But you didn't come here to hear about epic races in France. I promised pictures, and by golly I will deliver:
My friend Trish and I took a little detour from our Dubai explorations and hopped on a plane to visit what is now one of my Favorite Places on Earth--The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Since it was early April we missed the rainy season, but instead it was sunny, green, and the hills were covered with wild flowers and little clusters of sheep. It was heaven.
We stayed with Fadi, the fellow who was dead-set on bringing me to the Middle East in the first place. He was a great host. Not only did we stay with him, he also picked us up from the airport, arranged for taxis to take us around, and he ordered one the best meals I have ever eaten in my entire life.
Our first stop in Jordan was for lunch in the hilltop town of Madaba. Fadi had to return to the bakery, so he quickly ordered some mezze dishes and then left us to enjoy it while sitting on the terrace of this ancient building.
We ate hummous, baba ghanoush, fatoush salad, fried cheese pastries, fried spinach pastries, shish taouk, fresh pita, and mint-lemonade. I wish I knew the name of the place so I can direct you when you go to Jordan, but all I can tell you is that it is not too far from the Greek Orthodox church.
This Church is a common tourist destination because it contains a gorgeous, historic map of the ancient world--showing locations such as Jericho, Bethlehem, Lot's Cave, to name a few.
After gazing at the map, and pointing out the important locales we took a cab to Jebel Nepo, or Mount Nebo.
If you are an Old Testament scholar, you may recognize this place. Mount Nebo is not just another lovely hillside in Jordan, it is also the place where Moses looked out across the Promised Land just prior to the Israelites taking possession of it. It was a very clear day, and like Moses, my friend and I were able to look out and see Israel (or Occupied Palestine--depending on your political views). In fact, we could even make out the town of Jericho.
It really was fabulous to think that I stood where such a great prophet stood.
A taxi came to pick us up and take us back down to Amman. That night Trish and I explored some of the more sociable areas of Amman, and had dinner at a very popular cafe. Some guys tried to hit on us, but the weren't really our type. Plus we needed to rest for our upcoming explorations.
But before I leave you to wonder about the other wonders I plan to show you, I will leave you with these two images:
Those are sheep on the top of the middle hillside.
Probably the cutest can of Diet Coke on the planet. They are about the size of a Red Bull can, but instead filled with DC. Trish called it the "Silver Bullet Can." Many such cans were consumed during our sojourn. Please tell me where we can get some in the U.S. Please.
1 comment:
Glad to see you're back- I was worried about you. Such fun posts- I still need to plan our trip there before John gets canned and I never get the chance again.
how are things? missed you around here.
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