Nothing frustrates me more than when I read about Londoners discussing simple weekend trips to such places as southern Spain, Morocco, or as is the case here, Damascus. (Why isn’t my my house in New York a few thousand miles closer to the European continent?)

Though perhaps a little tougher to explore a few years ago, what with the secret police and all, but “since the more West-leaning Bashar al-Assad came to power, though, things are changing fast.”

For some tips on what to cram in on your enviable weekend, check out this guide, with suggestions including the Umayyad Mosque (one of the world’s largest and oldest), and shopping at the Al-Hamidiyeh souk before ” tucking into fabulous meze, grilled meats (kebab kharaz, lamb in a sour- cherry sauce, is a speciality) and Lebanese wine (restaurants in the Christian quarter all serve alcohol)” at Naranj.