Beirut by Bike

I often have to remind myself how incredibly blessed we are to live just about 100 yards away from the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.  Although it's true that Beirut is basically a concrete jungle with very little green spaces and even fewer wide open spaces for kids to run around and play, there's not much that can compare with a walk or a bike ride along the Med.  "The Corniche" as it is called in Beirut (Arabic for boardwalk) is a beautifully landscaped walkway that runs along the Mediterranean Sea for about three kilometers or so.  Beirut is kind of situated on a horn that juts out into the sea so it essentially wraps around the western part of the city.  It's a great place to walk, run, ride bikes, ride scooters etc.  Especially on weekends, it is usually teeming with Beiruti's and other tourists from around the gulf enjoying the beautiful view.  On a clear day in the winter you can see the snow capped mountain peaks and all along the Northern shore of Lebanon. 

There's a place right around the corner from us between our house and the Corniche called "Beirut by Bike".  Basically you can rent bikes of all shapes and sizes for about $3 an hour.  We finally got around to taking advantage of this during our first week of Christmas break last week.  We chose a week day afternoon when it wouldn't be too crowded, because as much as I love the Lebanese people they have zero bike etiquette and I fear for my children's safety if it is too crowded down there and they are trying to get around on wheels!   We're always looking for creative ways to get out excess energy and this was quite a hit!

Naomi tuckered out pretty quickly...

AJ and Maddie could have ridden for hours...

 

...that is until they found this spot where the waves were splashing up onto the Corniche- far more entertaining

 

Running from spot to spot trying to get splashed

I'm not sure that Naomi actually knew what all the excitement was about, but she sure was happy to join in!