Quixoticguide

There are cities you visit, and cities that quietly rearrange you. Beirut belongs firmly to the second category. At first glance, Beirut feels like a contradiction in motion. Palm-lined boulevards run parallel to bullet-scarred façades. Beach clubs pulse with music while, less than an hour away, the Mount Lebanon rise high enough to hold snow…

You will never see them on a postcard. There are no observation decks, no visitor centres, no Instagram viewpoints. And yet, coltan mines are among the most important places on Earth. Coltan—short for columbite–tantalite—is a mineral most of us have never heard of, but one we all carry. Inside your smartphone, laptop, camera, or noise-cancelling…

Beirut is a city of impossible contrasts. Few places in the world allow you to swim in the Mediterranean in the morning and stand among snow-covered mountains by the afternoon. Yet in Lebanon’s capital, this is not a metaphor—it is geography. Set between the sea and Mount Lebanon, Beirut has always been a crossroads. Phoenicians,…

A Quixotic Guide to the Balkanization of the United States Travel teaches you a dangerous lesson: borders are optional. They look immutable on atlases, defended by flags, anthems, and airport immigration desks. But cross enough frontiers and you start noticing the truth—most borders are simply frozen arguments from the past. Some thaw. Some crack. Some…

Not every great city was designed to rule. Some places were never meant to be capitals, power centres, or administrative hearts of nations. And yet, through geography, migration, trade, or sheer cultural gravity, they became icons — cities that define their countries far more than the official seat of government ever could. New York City…