Beautifully Blended Beirut

Rich history, vibrant nightlife, delicious food, chilly weather, interesting business owners, and lovely friends. My mini vacation in Beirut was a beautiful blend of culture, relaxation, and some retail therapy. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my trip, especially that most of you have been there a trillion times. I will simply highlight my favorite "must-go-to" places in Beirut this year.

Starting with Saifi Village, an upscale residential neighbourhood in downtown Beirut. The area fuses traditional European architecture and local craftsmanship with contemporary details. The area also has some offices, art galleries, antique stores, and boutiques here and there which I will also share with you in this post and future posts. Pictured above is the prettiest balcony in Saifi Village with huge pots of cactus plants.

This is a view of Achrafieh, one of Beirut's oldest areas. During the Lebanese Civil War in the 70's, this area was an important base for Lebanese Christian militias.

During the day, Gemayzeh (pictured above), is the place to go when you want to dos some people watching and strolling. Beirut’s most hip and eclectic neighborhood is filled with bars, cafes, galleries, international restaurants and jazz venues.

One of the funniest telecommunication ad (read the small last line, click on the photo to enlarge).

Back to Saifi Village, Nada Debs studio is the place to go to for minimal and unique modern furniture and home accessories incorporated with colorful mother-of-pearl inlays. There are 2 studios for Nada Debs at Saifi Village. Check out her creations... Amazing!

Just look at the mirrors! I want them ALL!

Cream Boutique has some interesting accessories and clothes by international and local designers. I loved the cobalt blue bag on display.

DermaPro Spa is the best place in Beirut to have a facial.

Ceramic Lounge is the Lebanese version of Color-Me-Mine, very calm and soothing place to go to during the day. They were selling this book pictured above. It should be a fun read.

What better to end your day of walking around the village and shopping than a hearty piece of loaded chocolate cake. Yum!