It was great seeing a decent Christmas tree in Martyrs Square in Beirut last year after years of ugly ones but it appears that we’re back to square one. In fact, I thought I spotted last year’s tree being installed this year but then they removed it for some reason only to replace it with a dull one.

The tree isn’t that ugly but didn’t take much effort and the whole thing feels rushed. Decoration around it is inexistent, they added a crib though and did some fireworks to light it up but it’s still a major disappointment. The chants on Sunday during the lighting ceremony were nice though.

Again, I don’t know if we should have high expectations in the first place for such a tree, but when you see other Lebanese towns competing for the nicest tree and decoration, you’d expect Beirut to have a more joyous and colorful tree. If you’re planning to go visit, drop by at night as it looks nicer with all the lights around.