One last post of pics taken on our first two days in Beirut. The featured photo at the top shows the landmark ‘yellow building’ on the former Green Line separating the Muslim and Christian communities during the civil war (1975 – 1990). It was famously a bastion for snipers. Some were keen to have it destroyed after the war but it was decided to preserve it as part of the city’s historical heritage. Note gathering of today’s ‘revolutionaries’ on the corner opposite. I’ve made the point elsewhere but the locals are referring to these protests that brought down the Hariri government as a revolution. And most of them are in favour of it.

There were parts of the city that were quite attractive, but there is quite a lot of civil war damage left…..

Beirut is not alone in having lots of ugly exterior wiring. Even affluent cities like Tokyo have it. It’s a pity about the rubbish though, especially plastic bottles. This kind of trash lines most of the roads and highways, and here it’s been dumped on the beach right on the Corniche, once a magnet for the international jetset.

The G-spot – G for glamour, of course – of the Corniche before the war was the St George’s Bay marina and the nightclubs, bars and flash hotels clustered round it. The marina and the yachts and the floating gin-palaces are still there, but the image below seems more like a historical document than an advertisement.