there is an enormous amount of art works in and around Beirut, like this sculpture overlooking the Mediterranean
After a short trip to Syria in Spring 2024 I stayed back in Beirut for a few extra days. Having been there before, I didn’t so much concentrate on the familiar tourist sites, but focused on some of the more artistic elements of the city and its surroundings, helped by my host and his family. Once again I was taken by the elegance of this city, and by the tasteful way the Lebanese have dealt with the damage caused by their earlier civil war. At the same time there are plenty of powerful images, in the Sursock Museum for instance, that remind one of that time.
sunset from the Corniche in Beirut
a brief visit to Lebanon
After my Syria trip I spent another few days in Lebanon, to catch up with my friend Johnny. Who took me for lunch, to the old town of Byblos, and who took me to smoke shisha at sunset at the Corniche in Beirut. And who had his mother cook the most fabulous meals, just like the last time when I was his guest – or was I her guest?
the Ixsir winery, just outside Beirut
the Ixsir winery
Having tasted several Syrian wines during a weeklong trip there, the return to Lebanon was a welcome change, if only for the quality of the wine. And there are worse places to experience this than in the Ixsir winery, a relatively new winehouse which, unlike many other Lebanese wineries, is not based in the Beekaa Valley, but just 60 km north of Beirut.
the modern souk in Beirut
a random walk in Beirut
My Lebanese friend, with whom I stayed the last few days, had to attend a meeting on my last morning in Beirut, so I was all prepared to wander through this magnificent town – which I know from an earlier visit – on my own, for a few hours. But such is Middle Eastern hospitality, that that would be out of the question; instead, brother Tarek came with me. He is an architect, and he is an art lover, and he took me to some of the most wonderful places in town, which I otherwise would have overlooked, no doubt.
“Portrait of Nicolas Sursock”
the Sursock Museum
The Sursock Museum is one of Beirut’s most famous art institutions, focusing on modern and contemporary art. It is housed in a beautiful 19th-century villa in the Achrafieh district, the former mansion of Nicholas Sursock, a Lebanese collector who died in 1952. The museum has an attractive collection of modern and contemporary art, much of it, I think, from the original collection of Mr. Sursock.
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