Beirut! Strike at the root!

Beirut is a wonderful city once you travel with the locals. To find great places, now, is just a matter of keeping reading this post. First, you have to learn 3 essential words: 1. nargile (that's what you'll be smoking) 2. moutabal (that's what you'll be eating) 3. Russian Standard (that's what you'll be drinking, makes no sense, but true)



BANI: Check out Al Falamanki for dinner or just before going out. Enjoy 'narguileh' with lime+mint flavor, so refreshing! Try delicious mezze and saj. If you don't understand the menu, just ask your neighbors to explain it (turned out to be more effective than to ask waiters). The atmosphere is unique and lively: warm light, smoke aromas, whistling noise from flying playing cards, and muted sounds of dice rolling on the backgammon boards are all unified in the perfect symphony without ruining the concentration growing in the air. Located here.



Even though located quite far from Beirut (about 1.5 hours by car considering traffic), Byblos, the oldest inhabited city, is the place to visit! One of the reasons - seafood restaurant Bab El Mina overviewing the old Harbour. What a choice! Definitely order shrimps and octopus 'a la Provencale' for a starter and choose fried baracuda for an entree. Go for late lunch so that you don't miss beautiful sunset. Located here.



DANI: If you are still up for partying after 2am then BO18 is the place to be. BO18, a legendary club, located at what used to be a bunker, today draws crowds of hip lebanese as well as world renowned DJs.
  The club caught me by surprise right away. When I entered, I saw someone's knees just in from of my face going up and down, left and right. No, I wasn't that drunk but the opposite, I was too sober to sustain 300 guests of the club all standing on couches dancing like crazy and helplessly trying to stretch down to get another Vodka-RedBull from the table (tables are too low, Beirut ladies' legs are too high). 
  Later on I shared my surprise with Bani. She only laughed and said that I don't have much clubbing experience: 'All you had was Moscow where people are too pretentious and Paris where people are too modest to do something fun'.