With its hilarious knock-offs (think Canal street with a Lebanese touch), to fruit colors that will knock you off your feet, to colorful characters of all ages (think old men sipping Turkish coffee & smoking shisha at local cafés with the colorful Hamra-shopping local fashionista walking by) Hamra street (Hamra means in English the red one) may be shunned today by the Beirut fashion snobs as a destination for the masses, but I certainly recommend a stroll through it to tourists as a way to get a more local feel of west Beirut and a taste of a stretch that has not wavered throughout all the Lebanese turmoil as one of Beirut’s main commercial streets. You’ll note that there is an efforts being made to bring back some lost glory and prominence to Hamra and that it certainly looks nothing like its dodgy depiction in Homeland.
Tag Archives: voyages
💋💅💇Lebanese Metamorphosis👪👫👭👫
Just landed in Beirut a few hours ago and the ingredients for the typical Lebanese holiday have already been served: family, kids, cruising, hairdressers and makeup artists! Voluminous hair and a whole lot of makeup is the way to go if you’re aiming for a quintessential Lebanese look!
Athens OOTD 🐟
Hopped to Athens for a couple of days on our way home for Christmas and faithful to our ‘take the kids everywhere with you’ survival policy we climbed all the way up to the Acropolis area with them 🏆 which was tiring but still rewarding and under control… except things started getting more complicated when we were forced to steer away from our plans as we tried to get back to our hotel by the parliament and it turned out that the whole area was closed off for a protest… We took the advice of a random cab driver who drove us through the Castella area and into Mikrolimano to a restaurant of his choice by the Aegean Sea…here our girls truly shined today as (despite all our policing) they went 20 fingers plunging into the lovely Greek oily fish… the highlight of course was to follow when I turned to look at my youngest, who was starring at me with her big guilty-looking eyes and in an instant she sneezed all her purée on my OOTD (luckily I had taken those pics before!) Things got back to the cheery side however as we had a very entertaining cab ride back to our hotel and through the Plaka area with a really funny local who seemed very at ease with the screaming kids saying he had 3 kids of his own that fill his life and stress him out and then he went on a cab-ride-long monologue on the worsening economic situation wrapped up with the zinger: “my wife used to call me to tell me I love you and now she just calls me to say: “I
want foulous!” (this means money in Arabic as he wanted to impress us with his language skills…lol) Now we’re back at the hotel and the protest in front of parliament has been replaced with a music concert surrounded by glittering Christmas trees… 5 more days to Christmas!!!
Christmas Season @ The Ritz
In London this Christmas & looking for a grand Christmas treatment? Don’t miss The Ritz’s opulent interiors, magical decoration, succulent cuisine and enchanting choir!
The Maldives Mosaic
An enchanting collection of islands in the Indian Ocean balancing by virtue of its location and history striking tropical beauty and a devotion to religious spirituality.
Vacationing here is a speedboat trip to the senses: from dipping in the crystal clear turquoise ocean to touching the soft white sandy beaches to savoring the delicious Indian inspired food to relaxing to the healing scent of coconut oil during a traditional Asian massage to hearing the Friday call to prayer in Arabic from a small local island next to the resort… A humble traditional country drizzled by luxury resorts attracting the world to dots barely visible on the world map… The many contrasts invite you to relax, reflect and be inspired…
OOTSD: Outfit of the Sticky Day
Got the right outfit for the sticky weather but not sure it was the ideal one for the sticky kids!
Island Fantasy
Waikiki, Princeville & Poipu…
24 Weeks: Savoring Colorful Hawaii
The Honolulu & Kaua’i rich palette of colors, flora and flavors are relaxing, detoxing and inspiring… add on top of that Honolulu’s strong Asian influence and you’re in a fashionista’s creative paradise!
23 Weeks: Direction Babymoon!
Since NYC has become an icebox in the past few days and because the 3rd trimester is looming on the horizon and promising to be quite a rollercoaster with discomfort making its big comeback and a long list of preparations in anticipation for the big baby # 2 day, it was time for one last sunny Hooray! Hello Babymoon!
My Babymoon Planning Checklist:
• Consult with OB prior to booking to make sure it is safe to travel and because some destinations require prior vaccination
• Timing: 2nd trimester (week 18 to 24) is the safest time for pregnant women to travel
• Destination:
– Would like South Africa but need relaxation more than adventure at the moment so –> any amazing beach
– Short travel time is ideal but will not compromise on the beach
– Somewhere with good medical facilities
• Result: Hawaii (I know I’m pushing it a bit with the 11hour flight time!)
On the plane:
• Wear compression socks, comfortable clothes and layers to account for the various temperatures during transit
• Keep feet elevated if possible and don’t cross legs to help prevent leg swelling
• Get up and walk around every hour or so to aid blood circulation
• Keep hydrated
My Beach Packing List (I’ll only share the essentials here…I’m not a light packer!):
• Don’t forget the prenatal vitamins
• Plenty of sunscreen to avoid dark pregnancy patches in the sun
• Hand gel sanitizer and sanitizing wipes
• Fill iPhone with the latest hit tunes and delete all pictures to make space for new ones
• Lots of bikinis
• Jelly sandals
• Light flowy clothes
• Sunnies
Inside my travel bag
SilhouettEtiquette 