October 4, 2019 - Amman, Jordan

Our day begins with a varied and tasty breakfast buffet with several different kinds of new cheeses and halvah with cinnamon strips, and the usual breakfast choices.  We finish, go upstairs for last minute stuff, and come down to meet Ammar.  We had discussed today’s activities on the way from the airport, and are ready to set off.

Before we leave the city, Juan asks if we can see the Blue Mosque.  Sure!  No problem! Ammar finds us a handy vantage point from which to take our photos and tells us that inside is nothing special.  That saves some time! 

The White City!

So clean and modern, even though they don't have oil, like their neighbors!

The Blue Mosque

And the Christian church across the street.  Eighty percent of Jordanians
are Sunni Muslims and fifteen percent are Greek Orthodox Christians.

Now we’re off to Jarash.  I didn’t know anything about Jarash, so I was completely blown away by the ancient site that has seen so many different cultures leave their mark!  It is primarily an old Roman site with temples to Zeus and, especially, Artemis, and three different theaters!  Ammar gets our tickets and introduces us to Hussein, who will be our guide for the next couple of hours.

There's one in every crowd.  So glad he isn't part of OUR crowd!

The taller columns indicate a door or entrance way.

There are tourists from everywhere!

That used to be a lion's head.

Back in the van and we’re on to the castle of Ajloun.  It is a twelfth-century Muslim stronghold and sits atop Mount Auf in Northwest Jordan.  It was constructed by Salahuddin to stop the expansion of the Crusaders. We climb to about three thousand feet and us flatlands notice the difference when we climb all those steps!  It commands a view of the Jordan Valley and all the surrounding countryside.  It was built on the ruins of an old monastery, which explains the traces of a church from the Byzantine period.

You can see everything around you up here.  Always hold the high ground!

Although it is early afternoon, no one is really hungry yet, so we decide to wait and have lunch back in Amman, at a restaurant that Ammar highly recommends.  Oh holy cow!!  (oops, wrong country!) This is an amazing restaurant!  Ammar explains that the Jordanians who eat here have to pay a tax;  but there is a special price for the tourists!  And it’s lower, contrary to our expectations!  The appetizer course appears to be never ending!  And each bite is better than the last! We’re pretty darn stuffed and there is still food on the brass plate which occupies the center of the table.  What’s this!?  The mixed-grill entree!!!  Oh my!  The waiter prepares a plate for each of us with about twice as much food as we can eat!  But it’s so good!!  Everything is fresh and locally sourced.  And has been since before that was fashionable! There is lamb, chicken, and beef!  And French fries which I don’t think anyone even touched!  When we’ve all hollered “Uncle!”, Ammar says something about dessert!  We all rebel until the word Baklava is heard!  The waiter appears with a large plate of fruit and another of dessert yummies.  We ignore the fruit (although Ginger is smart enough to take a peach for later!) and divide them into small pieces for sharing.  And even with our sweet tooth (teeth?), we leave a couple of pieces.  Ginger and Marilyn get a great idea for their grandkids when the waiter makes a critter out of a banana!

Clack!  Clack!!

Fresh-made bread, straight from the lobby!

Our tummies are so very full.  It’s a good thing we are just going back to the hotel!!  Marilyn is getting a massage and Ginger wants to swim, so I take my computer and go down to sit poolside with her.  The water is pretty cool, so Ginger just does a few exercises and come out to sit by me.  We are doing the computer thing when Marilyn joins us, fresh from her massage, which she says to exactly what she needed!  As it gets darker we figure it’s time to go in and settle down for the night.  The wifi is wonderful and I get a good bit done on this!