Sheraton Maaret Sednaya Hotel Damascus

... I liked the community aspect of the property, and how people were just chilling and spending time there, but other than that it felt so so so different from what I am used to as a Catholic. Catholics have statues, paintings, frescoes, stained glass, candles, incense, lots of dark wood and dark red, organ music, church bells, etc. Lots of colors and things, pomp and circumstance. We both have high ceilings and men in dresses but other than that is felt foreign. I use ...

We were supposed to leave Monday night for Syria but the plans got postponed to Tuesday morning. I was a bit miffed, not because we were leaving later than planned but because it was kind of the result of too many hands in the cookie jar. [Sidenote: My English is seriously deteroriating by the way...not because of being here in Jordan, just in general. I have to keep going back and fixing my "to"s to "too"s and I have also been doing that with "here" and "hear ...

... luck she suddenly found herself being lifted up. The angry breakfast guy while laughing his **** off was picking her backpack up for her, breathless with laughter she thanked him and we were on our way. It was going to be a long day.

While waiting for our bus to depart Dino went off to spent the rest of our money, while Shona was left to mind the bags. A guy approached her and said "Challenger?" The name of the bus company. "Yes." "OK, hurry the bus." He picked up both Dino ...

... to go back to the hotel and let Noor sleep because she was exhausted from all the walking. After her nap it was dinner time and we decided to go to a restaurant where they had twirling durvishes. Twirling durvishes are sufis who connect with god by spinning in circles with long white robes that twirl around in a large arc. At the restaurant we ordered meat pies, puffed dough filled cheese things, puffed dough filled meat things, kebabs ...

... a larger group of women. Most people seemed quite content to visit and even just hang out at the mosque. We were made to feel very welcome and were effectively given free reign of the mosque. This is a very stylish mosque, the gilded mosaics on the inside walls were ...

... woodworkers take to their craft in the souq while right next door their neighbor a coffee bean vendor grinds and sells his fresh Arabic beans. Unlike the souqs in Egypt and Jordan, there is hardly any commercialization that looks to the tourists as its target audience. Shops range from olives to antiques, underwear to scarves, and yarns to sweets. The vendors in these shops appeal to the locals as well as the visitors and sell ...

... own prejudice, even scared and afraid to come here in the first place. And I came here only because I had to and my company was paying me for the trip, as it was part of my job as an Engineer. How Cham has so much charm and how the city of Damascus drives you to prose. How Cham's people are ever so hospitable, I would like to invite you to read on my visits and savour this land at my blog site: http:/personal-syria-travelogue.blogspo t.com

... quarters. I visited quite a few Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches. However, could not find Maronite or Syrian Orthodox ones. At least the patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church is also supposed to be in Damascus. Wikipedia estimates that 15% of the city's population consists of Christians, mostly Catholic. Saw only one Jew and no synagogue. When I attempted to go deeper into the Jewish quarters, as the section had been labelled in the LP map, a middle aged ...

... more positive than those who choose to walk on the shady side. I wonder if that is true. So I went over and had company for breakfast for the first time in a while. I learned that the Aussie girl worked as a tour guide in Russia and Mongolia. Her contract just ended so she decided to travel through Europe and the Middle East. Unfortunately for her she was a bit of a party girl and it was difficult to find a good party in the Middle East. That's why she decided to head to Beirut ...

... ANZAC styrkerne, som var dem Britterne tilkaldte da de ikke selv kunne klare sig i Galipoli. ANZAC staar for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Efter at have koert rundt paa Galipoli halvoeen i seks timer, sejlede vi over The Dardanelles og var saa i Asien. Vi overnattede i en by kaldet Canakkalet, som ligger lige i naerheden af Troja. Om tirsdagen havde vi en mulighed for at taget paa en tur til Troja, men da der ikke er noget at se laengere, valgte jeg at blive hjemme og sove ...