The streets are wide and people drive fast, many of them in late-model Japanese and Korean cars blasting a mix of Western and Arab pop music. Besides a few leftover buildings from the Italian era and a collection of high-rises overlooking the sea, Tripoli's architecture consists mostly of the dull and functional. The boulevards are wide, and lined with palm trees and shrubs. Tripoli looks her best at night, glittering out over the Meditteranean. There are no power cuts.
Water pressure is strong.
Mobile phones are working fine. Still, as the capital of an oil-rich country, it ought to be a lot more polished and prosperous. Which is why the man and woman on the street has so much hope riding on an end to sanctions.