Square Park

In Beirut there are a fair number of private parks. We went to one of them over the weekend where the kids played happily for at least a few hours. We got there early; the first to arrive, so we had the run of the place at first. The way it works is you pay a small fee to get in, and once you do you'll find (among other things) coin operated rides like this one:

The little huts just behind the kids were almost certainly the living quarters for the non-lebanese gardening/cleaning staff. I'm too much of a firmly-entrenched middle class American for this to not make me extremely uncomfortable, even though I can name a hundred reasons why (maybe) it shouldn't.

Update: April 2010
For those of you who want to visit Square Park, here's what you need to know.

Hours:
Monday 4-6pm
Tues-Friday 10am-6pm
Weekends and Holidays 10am-7pm

Cost:
6,000 per child, another fee applies if you want to bring your maid along to watch the kids for you, but since we don't have one I didn't bother remember how much they charge.

Location: Square Park is east of Beirut, one major intersection east of the Metropolitan Hotel and Le Mall. I've outlined it in red on the map. It's just south of the roundabout that you come to if you drive toward the mountains from Le Mall. Drive straight through this roundabout (toward the mountains) and take the first right, which will pull you into a kind of hairpin turn. The entrance to Square park is down this road on the left. You can park on this street. The red arrow shows the park entrance.

There is a restaurant inside the park that serves a variety of drinks, desserts and fast-food items. The food isn't fantastic, but if you're hungry it will do.

Please let me know if this information is helpful or if it needs clarification. It's current and correct as far as I know.