Four Points Sheraton Verdun Beirut

... clearly the future is held in optimism. It is hard to believe that just a few years ago we were watching the news reports of the civil war here, but then you see the Holiday Inn. This was opened just before the war started and became the focal point for snipers on all sides and subsequently intense shelling. <br><br>Today it's a bustling confident city, full of cafes, bars, designer stores and five star hotels and the ...

... and even food in areas where the government will not or cannot reach. In short, Hezbollah is far more than just a terrorist organization and wholly different than other terror groups we usually deal with. Our policy towards them should therefore be as subtle and specific to the Lebanese climate as possible. <br><br><br>One day while driving through a Hezbollah stronghold in the south of Lebanon, I was thinking about how our government and media might react to a Hezbollah ...

... and of course-coffee.  Our plan for the day was to head to the mountains for Tarek and Hanny to snowboard and sled-anything else was a bonus.  Our driver arrived with a large van and we all piled in-9 of us!  6 teachers-Bian(1), Lisa(5), Terri(3), Anita(HS math), Tiffany(HS English), and me plus Tarek(9th), Hanny(5th) and Liam(10 months) with a car seat.   Our first stop was the Jeita Grotto.  Wow, was this amazing!  It is a ...

... many top-notch bars on the same street. After 2 mojitos, headed to Gemayzeh Cafe. This was a French bistro with a Lebanese touch. Had meze, shish taouk, mahallebi (milk-based desert), nargileh and Turkish coffee. 50,000 pounds. The food quality was excellent and the live Arab music added significantly to the atmosphere. This place was the Lebanses version of a meyhane (similar to a tapas bar) at Cicek Pasaji in Istanbul. When I returned to room 1507 at ...

... had the definite feeling that you needed money to fully enjoy it. As with the buildings, vehicles were equally varied, with shiny new Lamborghinis juxtaposed to the battered tin can cars that we had become accustomed to in the Middle East. When I grow up and get rich, I look forward to riding my custom built motorbike off the yacht at St Georges and roaring up and down the main strip with my hair (or what's left of it) blowing in the face of the blonde behind me. Anna, get the peroxide out!

... badgered by an older couple. He took my phone and strode off to the other side of the road with it, in deep discourse with Rawda's uncle again. I was on the verge of kissing my new Nokia N95 goodbye (and with that my hopes of escaping the airport) when he rematerialised next to me with a couple of other army guys. One of them smiled at me and pointed out the extra stars on his shoulder and said "Lieutenant" tapped his chest and smiled. Then "Welcome to Lebanon - tomorrow ...

After an afternoon involuntarily spent in the company of Hizbullah, our first evening in Beirut was a thankfully more light-hearted affair. Beirut is famed for its thriving nightlife and party atmosphere and we were eager to sample it on our night on the town. Our first destination was Rue Monot, a bustling and affluent strip in the Achrafiye area of the city. There, amidst the Porsches and Mercedes and plush restaurants and bars, we dined at a famous French steak restaurant ...

Bsharre . . . it's amazing! My friend Kayte and I met a lady there who told us (over bitter, muddy coffee and a bready thing that she called "kaak") about the town of Bsharre. Its population is about 20,000, though it doesn't look that large because it's all snuggled into the cliffs. There are churches everywhere in Bsharre, which our new friend told us is because Bsharre, like most of northern Lebanon, is all Catholic ...

... d see in the Beka'a Valley wore pale blue berets. The guidebook would have you believe that even nowadays you can't move for green and yellow Hezbollah flags and sympathies. Certainly there's no deference here to a peace with covered turret guns - the APCs' machine guns and anti-aircraft guns are all uncovered and manned by young, young men in natty uniforms sporting styley sunglasses and talking into their cell phones. People, however, were laid-back, friendly, and ...

1.Do not read or speak Arabic or French, the two most important laungages of the country 2.Do not have convertor for hair dryer, so your hair looks it's craziest when first getting to know in-laws. (Lebanon is 220 V and America is 120 V.) These adapters are not easy to find for high powered profesional ...