A Walk Through Hamra Street

Leaving the polished and peaceful neighborhood of Saifi Village after shopping at the enticing shop windows, one traverses "Down Town" to observe the archaeological excavations revealed during the reconstruction of the city center. Take the opportunity to enter the churches in Place de l'Étoile and observe the Parliament building, which overlooks the surroundings in all its splendor.

In Rue John Kennedy, which leads to the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) on the seaside, the houses are low and the street is narrow. Numerous old houses with three arches can be found, albeit somewhat weathered but still "alive". Only the impressive skeleton of the Holiday Inn on the right, bearing the scars of the civil war, breaks the impression of serenity. Strolling past the ESA building, an architectural beauty from the French Mandate era that once housed the French Embassy, one can glimpse its park, a hidden tree-filled gem in the heart of the capital. By circling around the school on the left, you reach Rue Clémenceau and pass by one of the shops of "L'artisan du Liban". Just a few steps away, on Rue Bliss, the carefully decorated "Latte Art" café offers a comfortable place for a break.

Upon exiting, we descend towards the sea and go up Rue Bliss to the left to blend in with the youthful student community of the American University of Beirut. We traverse through time, the campus, its ancient cedars, and 19th-century buildings. And miraculously, we emerge on the corniche where we stop at the foot of the lighthouse. We take the opportunity to have a fresh fruit juice from a street vendor. We can also engage in a game of backgammon if a playing partner is available. Alternatively, we simply observe the spectacle of fishermen with their feet in the water, breathing in the sea air as our only source of oxygen.

At the end of the corniche, across from the Palm Beach Hotel, there is an unsuspected boutique without a sign, opening up to a small corridor. Everything is beautiful there—the objects, the fabrics, the house itself. Even if unable to purchase anything, one simply wishes to take the time to sit in this immaculate whiteness facing the deep blue sea and admire the Beirut lighthouse on one side and the bay of Jounieh on the other, embracing the city in a moment of eternity.