In the Footsteps of the Roman Legions

Friday, Sept. 4

Today was really special. We shared a delicious chicken lunch with Franny and then headed upstairs for a nap. About 3 our tour leader called to see if we'd like to go to the King Hussein Park for a picnic with his family. Stuffed to the gills from lunch, we responded yes! of course! We met Jafar and his family and also his sister's family at the park. The kids were riding scooters down a sloping walk while Fran and Larry picked the brains of Jafar and Maumon about the country, the political climate, the financial climate.... etc. Dinner was a chicken "pizza" on naan bread with sumac seasoning and pine nuts -yummy! and figs and grapes for dessert. We really like Jordan so far.

Amman at sunset

Saturday, Sept.5

Umm Qais

With a day to spare, we along with Fran Howard decided to rent a car and head north to Umm Qais.

Umm Qais is Jordan’s northernmost point offers panoramic views out over the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights, set among rolling green hills and plunging valley gorges. It's also the site of some wonderful Roman ruins. We hired a guide to lead us around the site... our driver being just that, a driver with no English skills.

Roman ruins have much in common, a cardo (main thoroughfare through the city) a theater, a nymphonium and baths, shops, and often a racetrack. Umm Qais had them all. It was extremely hot and Patrice got somewhat dehydrated, so she cut off from the tour early to find some shade and a cool drink. We found a cafe at the top of the hill and relaxed and enjoyed the great view of Jordan's version of our Four Corners. We could see Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan as well as the West Bank and the Sea of Galilee.

Finished there, we headed back to Amman to meet our group and join them for dinner.

Sunday, Sept.6

A Day in Amman

Our first day as a group we wandered through the old town of Amman and the fruit and vegetable market.

We quickly discovered that Jafar was out to stuff us to the gills. We stopped to taste several Jordanian specialties, most including goat cheese and bread, and common Jordanian fruits like dates and figs. The old town was fascinating with woman in varying degrees of observant dress, from the full black burka (which we couldn't help thinking must have been close to suffocating in the 105 degree heat) to the scarf and tight jeans. Jafar says the young want to be observant but observed. They certainly were drawing attention from the young shopkeepers.

Amman has it's Greco Roman ruin - the Citadel, which we visited of course, and we then feasted on a buffet lunch of hummus, pita bread, fruit, fresh salads, olives, and chicken,lamb and beef. It was delicious but very filling and we were expected to go to a home hosted dinner that night!

The home hosted dinner at the home of Suzanne and her daughter Raiya was another very filling meal. You don't go to a dinner her in Jordan and not eat. It's an insult, so despite being stuffed to the gills, we ate., and it was delicious!. We''re going to be very plump by the end of our trip if this continues!

I can't seem to add any more pictures... so I'll post this and try to upload two more days tomorrow. 1 week in and I'm already behind. Just for the record it's hotter than a hot here and there's no end in sight.