Winter Break and time to head to Jordan ~ but not without some visitors! This year my younger daughter, Christina, was able to come for Christmas!! This was especially nice because this is the first time she would see my home here in Dubai. Somehow it's always nice to share where I live with my family ~ and I especially love seeing where my girls live. That means a spring break visit to Vietnam and a summer visit to Austin, TX this year to catch up with my girls!
But back to our winter break.... in addition to my Christina coming to spend the holidays, this year we were joined by David! One thing about living overseas: everyone wants to be with family and friends. And that is what this holiday was about!
Both David and Christina flew into Dubai at about 1am Saturday, Dec. 22, and we then promptly headed back to the airport at 6am for our flight out to Jordan! It was a quick turnaround, but with only two weeks for vaca, we had to make the most of our precious days!!! Upon our early arrival at the airport, we were informed that there wasn't actually a flight at the time on our tickets..... Nope, that flight had been canceled and the next one was in a couple of hours. No email notification. No phone call informing us of the change. Huh. Luckily, we were able to find some yummy croissants in the terminal before flying out!
Our first stop? The city of Amman. We only had an overnight here since our sights were set on sights throughout Jordan other than city shopping! It was a really nice place, though.... once you got past the lobby filled with paint fumes!!!! Thankfully our room was relatively odor-free!
The next morning, in the BRISK Jordan air, we headed out to our first historical site: the castle at Karek! This area has been inhabited since the Iron Age, and is even mentioned in the Bible. The big attraction here is the Crusader Castle atop the hill. It was built as for the crusaders and occupied by them for 46 years. It was finally surrendered to Saladin after a siege of more than a year. After that, the Mamluks built on to the castle, making it even more impressive.
I do love arches, but I'm not the only one!!!!
And then, as if this arch with the beautiful view wasn't enough, we found..... THREE ARCHES!!!!!
Oh, yeah ~ Christina and I were workin' it!!! David was the one in charge of the clicker so he couldn't be quite as amazing as the two of us were.
I think one of the best parts of t his trip was that we were able to climb on everything! Somehow we just felt that much closer to the history of this place.
My favorite part of our trip to Karak was exploring the different rooms and hallways and then suddenly coming upon a beautiful shaft of light!!!!
Okay, so we didn't find treasure ~ but we still had fun with the beam of light!!
But there was more to see ~ the ruins were quite extensive
And then, randomly, we came across this family of Jordanians also there to take in the sights of Karak. They were so sweet, and kind of funny because out of nowhere the boys decided that they wanted to sing to us!!!! Hysterical!!
I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful weather ~ we thought it would be really cold, and while it was a little brisk in the mornings, the weather overall was exceptional!
Soon it was time to leave and head south! The countryside in Jordan is really striking ~ It was a good thing that we had rented a car because we kept having to pullover to snap pics of the view!
Before getting to our destination for the evening, we stopped by the lowest point on Earth ~ and elevation of 1329 ft below sea level! There was a museum there on the site of Lot's church!
Then the drive toward Petra continued....
Eventually, though, we did arrive in Petra ~ our hotel was gorgeous, and pretty empty! All we wanted after our full day was a nice dinner. At the Cave Bar met our needs and satisfied Christina's desire for hummus!! Ah ~ relaxation!
But back to our winter break.... in addition to my Christina coming to spend the holidays, this year we were joined by David! One thing about living overseas: everyone wants to be with family and friends. And that is what this holiday was about!
Both David and Christina flew into Dubai at about 1am Saturday, Dec. 22, and we then promptly headed back to the airport at 6am for our flight out to Jordan! It was a quick turnaround, but with only two weeks for vaca, we had to make the most of our precious days!!! Upon our early arrival at the airport, we were informed that there wasn't actually a flight at the time on our tickets..... Nope, that flight had been canceled and the next one was in a couple of hours. No email notification. No phone call informing us of the change. Huh. Luckily, we were able to find some yummy croissants in the terminal before flying out!
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| Don't we look wide awake??? (It's the coffee!) |
Our first stop? The city of Amman. We only had an overnight here since our sights were set on sights throughout Jordan other than city shopping! It was a really nice place, though.... once you got past the lobby filled with paint fumes!!!! Thankfully our room was relatively odor-free!
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| Here is the view down the atrium of our hotel |
The next morning, in the BRISK Jordan air, we headed out to our first historical site: the castle at Karek! This area has been inhabited since the Iron Age, and is even mentioned in the Bible. The big attraction here is the Crusader Castle atop the hill. It was built as for the crusaders and occupied by them for 46 years. It was finally surrendered to Saladin after a siege of more than a year. After that, the Mamluks built on to the castle, making it even more impressive.
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| See the three of us checking out the view? |
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| Wandering through the old hallways |
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| Perfect for shooting arrows down on attackers. Same as in the castles found along the Rhein!! |
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| Yes, even traveling in a group, I continued to take pictures of myself ~ old habits! |
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And then, as if this arch with the beautiful view wasn't enough, we found..... THREE ARCHES!!!!!
Oh, yeah ~ Christina and I were workin' it!!! David was the one in charge of the clicker so he couldn't be quite as amazing as the two of us were.
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| My gorgeous daughter taking in the view |
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| My adventurous traveling companions ~ Yes, we climbed on EVERYTHING!!! |
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| Proudly resting on top of the world! |
I think one of the best parts of t his trip was that we were able to climb on everything! Somehow we just felt that much closer to the history of this place.
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| She is gorgeous, but she has a short attention span for photos!!! ;) |
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| I have a thing for arches, but this one was the most amazing! Still standing after all these years, even though there is a hole in the top! |
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| Must be illuminating the spot of a buried treasure!!!! |
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| Okay, maybe I had the most fun! lol |
But there was more to see ~ the ruins were quite extensive
And then, randomly, we came across this family of Jordanians also there to take in the sights of Karak. They were so sweet, and kind of funny because out of nowhere the boys decided that they wanted to sing to us!!!! Hysterical!!
I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful weather ~ we thought it would be really cold, and while it was a little brisk in the mornings, the weather overall was exceptional!
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| Yeah, so we had been taking quite a lot of photos...! |
Soon it was time to leave and head south! The countryside in Jordan is really striking ~ It was a good thing that we had rented a car because we kept having to pullover to snap pics of the view!
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| This is our Sunny ~ she drove us all over Jordan with not a single complaint! |
Before getting to our destination for the evening, we stopped by the lowest point on Earth ~ and elevation of 1329 ft below sea level! There was a museum there on the site of Lot's church!
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| These are the original wooden panels of the church!!! |
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| Just some Arameic! |
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| Although it looks like a Baptismal font, this was actually used for boiling sugar |
Then the drive toward Petra continued....
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| Inspired by the view! |
Eventually, though, we did arrive in Petra ~ our hotel was gorgeous, and pretty empty! All we wanted after our full day was a nice dinner. At the Cave Bar met our needs and satisfied Christina's desire for hummus!! Ah ~ relaxation!
1 comment:
I just now saw that you posted this! What a fun trip! :)
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