I have never been to Dunfermline. One of my colleagues hails from just down the road, and has very little that’s good to say about it. One of his favourite comments is that “Dumfermline is like downtown Beirut on a Friday night”. Being of the age where news relating to bombings and other incidents in and around Beirut was regularly reported, my mental image of Dumfermline was not particularly rosy.
We found ourselves scheduled to be in Beirut over a 3 day period in August 2008. A glimpse at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website did little to allay any concerns, and the drive from Beirut International Airport north along the coast up towards the city centre showed a city that bore obvious scars of its previous troubles; some buildings were at best pock-marked with bullet holes, or at worst (assuming that they were still standing) had huge holes where it looked as if a shell had hit. Contrasting with this was a huge amount of building work, a lot of new development alongside what appeared to be repair work such as re-skinning the outside of many buildings to cover up the marks of the damage.
From the moment we arrived at the airport and continuing on throughout our stay, there was an excitement, a buzz, a real sense of welcome about the place. We found that we were constantly being engaged in conversation with locals who were keen to ask us how we were enjoying our stay, and to point out that Lebanon had now overcome its old difficulties.
With a day spare during our trip, our company kindly provided us with a driver to take us on a day trip out of Beirut. On the way out of the city, driving south of the airport before turning east to climb inland, we passed through what seemed to be one of the poorer areas of the city, with people living in shacks or small buildings by the side of the roads, with many stalls lining the road selling fruit, vegetables, bottles of water, and many other items – it seemed that almost anything that someone thought might sell was on sale on one stand or another. I vividly remember the bright colours of some of the vegetables standing out in the hot dusty day as we drove along this road, occasionally seeing stall-holders sprinkle water on their wares to keep them looking fresh.
A high range of hills separates the coastline from the higher plateau inland, and the road snaked round whilst seeming to continually climb until we came to our first stop for the day, Moussa Castle. Stuck on the side of a hill by the side of the road, Moussa Castle is relatively new-looking, whilst trying to look quite old. Owned and developed by one man since the 1950s, inside the castle are some animated doll-like figures that try to depict Lebanese life in olden times. The castle also has a quite impressive collection of guns and other weaponry.
After Moussa Castle and a further drive, we disembarked at Beit Edine, another historical building in the calm peaceful plateau. Beit Edine has many purposes; part of it is used as a residence for the Lebanese President. Other parts are open to visit and have many interesting features such as many local mosaics that have been brought there and restored. On the day we were there, preparations were being made in the grounds for a big classical concert the same evening – Mica, the Lebanese-born singer was to perform there one evening during the summer as well. A guide showed us round some of the parts of the facility to start with. One particularly impressive feature was the spa and sauna, with the holes for sunlight in the ceiling looking innocuous until we were shown their reflection in a pair of sunglasses, when a craftily-designed Maltese cross could be seen.
After a while, our guide parted from the small group and we were left to look at the mosaics and beautiful gardens on our own. The mosaics were brought to Beit Eddine from Jiyyeh, a town 30km south of Beirut, and date from the 4th to 7th Century. The town of Jiyyeh was prosperous, with terrain at low altitude providing good terrain for olive groves, but also due to its location on a relatively narrow plain between the sea to the west and mountains to the east, placing it en-route between Antioch and Ptolemais. Some of the mosaics are attractive and in very good condition still.
After a long drive back to the hotel and a quick shower, it was time to explore downtown Beirut. Following the recommendation of the hotel receptionist, we took a taxi to an area of Beirut city centre called Solidere, which has been restored over the last few years, but still has a feel of being an old part of town about it. With restaurants lining a central street, set back underneath balconies and a large dining area outside each of the restaurants (with virtually nobody using the inside seating due to the heat and humidity), I was reminded of the Cote D’Azur, or perhaps the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. Sitting outside eating, enjoying a bottle of Lebanese red wine, listening to the chatter and laughter of people walking past, we reflected that this was not the Beirut we had expected to find.
Taxis are interesting in Beirut - as well as the cars with “Taxi” written on them and with meters inside, a large number of other people offering rides for pre-negotiated fares appear, in cars that range from being comfortable 4x4s to ones that almost certainly wouldn’t pass an MOT back in the UK.
After dinner, a short walk past the spot where Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in 2005, and the Mohammed al-Amin mosque, brought us to Jamayzieh Street (spelt differently on street signs in the street itself, and on maps). We stopped at Molly Malone’s Irish Bar, next to the pock-marked police station, for a traditional glass of Lebanese...no, sorry, it was Murphy’s, before walking on and sampling another couple of bars. Friday night, downtown Beirut, lively, vibrant, exciting – and then 2 Iraqis from London came up to us and said: “You’re not from round here, are you!” We chatted to them and then walked on to Monot Street, another street recommended to us by the hotel staff. Monot Street has more of a mix of nightclubs and bars than Jamayzieh Street, which is mostly bars, and many of the nightclubs don’t even open until 10.30 or 11.00pm. We tried first the Red Door, where a birthday party was in full swing, with Arabic dance music pumping out at high volume.
We walked back down Monot Street and went into the “Hole in the Wall”, where more music was playing at a good volume. The bar staff and some locals soon started chatting to us, and suggested that we get there a little earlier the next time as we’d “missed the best bit of the evening”.
So all in all, my impressions of Beirut were very good. We were there the weekend that the new government was appointed, and the general feeling amongst all the people we met was of hopefulness for the future, and a warm welcome. Tourism was once a big industry for Lebanon, and it seems as if they are once again ramping up this side of the economy. There were a couple of minor irritations in the hotel we stayed in that we thought might have been due to the inexperience of the staff – we wondered if some of them were quite new to the role to cope with the rise in tourism. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending Beirut as a lively, fun and interesting place to visit.
If downtown Beirut on a Friday night really is like Dunfermline – then I must make a trip to Dunfermline as well.
First published in VISA 84 (Apr 2009)
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