From dawn to dusk, the Corniche in Beirut is like an Olympic event for posing.  You see pretty much every type of Beiruti parading there.  I used to be able to see it from my window.  That’s not possible any more as high rise apartment buildings now completely block the view.  It seemed strange to have all that life going on out there when I was often stuck in our flat — first because I was a child, then later because of the war.  I used to sneak out there as a teenager, though, and have arabic coffee or the special bread that street sellers hawk on the Corniche — kaak.  That and corn on the cob and fresh orange juice.

On the Corniche, you can pose with the longest fishing rod in the world…

 

you can pose nonchalantly perched against the railings, staring down at the sea and the fishermen…

 

 

 

 

of course nothing in Beirut is a complete experience unless you are on the phone…

 

 

girls in tight sexy clothes walk by — barely getting a second glance…

 

while others are in hijabs as they picnic with their family…

 

 

buying kaak from a street seller on a bicycle — it has zaatar — thyme — inside…

 

fresh orange juice in one of the best pitches on the Corniche….

 

only posing a little…

 

posing a lot…

 

 

 

 

 

hardcore posing…

 

 

 

you wouldn’t want to ride a bike on the streets of Beirut — but increasingly people cycle on the Corniche —

 

every kind of calisthenics can be seen along the Corniche…

 

 

I think we’re back to posing here…

 

 Runners, walkers, cyclists, speed walkers, flaneurs, boulevardiers outlined against the palm trees and street lamps at sunset

 

And now if you don’t want to, you need never entirely leave the Corniche — you can even take it to bed with you.  A rather beautiful cut out from an upmarket shop opposite the still derelict husk of the Holiday Inn …

 

 

( the shop is called Orient499)