This was a day of discovery. First, I discovered a piece of glass in my Danish at breakfast. I let the restaurant staff know about it and they showed concern but didn’t take much action except isolating the Danish and taking it away. Everything was uphill after that except for our next-to-last excursion.
Our morning was spent discovering different sights of Amman. First we went to the Amman Citadel where we saw the Temple of Hercules including his severed carved marble hand. At the site, we also toured the Amman Archeological Museum where they had some really old artifacts including statues that are about 7,000 years old. The site also included a restored mosque.
Next we went to a busy section of the city and visited a pet store, an artist studio and shop and a store where they made pastry. We had samples of honey-saturated sweets.
Our third stop was at a Roman amphitheater where there were two small museums. On the way in, we bought mint and sage tea from a street vendor.
We got on the bus again and took off for lunch at the Dead Sea. On the way we stopped at a super market to buy snacks and to see what is available in a small market.
Our lunch was at a buffet restaurant at a hotel on the banks of the Dead Sea. It was filling but not very good. After we ate, we went to the beach. Three people in our group brought bathing suits and went floating on the water. There are lots of minerals and salts in the water making it very buoyant and impossible to sink. The temperature of the water was around 70 degrees. Ann and I waded. The water left an oily residue on our skip.
We got back to the hotel around 4:00, rested, cleaned up and met our crew in the lobby at 6:00 to go to a home-hosted dinner with a local family. Nassar, his wife and his three children were good hosts. They served us Arabian coffee and dates as appetizers. Our main meal was maqlouba, an upside down rice dish with chicken, eggplant and many other ingredients. We have the recipe and will bring it back with us. It’s worth trying to cook it ourselves.
The visit was culturally different. The TV was on in the living room where we were gathered to chat and eat. Soccer and weddings seemed to be the attraction on the tube. The shy 15 year old daughter surfed the web while we were talking. Nassar understood and spoke some English but Iyad, our guide, had to interpret a lot. Nassar’s wife did not speak English so she didn’t contribute to the conversation. We did have a good conversation, though.
When we got back to the hotel, Santa was in front and greeted us.
It’s now 9:30 or so.
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