Lytle says that the years since the last spate of violence have been kind to Beirut, and that a once world-famous cafe and nightlife scene is once again poking its head out in Beirut, and deserves to be reconsidered for its progress.

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Yet Martin said she only met Pistorius once, at a seaside cafe.

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It was an olive branch to his by-then estranged friend and a plea for him to return to the yellow house, where they had once depicted this middle-aged proprietress of a local cafe.

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Once it is back up and running, the Birks Cinema will include a cafe bar and act as a venue for other uses including the screening of live sporting and cultural events from around the world.

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Their outcry against the 50, 000-square-foot Dreamhouse and outdoor cafe comes as increasing tourism to Berlin is softening the edges of a once gritty city.

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Once you have shopped within a whisker of your luggage allowance, grab a Lebanese mezze lunch outdoors at Cafe Layali Zaman on the Corniche (look for the "Baguette" sign), where the hummus is perfectly garlicky, the baba ganoush a smoky, aubergine dream and you might choose to accompany your Arabic coffee with a sweet-scented shisha water-pipe.

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