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Beirut, Lebanon



I've been going to places via the internet, by looking at videos (lots of ads, hope he makes money), listening to music (Fairuz, Spotify), and reading Wikipedia pages (Beirut). When I first googled Beirut, the videos were either songs or protests, it took me a while to find a walking tour. 

My idea that there has been conflict there is from the civil war that was there 1975-1990, which the Taif Agreement began to end. "...the United States, have frequently placed Lebanon, and Beirut in particular, on their travel warnings lists due to the many car bombings and orchestrated acts of political violence." Eight percent of the tourists are from the USA. 

"In Travel + Leisure magazine's World Best Awards 2006, it was ranked the 9th best city in the world." Then the 2006 Lebanon War broke out, a 34 day military conflict. "Cosmetic surgery is a major component of medical tourism in Lebanon."

In 2020 a ship blew up.

I'm listening to Fairuz: "She claims that the hieratic nature of her performances is because she is singing as if she were praying."

I like the cooler weather, so I'd spend January and February there. Los Angeles is it's USA sister city.


Literature:

Top 10 books about Lebanon (Guardian, Naji Bakhti, author of Between Beirut and the Moon.)

(Writers from Beirut.)


Past Past Places I visited via the internet

Cork, Ireland

Milan, Italy

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