In the lead up to our trip to Sri Lanka, I had been telling Ahmad that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad that we would be travelling as part of a group, doing everything together for the next few days. If anything, I hoped it would lead to new friendships (as I am always looking…
Tag: tourisim
A Chance to Celebrate
I love being there at big moments, so I was delighted when I found out that we would be in Germany on the 25th anniversary of their reunification. Since the Germans do know how to party, I was greatly looking forward to joining in on the celebrations: you cannot deny how far this country has…
Lest We Forget
This is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. As you can see, it’s a pretty striking structure, and not because of the new construction right next to it or that I happened to take this shot on a rather sunny Autumn day in the German capital. It is quite remarkable because this church was…
Blue Batroun
Funny how you can get so adjusted to one place that you don’t think of venturing beyond it. Since I was raised in Beirut and it is the hometown of both my parents, it is the center of my universe and I don’t leave it much unless I’m going abroad. But there’s so much to…
It’s a Small World After All
Yesterday, I found myself sharing dinner with an interesting bunch of people. (Side note: what self-respecting Armenian restaurant runs out of Su-borek before 8 PM?) Two of my dinner companions hailed from Iran and were here for a visit: one for the first time and the other for the fifth. I was fascinated because I…
From the Beyond: Updates and Whatnot
When I first started Beyond Beirut, I promised myself I’d keep it running, that I wouldn’t care about how many people visited the site, or no matter how uninteresting my life as a graduate student abroad would become, I’d still find something to write about. We all know that this is exactly what happened. Right? Truth…
Beyond Beirut 