20 Lebanese Characters You’ll Encounter On Beirut’s Corniche
With a short walk on the Corniche you’ll encounter the most quintessentially Lebanese group of people than anywhere else in the country.
1. The fearless fisherman
Partly fearless because he’ll be dangerously leaning over the railing or perching on a slimy, slippery seaside rock – but mostly fearless because he’s actually fishing in sewer water.
2. The marathon dreamer
This guy means business. He’s preparing for a 10K marathon some time in the next 6 months, and you’ll see him whisking by you at 6 AM every day until then.
3. The reckless bicycle riders
Chaotic and undisciplined, these are the most dangerous people on the Corniche.
4. The selfie queens/kings
Only there for the seaside photo-ops.
5. The stay-at-home moms
She’ll descend to the Corniche after dropping the kids off at school, equipped with all the sunscreen and a hat she bought in 1990.
6. The tattooed, steroid filled, tight shirt wearing men
The Corniche’s bouncers.
7. The men who live through their dogs
These guys just head to Beirut’s Corniche to flex their egos through their German Shepherds.
8. The parked car crew
Parked along the center of the Corniche, windows open, blasting Jinno Notto with their below best friends:
9. The arguileh-with-a-view smokers
They’ll sit there for hours with the music playing loud from their friend’s car parked behind them, with arguileh perched in their mouths and their hands full of bizir.
10. The Uncle Deek patrons
Uncle Deek’s most loyal patrons, they’ll grab their 3rd cup of coffee to go and enjoy it by the sea.
11. The half-jogger
Doing that half-walk-half-jog-half-dead movement for as long as they can until they can finally go home and tell their family they exercised.
12. The foreigners
In awe of all of this whole list of characters.
13. The double parker
This person will park their car to perfectly block another and block the street’s traffic – and leave it there with the flashers on for an undetermined amount of time.
14. The over-achiever
This guy didn’t get the memo that life is a marathon and not a sprint. And will start to really go for it as soon as his feet touch the floor, only to have to lay down on a bench when he feels dizzy about 2 minutes later.
15. The corn seller
The only tempting man on the whole strip.
16. The Raouche Rock tourists
This group of regional tourists will pose in front of Raouche for at least 30 minutes until they get their money shot to be uploaded to Insta immediately with the caption ‘ma fi a7la minnak ya libnen’.
17. The half-naked men
With their shirts off and their super short shorts riding way up, these guys are a sight for sore eyes.
18. The cigarette smokers
Just there to watch girls walk by as they smoke a pack of cigs.
19. The gossip queens
These women mean business. You’d think they don’t own smartphones because they wait for their weekly Corniche walk to fill each other in on all of the last seven days’ shenanigans – like the ugly dress Maya wore to the sahra on Saturday and how they heard Ziad and Mona’s kid was arrested for smoking hasheesh.
20. The girlfriend-seekers
These guys are our least favorite of the bunch, just there to creep on girls and hope for the best. Does not work. Please go back home and never come out again.
