Touch down in B-town...

Well, one day into the trip, one day with internet access. So far so good.

Ben and I woke up this morning at about 8:30, grabbed a cab to Cairo International, and, after hanging out for a while, we were on board our 11:50 Middle East Airlines flight to Beirut.

The plane was pretty comfortable, and I slept for nearly all of the hour and half long flight. However, I did wake up just as we were descending into Beirut, and I'm glad I did. The view was breathtaking. The Mediterranean and the city itself merged together almost seamlessly, and the sprawling mountains to the east formed an impressive backdrop. The city is positioned so perfectly between the sea and the mountains that the three elements seem to blend together in a way that makes it difficult to tell where one ends and another begins.

After landing, we made our way to customs. I approached the customs agent, presented my passport, and was swiftly granted a Lebanese visa. However, when Ben's passport was examined, there was apparently something wrong. We're assuming the fact that he doesn't have a student visa (AUC screwed this up) was some sort of problem. The customs officer contacted his superior and soon we were being grilled in broken English by an rather unpleasant chap. The fact that we didn't have either a return ticket or a visa into another country was problematic, as the officer said he needed proof that we would be leaving Lebanon before our tourist visa had expired. We tried explaining to him that we were planning on obtaining a Syrian visa at the border and that we were college students on spring break and would have to return to Cairo shortly regardless, but he still was hesitant to budge. Finally, we told him what hotel we were staying at while in Beirut, he placed a call, and then begrudgingly told us to be on our way. It was an anticlimactic and unceremonious end to what had been a frustrating, high-tension ordeal.

After that misadventure, we hailed a cab and made our way into Beirut, with the Mediterranean to our left and mountains to our left. We arrived at our lodgings for the next four days, the Regis Hotel, left our bags in our room, and headed out into the city.

Our first stop was the Corniche Beirut, a beautiful seaside promenade tracing the Mediterranean coast. The Corniche was well-maintained and pristine and allowed us to get up close and personal with the Mediterranean. It was wonderful to fill my lungs with the crisp sea air after living in smoggy Cairo for the past two months.

We walked along the Corniche for a while before deciding to head over to the American University of Beirut, which came highly recommended from our Arabic teacher back home, and check it out. We were little only feet from the campus, but unfortunately could only gain access as visitors through the main gate, which was on the other side of the campus. After a lot of walking later, including an ascent of possibly the world's longest staircase, we made it to the main gate. However, the expanse of eateries along the avenue opposite AUB was enough to get our growling stomachs' attention, and after changing out some Egyptian pounds for Lebanese lira, we grabbed some lunch. We each devoured a delicious kofta wrap, which was prepared by spreading a meat paste on flat bread and then cooking it on a domed heated surface. After the main course, we grabbed some absolutely amazing ice cream. The food all cost us 7000 lira (about $4.60), which was our first indication that Beirut was bit pricier than Cairo, but still certainly affordable by American standards (and actually, the $20 taxi ride from the airport to our hotel was the first indication; compare that to the $8 fare from our dorm to the Cairo airport, which was a considerably longer trip).

After appeasing our bellies, we entered the main gate and exchanged our passports for a visitor's pass, leaving us free to explore AUB to our heart's content. It might seem strange to visit a college campus when in a foreign country, and, admittedly, I thought it was a little odd that our professor had been so adamant that we see AUB. But after walking around for only a few minutes, it became obvious why AUB had been pushed as a must-see-destination. It was absolutely gorgeous. The plethora of fauna and greenery,the beautiful Mediterranean-style stucco buildings, and the beautiful scenic views provided by the campuses hillside location made it seem like idyllic little paradise nestled in the middle of a bustling city. I was authentically impressed and openly remarked how I preferred AUB's campus to its new, but sterile looking counterpart in Cairo. I've posted my favorite images from the campus tour below, but be sure to follow this link to see all of my AUB pictures.

After our campus tour, we collected our passports, and started heading deeper into the city. We hadn't really planned any specifics for the day, so we were free to explore at our leisure. After walking for awhile in the streets of Beirut, here are some differences between it and Cairo that I picked up on:

• Beirut is far more European. From the architecture to its ambiance, the city definitely has a distinctive European feel to it.
• Beirut is significantly cleaner. Didn't spot any heaping piles of trash sitting in the middle of the street.
• The Lebanese armed forces are significantly better equipped. Their sleek camo uniforms and their imposing M16's make the Egyptian soldiers, with their drab black clothing and ancient AK-47's, look like amateurs.
• The chaos associated with Cairo is definitely less rampant here. Traffic was tame, and people just generally seemed more relaxed.
• Despite the fact that Lebanese currency is beyond inflated (1,500 Lebanese lira roughly equals one American dollar), things in Beirut are a bit more expensive than they are in Cairo.
• Scars from recent conflicts can still be spotted in throughout the city, including bullet holes in walls and the hole in a building left from an artillery shell. Even so, the city's reconstruction efforts have been impressive
• The Mediterranean weather is refreshingly cool compared to the desert heat of Cairo.
• Lebanese merchants are far less invasive and pushy than their Egyptian counterparts. Aside from taxi drivers, pestering is minimal.
• The Catholic/Christian presence in Beirut is very pronounced. Although non-Muslims only make up 40% of the country's population, I think it stands to reason that there is a significantly higher proportion of Christians in Beirut than elsewhere in the country. Churches were in equal numbers to mosques (if not more numerous), and many cars sported crucifixes hanging from their rear-view mirror or even Christian images or stickers on the windows.

The region we first explored, Hamra, is a fairly relaxed, up-scale area, with mock cobble-stone streets to boot, lined with hotels and chic boutiques and refined eateries. Again, may I emphasize, a very European vibe. From Hamra, we continued to make our way east towards the heart of the city. As we climbed a hill, Mount Lebanon loomed up before us, peppered by the lights of innumerable buildings along the mountainside. Unfortunately, the quickly darkening skies prevented us from getting any decent pictures, but it was still quite a spectacle, observing how the city refused to stop at the foot of the mountain and instead became a part of it.

We continued our exploration, and were not disappointed by the sites that unfolded before us. Among them was the Grand Serail, also know as the Government Palace, an elegant yet expansive structure of neo-Ottoman design that houses the Lebanese Prime Minister and related offices. A little while later, we found ourselves in the Souks du Beyrouth, an absolutely charming pedestrian-only shopping area lined with the most high-class, sophisticated shops imaginable. Although it definitely exuded a European charm to it, this elegant area actually reminded me a little of the pedestrian-friendly avenues in Madison, Wisconsin.

The next thing to catch our eye after emerging from the Souks du Beyrouth were the majestic white-spires of a blue domed mosque, which, judging by its immaculate luster, was clearly a recent construction (started in 2002, finished in 2008). The mosque's official name is Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, but most people call it the Hariri Mosque, after the prime minister who not only commissioned its construction, but was also laid there to rest after his assassination in 2005. As we circumnavigated the mosque, it became clear to me this was as close as you could get to a "Disney mosque." The colors, the grandeur, everything.The mosque itself actually sits smack dab next to St. George's Maronite Cathedral. This apparently bizarre proximity was put into perspective by the always astute Benjamin Gavel: what better way to discourage sectarian violence than by putting two religious buildings of different sects right next to each other? That way, if you try to blow up some members of the opposite sect, you invariably end up harming those of your own, and vice-versa. Seemed to make sense to me.

After soaking in all of these sights, we decided it was time to get back to the Regis Hotel. But as is usually the case when attempting to navigate a city you've only spent about six hours in, it was a lot more difficult than we surmised. After about 45 minutes of walking, we actually did make it to an area we recognized, and thought we could easily make it to the hotel. But apparently we let our guard down too prematurely, and a few wrong turns later, we found ourselves lost and incredibly sore. Following a consultation with an AUB student and our guide book, we realized where we were. We were astounded that one (or two or three...) wrong turn(s) could've screwed us up that badly. Nonetheless, we put our heads down and plodded the remaining kilometers, grabbed some dinner, and went to bed.

Despite wandering astray for a brief spot, our first day in Beirut was a smashing success. We had seen a plethora of sites, gotten a good idea for the feel of the city, and became more acquainted with the lay-out of our surroundings (though, of course, by a trial and error procedure). With only four days in this beautiful country, we got the most out of Day 1.