Hill summer retreats & Jounieh

Hill summer retreats

Breakfast at the hotel took a turn downhill today with no tomatoes and cucumber.  It was quite a surprise as both are basics of a Mediterranean breakfast.  We took a brief walk outside the hotel, recognising Starbucks and the juice shop from our previous visit to Beirut.

We met Zakaria, our driver from yesterday around 0900.  We discussed a possible itinerary and negotiated the price.  We agreed to skip Beittedine and go to Beit Mery, Broumanna and return via Jounieh.

He took us up the windy hilly roads to Beit Mery where we had a view of Beirut from around the airport area (south) to near Jounieh (north).  The town has been a summer retreat for people since the Phoenician and Roman times, to escape the heat of the lowlands.

From here we went to Deir el Qala’a,  a 17^th Century Maronite monastery and ruins.  Like many sites in the region, it was built over older Roman buildings, in this case a temple.  We stopped for tea and Kim got a little crabby because he was disappointed there wasn’t any milk available to go in his tea.

We continued to Broummana, another summer hill retreat. The town was full of restaurants and despite being the rural setting, there were many high-rises.  Again, we were able to look back at Beirut and the Mediterranean.

Text continues after this gallery.

Jounieh

Next, heading towards the coast and northwards, was Jounieh.  It is known for its seaside resorts and nightlife.  But for us, we took a cable car to Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.  The small cable cars (Teleferique) glide over people’s backyards quite closely to their windows and balconies, before heading into less built-up areas.

We transferred to a funicular railway to ascend the last part to reach the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon.  Mass had just finished at the small chapel underneath.  The candles below the icons weren’t real but electric bulbs.  We also explored the nearby modern basilica.

Text continues after this gallery.

We headed back down to Jounieh for lunch by the seat.  The kebabs we had for lunch with pita bread were delicious.  The fattoush salad with crispy deep-fried pita was good too.  Fiona seemed to be really cautious with the food and didn’t eat much.  She said she liked the salad very much while eating just the crispy deep-fried bread!  And again, the joy of the Middle East was the freshly-squeezed orange juice at a reasonable price.

Back in Beirut

Arriving into Beirut, we drove past the Dawra area which was traditionally an Armenian area.  Then we caught a glimpse of the former Holiday Inn, an iconic ruined high-rise hotel which operated only for a year before war broke out in 1975.  The pock-marked shell and gaping walls are a reminder of Beirut’s troubled past.

Back at the hotel, we rested briefly before heading out for a walk again on the Corniche without Pat.  He needed a bit more rest.

We had a simple dinner on Rue Hamra at a takeaway bar on a roadside table.  Kim and I shared a nice kebab and a burger.  We realised later that Fiona wanted a proper sit-down dinner.

Evening walk on Beirut’s Corniche.