Unlike the Old Town, downtown Beirut is beautiful. It has all been rebuilt and has a very Paris feel to it. It is also home to many expensive designer shops, outdoor cafes and restaurants. Years ago Beirut was considered the "Pearl of the Middle East". With the new downtown area, many say this acclaim will return. There is a souk in the same place that the "old" souk used to be but the Souk de Beirut now contains high end shopping. There is a clock tower in the center of Nejmen Square and much of the inner downtown blocks are all pedestrian only. The prime minster who was assassinated was the spearhead behind rebuilding downtown Beirut. We spent most of the afternoon strolling through downtown. It is amazing and completely different than the part of the city we saw yesterday but yet they are only a handful of blocks away from each other.
Downtown they also had an ice rink set up. Chris was going to take Savannah but we had great weather (50-60's) so the rink was melting and the rental skates were old and very dull. Chris tested out the ice and skates and decided that he did not want to take Savannah. Maybe next time?
There was even a toy store at one end of Njemen Square that had little bikes and cars out for Savannah to borrow and cruise around the square (among the armed soldiers). Savannah had a blast!
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