Beirut Paris of the Middle East!!!!!,NO NO NO i say Paris is the Beirut of Europe (Beirut)

Member Name: abuarz

Product:	Beirut
Date:	12/06/06 (1533 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: TOO MANY

Disadvantages: A Very misunderstood city

i lived in Beirut for 20 years.Their are 2 parts to Beirut, the part for tourists and the part the Lebanese go to get away from them.
Beirut used to be called the Paris of the middle east mostly because it was such a open city, you can do what you want in Beirut, their are strip clubs,night clubs and casino's. its not the typical Middle Eastern city. their are churches and mosques right next to each other theirs even a synagog(sorry for the spelling), in the war beirut was cut in 2, the east was christian and the west was muslim, although they were right next to each other it might as well have been another country. the line that cuts the city in half was called the green line because of the thousands of plants that grew their when the people left. no one would dare pass because both areas were heavily guarded by snipers,if a muslim was caught in the east he'd be shot and the same for a christian in the west, it was known that if a car wanted to pass from east to west they would have to put a bra on the antenna of the car inorder not to be shot(typical lebanese humour) nowadays the green line is full of night clubs and bars, their are english pubs(the hole in the wall), irish pubs(celtic), lounge clubs and huge ibiza style clubs playing house music.
you can learn alot about the Lebanese by looking at Beirut, the Mc Donalds has valet parking!!,you can see a very chic and expensive sushi restaurant right next to a refugee camp full of poor people,our virgin megastore is a 3 storey building with a roof top restaurant, we are the only city(other than toronto i think) that has 2 hard rock cafes,theirs a Maronite church,Greek Orthodox church,shiite mosque,sunni mosque Armenian catholic church,Protestant church and synogog all within 300 meters of each other. you can walk buy the newly renovated "phoenician" hotel, then turn around and see a building with 100's of thousands of bullet holes in it, a reminder of the hard days.
the lebanese dont really hang out in the newly renovated down town area we dont feel comfortable their, mainly because you dont feel like your in lebanon, lebanon is famous for its people and no one can afford to live in the downtown area(normal apartments thier costing up wardss of 7million$) so its usually full of tourists and empty buildings with no one sitting on the balconys( a lebanese hobby), we prefer the historic gemmayzeh street, its old architecture reminds you of the old lebanon and it feels like your in a city, their are old men playing "tawle" which is like backgammon, thier are 100's of small cheap family owned bars and clubs and many restaurants, an old jesuit school a theater, and best of all normal lebanese people, the type who dont own BMW's.
their are many hotels in Beirut and many more being built with help from the gulf countries. my advice for really enjoying Beirut is to buy a small map and totally get lost, i was born in Beirut and lived their all my life(until now) and i still find small bars and cafes that i didnt know existed, now for you women,i think shopping was created for lebanese women beacuse they'll sell their souls for a gucci dress, theirs everything you want from Hugo Boss to our very own Elie Saab each designer has his own place in downtown Beirut, also check out the huge new ABC mall that opened in Achrafieh its HUGE with cinema's,restaurants,book stores and many many shops.
Monot street is the place to go to party, its a area maybe the size of 2 football pitches but has around 100 bars and clubs, beirutis usually bar hop and have 1 or 2 drinks at a few places rather than just sit in one place. dont worry about food, for those who dont have alot of money their are thousands of cheap places and for those who do have money go check out Crystal restaurant and club, go buy a 3000$ bottle of champagne and watch as the music stops and a spot light comes on your table, the waiters come to your table holding the huge bottle while everyone watches, fire works go of inside the club and at the end your name is enscribed into the wall next to all the other people who can afford that famous bottle of champagne or check out the "centrale" restaurant built in a old ottoman style mansion, go sit in the bar that is suspended right above the restaurant, then watch as the waiter presses a button and the roof opens to reveal the beuatifull beirut skyline at night or the BO18 night club , built by the same architect , it is built in a former palestinian refugee camp , where thousands of palestinians where slaughtered by christian militian groups, for that reason the club is shaped like a coffin and built underground, and when the club gets full the roof opens to revel the night sky full of stars, its truley a amazing place ONLY IN BEIRUT, Come check it out now!

Summary: TOOT TOOT TO BEIRUT