Antoine Baddour: Hospitality Club
Because my visit to Lebanon was a last-minute decision, and the hotels seemed cheap and trustworthy, I opted not to seek out a Hospitality Club host for Beirut. However, before I left Amman, Ala recommended I contact Antoine Baddour, who according to Ala, was extremely sweet, knowledgeable, and fun—and knowing it mattered to me... he assured me Tony had a girlfriend.
We exchanged a few e-mails, with Tony kindly telling me he couldn't wait to meet me! I called him once I arrived at Talal's, finding out that Tony had been waiting for my call at his brother's apartment nearby. Too kind.
He gave me the quick tour, pointing out gutted apartment buildings and churches all over downtown. This was my first experience in relatively recent war zone, and I spent most of the time mutely nodding. What was amazing is that Tony was so nonchalant about it, gesturing toward some rubble and saying "this used to be such-and-such building, but it was destroyed in the war. And this is a mosque." Moving right along! I regret not having the courage to question him about the war, since at 34 he must have vivid memories.
We meandered around the lovely Solidère district, with cobbled walks, and outdoor cafes. It was pretty, but sterile; I think the aim was Paris, but the impression was more Santa Monica. The area felt rich, studded with banks, expensive shops, and pricey restaurants. I was delighted to see nargileh formed out of various fruits... here you could smoke out of pineapples if you chose.
It was still early evening, so Tony intrigued me with the idea of eating small amounts at various places, basically doing a food crawl—my kind of guy. We settled on a vaguely French-esque place for some light crepes. Tony ordered in a mix of English, Arabic, and French. Soon, his girlfriend Ani joined us, and explained that the mix was common throughout Lebanon. So many people are trained in French schools, and some find Arabic "too hard," although it is the national language. So, a common greeting might be "Hi, kayfik, ça va?" "Merci" is preferred to shukran. The mish-mash was really charming.
The crepes were delicious, and Tony refused to let me pay. They were much bigger than I expected though—Tony kept asking where to eat next while my stomach was bursting.
Ani suggested we tour around some more. First we stopped by the Roman Baths Garden, a popular gathering place and venue for plays and concerts. It was interesting to see a tiny piece of ancient Rome surrounded by the modern city.
Next we drove up to Our Lady of Harissa. If I'd had more time in Lebanon, I would've loved to re-visit during the day and taken the gondola ride, but instead we zoomed up with Tony at the wheel. At the top of the hill was a massive glass cathedral, as well as the lovely Virgin Mary statue with small chapel in the base. This was Ani's favorite church in the city, and she took the opportunity to pray. The view of Beirut lit up at night was beautiful.
After that Ani decided we had time to drive to Byblos, which I planned to see during the daytime anyway. It was great getting the night view, quiet and eerie, almost completely empty. Then we stopped for kabobs... Tony was serious about his food crawl. I was pleased that the "spicy" kabob I ordered actually WAS.
The next day was the worst day I would experience in Lebanon. Tony was too tired to meet me that night because we'd stayed out until 2am the night before. But he made every effort to guide me by phone when I was lost, and talked me down when I was crying at Pension Al-Nazih, promising we'd meet up the following day.
I hadn't even expected to have another day, but the kindness and generosity I met at Pension Al-Nazih gave me more time. After going to see Byblos by day myself, I once again met up with Tony at night. We took a lovely drive... after my bad experiences, Tony wanted to show me the beauty of his country. He kept talking about the diversity, the range of landscapes, the various religions... but at this point I was a hard sell. We visited another small church along the way, then went to Zouk.
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This was Tony's favorite area, and it was really quaint and lovely. We walked along the cobbled streets and low archways, stopped to watch an elderly weaver in the middle of a months-long garment. Then after running into an old friend at his restaurant, Tony and I sat down to enjoy some crepes and the lovely sunset. From up here the view of the lush, green Lebanese coast made the city look almost appealing.
Once again Tony refused to let me pay, but mentioned he was in the mood for ice-cream. He agreed I could pay for that, at least. Of course he snuck around me and it didn't happen, but I couldn't be bothered to care when the ice- cream was SO DELICIOUS. I got a mix of almond, mango, hazelnut, raspberry, and avocado... nothing really went together but the counter person kept asking, "What else? What else?" Pile it on, bro!
On the drive back to Pension Al-Nazih, Tony told me quite seriously that he was so sorry I had been treated badly, and hoped that I saw the good in his country, and that we would always be friends. He asked if I would ever return to visit. As sweet as he was, I couldn't say yes. Tony was one of the sweetest people I'd ever met, and even though I still have no interest in revisiting Lebanon, I'm so glad I had him as a friend while I was there.