Beirut in 3 days

The Lebanese breakfast (the most elaborate breakfast tradition in the Levant — far more extensive than the English or American breakfast): the typical Lebanese morning spread includes labneh (strained yogurt), jibneh (Lebanese white cheese), zaatar wa zeit (the dried thyme-sumac-sesame mixture with olive oil, eaten by dipping bread), kaak (the sesame bread ring sold by street vendors on Hamra and Gemmayzeh), ful medames (the stewed fava beans with olive oil, lemon and garlic — the most important protein in the Lebanese breakfast), mankoushe (the Lebanese flatbread baked with zaatar or cheese in a wood oven — the breakfast equivalent of pizza, the most ubiquitous morning food in Beirut). Em Sherif (the high-end Lebanese restaurant with the finest traditional breakfast service in Beirut).

The Beirut National Museum (National Museum of Beirut — the most important collection of Lebanese antiquities: the Phoenician artifacts (the Phoenicians — the maritime trading civilization of the Lebanese coast (1200–300 BC) who invented the phonetic alphabet that all European alphabets derive from (Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic — all descended from the 22-letter Phoenician script), the sarcophagi of the Phoenician kings of Sidon (the 4th-century BC marble sarcophagi with Greek-style carved reliefs found at the royal necropolis of Sidon (modern Saida)), the Bronze Age gold collection, and the extraordinary story of the museum during the Civil War (the museum straddled the Green Line dividing Beirut between Christian East and Muslim West — the artifacts were sealed in concrete during the war and reopened after 1991).

Downtown Beirut (the Solidere reconstruction project — the 1.8 sq km of central Beirut destroyed in the Civil War and rebuilt by the private company Solidere (created by assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri): the archaeological excavations revealed Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and medieval Islamic remains in the same downtown block (the Roman Baths (2nd century AD) visible beside a modern Zara flagship), and the preserved ruins of the St George Cathedral (partially restored, the bullet holes intentionally retained as historical witness). The Holiday Inn Beirut (the 26-story abandoned hotel still standing riddled with bullet holes — the most dramatic ruin in Beirut, fought over by multiple factions and never repaired since 1975, still visible on the downtown skyline as a monument to the war).

Enab Restaurant (the Mar Mikhael neighborhood — the most accomplished traditional Lebanese restaurant in Beirut: the menu focused on the rustic mountain cuisine of Mount Lebanon (the Chouf and Metn districts) — the kibbeh bi sanieh (the baked meat-and-bulgur pie with pine nuts and onion), the kebbe mfardeh (the stuffed kibbeh shells in yogurt sauce), the kafta bi karaz (the kafta in cherry sauce — the Zgharta specialty (the North Lebanese town known for cherry cultivation, whose sour cherry-and-kafta combination is the most distinctive dish of northern Lebanese cuisine)), and the arak drunk with the mountain view.

Byblos (Arabic: جبيل Jbeil — UNESCO World Heritage, 37km north of Beirut (45 min by servees (shared taxi)): the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, populated since approximately 7,000 BC (the Neolithic settlement predates the Phoenician phase). The name "Byblos" gave the world the word "Bible" (the Greeks bought papyrus from Egypt through the port of Byblos and named the papyrus "byblos" after the city — then the word for papyrus became the word for book (biblion) and the Christian scriptures became the "Book" (Biblia)). The archaeological site: the Phoenician royal temples (the L-shaped Temple of Baalat Gebal, 2800 BC — the oldest existing temple in the world still in its original location), the Crusader Castle (the 12th-century fortress built using columns from the Phoenician and Roman ruins), and the ancient port.

Byblos old harbor (the ancient Phoenician harbor, still used by fishing boats: the seafront restaurants of Byblos (Bab El Mina — "Port Gate," the restaurant row along the old harbor) serve the freshest Mediterranean fish in the Levant: the samkeh harrah (the Lebanese spiced whole fish — the sea bass baked with chilli, coriander, walnuts and a tahini sauce), the lakerda (the salted bonito of the eastern Mediterranean fishing tradition), and the signature Byblos mezze (the raw sea urchin (qonfod el-bahar) harvested from the rocks of the Byblos coast — the most luxurious raw seafood in the Lebanese repertoire).

Mar Mikhael (the neighborhood east of Gemmayzeh, 1.5km from the port explosion epicenter — the creative hub of new Beirut: the old Armenian neighborhood with its workshops (karosserie — the auto repair shops repurposed as artist studios and galleries), the craft beer bars and the cocktail bars in restored early-20th-century mansions. Internazionale (the most celebrated cocktail bar in Beirut, in a meticulously restored Mandate-era mansion) and the outdoor terrace culture of Mar Mikhael at night with the Beirut skyline and the sea beyond.

Kafta meshwi (the Lebanese minced lamb skewer — the minced lamb mixed with onion, flat-leaf parsley and the Lebanese 7-spice (baharat: cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves, nutmeg) grilled on a flat skewer over charcoal: the most elemental Lebanese grilled meat, eaten with flatbread, sliced tomato and the garlicky toum (the Lebanese garlic emulsion — the entire clove of garlic blended with oil and lemon to a white foam with the consistency of whipped cream, the most intense garlic sauce in Mediterranean cooking)). With a final carafe of arak.