BACK TO THE LEVANT

I'm back in Beirut for another tour of duty -- and the city has changed immeasurably.

For a start, I was able to fly directly into Beirut via Amman instead of travelling by road from Damascus -- even if a large crater from an Israeli bomb dropped at the start of the recent conflict was still clearly visible on one of one of the runways.

When I was here last the streets were largely deserted, the shops and cafes closed. Now, though, the roads are once again filled with kamikaze motorists, honking their horns wildly. And even on a Tuesday night, the bars and restaurants of Gemmayzeh were filled with young and gorgeous Beirutis.

Although the ceasefire is holding, this could be just a lull between storms. The blockade of the country is still officially in place and the reconstruction work is only just beginning.

But the Beirut I've returned to is a much more hopeful place than the one I left.