and fell asleep next to it which felt sooo cozy. I really loved the morning when I woke up and  saw the sun rising over the mountains. Everything felt so quiet and beautiful. 

Cedar Reservation 

Something that the Lebanese are very proud of are the cedars. They have one nature reserve set aside for it, which you have to enter through a gate. It’s a beautiful place, but for people who have known forests since they were little, it’s just a forest. But you can’t tell the Lebanese that. Otherwise, the cedar tree is also on the Lebanese flag, so it was a must go stop. And we were alone. Just before the snow calamity started in the mountains.

TRIPOLI 

At first we had a plan to cross the whole mountain by car, but for some reason the road was suddenly closed. So we had to change the whole plan and went to the city of Tripoli. Shanti had recommended this to me on the plane earlier. I didn’t have any expectations, but I fell in love with the place right from the start. It’s a predominantly Muslim city and it has such a cool vibe! I loved everything about it. We visited HALLAB 1881, which is where I had definitely the best baklava (sugar free haha). We also had Mafroukeh pistachio and taak good Knafeh! <3 It stays in my taste memories for a loong time.

The last few days were more or less just full of the news we found out and a lot of walking around Beirut and also a lot of discussion. We visited the American University of Beirut, where Michel studied. Really beautiful campus with lots of cats. Completely different from my experience at university, where we didn’t even have a proper campus. Just a cafe. But I’m not someone who spends a lot of time at university anyway, so I don’t regret it at all. And above all, the universities in Lebanon are so very expensive that it cannot be compared to our education system at all.

Overall, like most of my trips and experiences, this trip was full of unexpected events. It was filled with a lot of love, but also a lot of sadness, anger and confusion. But it is certainly not the last trip to Lebanon, and I look forward to the fact that in the coming years we will have more space and peace to explore this wonderful landscape, which remains somewhat forgotten in the world.