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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

May Rain II








 No one went on a muddy off-road trip this morning, it's just muddy rain- the muddiest I have ever seen in Lebanon. It left the city - and the cars all dirty, making me wish for a 3rd round of rain this May, the heavy-cleaning-the-city kind of rain (like May 13nth rain).Beirut needs a clean-up before the dry Summer season...


Monday, May 16, 2011

May Rain

Photos from May 13th 2011

Photos from May 13th 2011

Yerevan Bridge usual winter "lake" - Photos from May 13th 2011
Forget "Au mois de mai, manteau jeté." and "En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil ; en mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît." after all Winter and the first rain of the season started the 6th of December this year, days after I visited the Shabrouh Dam

Monday, May 9, 2011

Who is Omar Daouk? He saved Bab Idriss


Omar Daouk Street is now Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Street.
When I saw this sign with a friend we wondered whether this is Bab Idriss turning into a Qatari-Sheikh-Street... Luckily, we still have Bab Idriss, it's Omar Daouk that is gone. Tried to search for him on the net, no trace of who he was (Any input is highly welcome).
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Street sign

Bab meaning Door in Arabic, Bab Idriss is one of the main entrances to the old city of Beirut when it had a wall around it. While most of the other "Bab_" names of streets are lost, this one still reminds us of the history Downtown Beirut holds. Keep it.












Bab Al Darkeh 1848

Bab Al Saraya 1920
BAB IDRISS 1920
Bab Yaacoub- 1906
Bab Al Darkeh- 1848

Google maps still calls it Omar Daouk Street. Click to enlarge.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Since we've got the permission, don't ask about the reason

"if God grants, don't ask about the reason" and when Man takes? should we ask about the reason?
The Arabic saying posted on the bulldozer means "if God gives, don't ask about the reason", but I read it at first as "Since we've got the permission, don't ask about the reason" partly because of the rust eating some parts of the first half of the sentence, and also because I believe that this is the actual situation (poor eye sight problems, but with some vision ;) ).
The bulldozer is parked on the plot of the Ex-cinema Vendome building and the future Aya Tower, where the protest against the demolition of Mar Mikhael (organized by Save Beirut Heritage) took place.

Why would the real estate companies care about old Beiruty buildings and heritage when the ministry and municipality does not & gives legal permission to demolish? ...also, when there is a call to protest only a few really answer the call and physically show up (only around 50 people came to the protest, although online the save Beirut Heritage group has 7000 members and 600 people said they would attend the Sit In), still, online support is better than no support...


They will try to save the Façade of the building on this adjacent plot
Aya Assassin Graffiti


Beirut or BUYrut?

the few people at the Sit in


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