Amman
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2008
1
18
50
Trip End
Dec 07, 2008
Today was a long hot day, again!!! We started off with a walking tour that took us to Jebel al-Qala'a to the old citadel. We walked up a few stairs and it was hot and I was already buggered. The site was impressive though. It was once an Umayyad Palace, the mosque was very nice and we saw the remnants of the temple of hercules as well as the Roman theatre down the bottom of the hill. We also we went into the national archaeological museum where we saw the remnants of the dead sea scrolls, the first sculptures of people as well as the skeleton of a baby that had been found in a jar. After the museum we left the site and went to a better lookout for the roman theatre. We then climbed down to the base of the theatre for a toilet break and a closer look at the theatre but I think most people just used the toilets and bought a drink cos of the heat. We then went to have lunch. It was a small place and we took up most of the room inside. We had butcher's paper as a plate and had pita bread, felafel, chips, dips, mint and you could just create your own meal. It cost us 2JD - so cheap. After lunch we were all pretty much ready for a rest at the hotel because it was so hot. After the rest we went to a place just outside of Amman called Jerash. Jerash was a Roman city built around 70AD. The entrance to the site was impressive with a beautifully carved arch. You then wlak past the hippodrome where gladiators and chariots would perform. Then the entrance is a nicely decorated gate and enter into the forum and the temple of Zeus. We then walked the colonnaded street which had obviously been restored as none of the pavers were the same height and there were a few round stones added as well. We saw the ancient fountain which had 4 holes in the wall which used to be lions' heads and the water would have poured out of the lions' mouths. There were a huge stretch of remnants of churches and one was supposed to have a photo of Mary with the angel Michael but we couldn't find it. We then went into the north theatre and that was nice. There was a stage and a paved floor which looked great. We walked past the temple of Artemis cos it didn't look like much. Then we were pretty much done. We were hot and we wanted to do some shopping. On the way back we walked past a young Asian girl who was wearing high heels - this isn't really the type of place to walk around in heels. The shops at Jerash were great. I wanted a bag that I could put my souvenirs in, I found one I liked and bought it even though it's not quite right. I bought an Art History book to go with my those from Syria and Egypt and I also bought 2 really nice paintings done by a local artist. We got back to the van and had to wait for Patricia and Conner again before we could leave. We went our for tea a a partial group and the food was really good. There was a really good hot appetiser made with puff pastry and minced lamb and it was so yummy - it sounded something like Dim Sum. I had asked Jamie if she could organise something for Terry's birthday so we had birthday cake. Tomorrow is the Dead Sea which should be fun. Bye
