FUN-travel: Amman, Jordan – Holy Land – Day 2
April 1, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Amman, Jordan – Holy Land – Day 2
The ABC’s of The Holy Land
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Trip Day 56 – Tuesday, March 26 –Amman, Jordan – blue skies – high, low 80’s
Aljun Castle,
- 7:00 – wake up
- B – fitful night sleep
- A – breakfast spread is huge – make sandwiches for picnic later
Umm Qais
- 8:45 – Ali picks us up for drive – hills covered w/sheep & olive trees (over 20 million trees in Jordan) – spring flowering shrubs & plants are abundant
- 1st stop 10:30 – Umm Qais (Biblical Gadara), dramatic black‐basalt Roman Decapolis city overlooking the Golan Heights and Sea of Galilee – impressive Roman remains include colonnaded street, theatre & mausoleum
- 11:30 – drive through the Jordan Valley and up into the Dibeen National Forest
- 2nd stop – 1:00 – tour Qallat arRabadh, Ajlun’s Crusader‐era Saracen Castle – over 1000 yrs old – superb Arab military engineering – sits high atop the mountain @ 4,000 ft
- 3rd stop – 3:30 – 90 min guided tour of Jerash – world’s best‐preserved Roman provincial city in Middle East – built 300 BC – has 4 gates leading N, E, W, & S – favorite city of Emperor Hadrian (he has his own gate) – features include Hippodrome, awesome amphitheatre viewed from top – temple of Zeus – oval plaza is 262’ x 295’ enclosed by 160 Ionic columns, agora, baths, churches & a mosque – very impressive!
- 6:00 – happy hour @ Crowne Plaza – 2 for 1 – nice cold beer – get 2 bottles of Wolf Blass (Australian) cabernet on same deal too! – eat in V lounge – hot, juicy hamburger w/French fries & Thai salad – YUMMY!
Hadrian’s Gate Jerash
FF – (FUN-fact) – We’ve gone from 22 days on the water to the stark contrast of 18 days in the desert.
More FF – Feel very safe in Jordan. They have scanners everywhere you go, to get out of the airport, to get into your hotel (trunks are checked too) to enter the hotel parking lots.
Oval Plaza Jerash
FUN-travel: Dubai to Amman, Jordan – Holy Land – Day 1
March 30, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Dubai to Amman, Jordan – Holy Land – Day 1
The ABC’s of The Holy Land
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Trip Day 55 – Monday, March 25 – Dubai to Amman, Jordan – overcast & cloudy upon arrival – clear & warm 80’s Amman
Dining Room on Silversea Explorer
- BB (big bummer) – Emirates biz class seats are recliners, not flat beds (like what 1st class was in the 90’s) & we are on it for 9 hrs
- 8:30 – flight lands
- B – 2 hr time change ahead
- B – airport is chaotic – not sure where to go – we paid for business class & since we missed our flight we’re booked in “no class”
Evan (my favorite waiter) & me at Crew Show
- B – told we have to wait until 1:00 & try @ the departure gate
- B – also told we have no hotel room (cape town agent said we did)
- A – do get into Emirates biz class lounge
- C – it’s huge! biggest biz class lounge I have ever seen – as big as half the length & width of the terminal – I am not kidding!
- C – don’t need a hotel room – have everything we need & don’t have to leave the airport
- 1:00 – head to gate
- B – lady @ gate can’t confirm biz class
- A – 1:15 – new agent (clearly in charge) confirms biz class
- 1:30 – board plane
- C – 2:00 – take off on time
- 4:30 – arrive Amman
- C – got an hour back!
- B – have to buy visas
- B – only take Jordanian money – costs $20 JD each
- C – no line in customs!
- B – baggage claim takes forever
- 5:30 – walk out & greeted by Ali our driver for the next 6 days
- B – need bigger car to accommodate all the luggage from this long trip
- A – Ali says theft is not a problem in Jordan (didn’t want baggage in front seat in plain sight)
- A – take scenic drive to all of the places we missed today because our flight was delayed – see citadel – roman ampitheatre in old city, US embassy, kings palace offices & upscale neighborhood
- 7:15 – arrive Crowne Plaza hotel
- B – only have room w/2 beds – not happy – say so & insist we paid for king bed months ago
- C – miraculously they find room – get upgrade
- A – 8:00 – dinner on 12 (top floor) – hummus/pita – grilled halloum cheese, rack of lamb
Panorama Lounge
FF – (FUN-fact) – Emirates lounges are on the 2nd floor above the duty free shops and the 1st class lounge covers the other half. Each one has over 1000 seats in various areas. They also have showers, a spa, main dining room, multiple bars and lounges with food, kids play area & food corner, shoe shine, business centers with computers, quite area and a prayer room. There are 3 terminals and the lounges are all just as big. The main dining room had 24 different cold items including salads, fruit and cheese. There were 8 hot main dishes.
More FF – Emirates is the only airline we’ve flown that has stickers you can put on your headrest that alerts the flight attendants to 1) no wake up during flight 2) wake up for breakfast 3) wake up for duty free.
Me & Fred (AKA Milly)