At times in Damascus, it's easy to forget war rages nearby.
In the city centre, for those who can afford it - night life thrives.
And with all things considered, by day most of the city functions surprisingly well.
Military checkpoints are dotted throughout the streets, and electricity cuts out several times a day.
But mobile phone reception is strong and shopping precincts are busy - most locals can afford little more than necessities.
For long time traders in the Old City, the war has all-but ended enterprise.
After 40 years building his business, antiquities dealer "Pappa Joseph" Al-Qaymariya says he was forced to sell his shop and now trades from a small stall.
"No, no we have no business because we deal by foreign people - tourists you see. And from five years, no business."
In Damascus, battle fronts are only a handful of kilometres away from the city centre and mortars occasionally strike.
But on the whole Damascus feels surprisingly safe and despite what's taken place over the past five years, remarkably inclusive.
Sunni Muslims are the dominant sect in a country under the rule of an Allawite president.
Worshippers attend mosques and churches side by side, and minority Shia, Christian, Kurd and Druze (drooz) people mix seemingly without incident or issue.
The prevailing question though for Damascenes is, to stay or to go?
Journalist Obaida Hamad says the answer is easy.
"Homeland is not a motel (where) if you don't like it you can change it - it's a "home land" - it's in your blood, your genes."
But the father of two concedes that decision comes at a price.
"Every day when I leave my house and lock the door I say goodbye to my wife and my children as if it's the last time, the farewell - goodbye."
Dentist Bahan Al Sharin is far less optimistic.
He has a brother in Australia and has applied for a visa to join him.
The reason, he says, is simple.
"I leave Syria and go to Australia because my children not safe because of bombs."
For millions of Syrians, Damascus offers relative safety.
About five million people now inhabit the city compared to around two million before the crisis.
But rebel groups have made several attempts to take Damascus.
One was at El-dukhanyah in the city's east where Jabbaht al Nusra and the Arrmy Of Islam seized the precinct for about three weeks.
We spoke to a woman who was forced from her home when insurgents arrived.
She said she and her children were terrified.
When government forces reclaimed the area, the family returned to their home with no electricity, no water - and no alternative.
"There is no life. (The) situation is very horrible you can see rubbish, mice, rats, insects. It's fearful, horrible, especially at night."
But even those in more affluent and seemingly safer precincts of the city say the threat is ever-present and real.
"Even in Damascus (when) you are walking in the street - (there is) no fighting and (you are) in secure areas, there are (still) mortars, rainfall, so many people, hundreds of people, were killed."
