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Monthly Archives: January 2012

Little Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba – Jordan

Author: Kendal

Since the sun sets early here (5:30pm) we make sure to get a head start to try and do everything on that days list of activates before the sun goes down. So starting the day at 8:30am we headed to Beida (Little Petra), it was the same as Petra except not as big. Little Petra is a place where the Nebataeans used to entertain their guests. The Nebataeans built this cool city around 100 B.C.

Primary structure in Little Petra

We weren't sure if Keegan was going to make it up but he did.

After that we headed to Wadi Rum for a jeep tour. Wadi Rum is the largest desert in Jordan. On the way to Wadi Rum our guide, Hytham (that’s his name), told us about how arranged marriages used to work and how they work today, and about how boys and girls go to separate schools and a lot of other things, it was very informative. Once we got to the meeting point, we switched into our guide’s truck and began our 2½ hour tour of Wadi Rum. Wadi means valley or dry riverbed like a desert and Rum comes from an Arabic root word meaning high or elevated. So, it was a huge desert with mountains reaching to the sky. The ride was very bumpy, to say the least, I’m pretty sure my bum is still bruised. The first thing he showed us was the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, comes from the Book of Proverbs, 9:1: ‘Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars’. T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote an autobiographical book about his experiences as a British soldier between 1916-1918. He was the one that ended up naming that mountain range the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The next stop we had to get out and climb this giant sand hill. When we were going up we started yelling “HELLOOOOO” randomly because the echo was really cool. We raced down the hill, even though going up the hill was deadly the race down made it worth the hike. Continuing the tour we stopped by the rock art on certain walls in Wadi Rum. The rock art dates back to about 10,000-12,000 B.C., if not more. Our guide then drove us to a big tea tent, inside they made us their famous Bedouin tea, the people here say it’s too sweet but we thought it needed more sugar. As we sat by the fire with our tea and listened to this large Italian tour group ask for more sugar, we saw the face of Lawrence of Arabia carved into a large rock. The tour was a different kind of experience that we can add to our list of experiences on our trip.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

A great view of Wadi Rum!

The distance to go up wasn't that bad it was the sand that was the killer.

That's me and my mom running down.

Here's a picture of some of that old Rock Art

Walking to a Bedouin Tea Tent with our guide. The rock right in front of us has a picture of the face of Lawrence of Arabia carved into it.

This is a picture inside the tea tent

Meeting back up with Hytham we hopped into the van and drove to Aqaba, which is right across from Egypt on the Red Sea. Once we got there we were pleasantly surprised to learn that we were going to be staying in a nice beach resort while in Aqaba for a few days. Since Aqaba is farther south than Petra, the weather was very warm and we even got to go swimming and get some sun time in, which was a big bonus! There were U.S. military personnel also staying at the resort with us, they told us that they came from Oman and have a few days off before heading up through the Suez Canal to a Naval Station in Rota, Spain. We could see their large ship from the beach. It was great to see all the different U.S. men and women together just laughing and having a good time. Keegan and my dad even played volleyball with a bunch of them. I know what they are doing is serious. I guess I’m starting to better understand that we have a great melting pot of many different types of people in the U.S. and I like that.

We could see the US military ship from the beach

It was kind of hazy but you can still see Egypt across the Red Sea

Here we are just having some fun

That's Hytham our great guide in Jordan.

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Posted by Steve on January 25, 2012 in Jordan

Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea – Jordan

22 Jan

Author: Amy

Our trip to Jordan and Israel was not in our original travelling plans but what a great decision it was to come to these countries. The education has been immense on so many levels. I must say, a country is typically prettier and nicer with someone showing you around. You get right to the “It” spot, see the wonder and move along – that, I’m sure, has something to do with our impression of these countries. Anyhoo! We visited Madaba, which is a Christian town known as the city of mosaics. There is a Greek Orthodox Church that holds a huge mosaic map of the Holy Land. Queen Nor was the queen of Jordan – she was born American and the people loved her. While she was Queen she made a number of advances for women and children in Jordan. We visited a mosaic handicraft shop that employs handicapped people to make the mosaics and the profit goes to them to help their community. We learned how the mosaics are made and what makes the pricing different — the smaller the tiles the higher the price. The same day we climbed Mount Nebo where you can see all of the Holy Land, the Jordan River Valley, the Dead Sea, Jericho and Jerusalem. The Jordan River Valley has profound meaning for religious travelers. Although they never found his remains they mark Mount Nebo as the site of Moses’ death. The church there was under construction so we stayed outside; it was a very windy day. Our last stop of the day was at a crusader castle 900 meters above sea level in the city of Kerak. We’ve learned that the crusader castles are huge and this castle was just that. It was a very dark castle with stone-walls and seemingly endless passages.

Mosaic map of the Jordan River Valley at the church in Madaba, Jordan

Outside the church in Madaba, Jordan

A windy day at Mount Nebo

On Mount Nebo looking out at the Jordan River Valley

Another amazing day was visiting the Baptism site of Jesus by John the Baptist. It is a very spiritual site for religious travelers as well. It’s a great visit with an actual guide and an audio guide. Jordan opened the site in 1996 after they cleared it of landmines. As you reach the river Jordan where the Baptism took place you see Israel on the other side with their tourists visiting the Baptism site from that country. Both sides have armed guards protecting the site and the border – that was amazing for us to see. Many churches from many countries and of various denominations have been built and are being built in this area. It’s very pretty and it was warm in January, I can only imagine how hot it would be to visit in the summer.

The site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus

Walking to the Jordan river - the baptism site of Jesus

See Israel on the other side of the river, we are on the Jordan side of the Jordan river. Military from each country sits armed on their side of the river.

Our tour of Jordan ended with a visit to the Dead Sea. It truly is mind blowing to think of all the things that have happened in Jordan over the centuries. We feel so fortunate to have had a glimpse of this part of the world and trace many of the steps that have been so powerful in the history of the world. We arrived late in the day at the Dead Sea and you could reach it from our hotel so we walked down and took a look at it and decided the next day we would venture in and take our mud bath and do our float. The sea was calm and we were looking forward to our big adventure. Oh what a difference a day makes. After breakfast the following day we dressed in our swimsuits and walked down to the Dead Sea. Yes, it was overcast and a bit windy but we were ready to “do this thing!” WRONG! Red flags were all over the beaches and a guard from the hotel said, “it’s not safe you can’t go in”. We made the best of it by rubbing the mud with all the special minerals on us and wiping it off with the water from the Dead Sea. The water is almost like a mixture of water and baby oil. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth at about 1300 feet below sea level (or 400 meters) and has an amazing 30%+ salinity percentage, it easily stings your eyes and any open wounds. The Dead Sea is called the Dead Sea because of its extreme mineral content; there are no plants, seaweed, moss, or any fish or creatures of any kind that can live in that water . . . simply amazing. All along the shore you see the rocks covered in salt. We were sad our Dead Sea adventure turned out that way but we enjoyed the rest of our day just the same at the hotel and even got some schoolwork done!

The Dead Sea with the red flag flying!

Applying the miracle minerals . . .

Although they wouldn't let us swim we put our feet and hands in.

The mud seems oily and the Dead Sea water almost seems like water with baby oil in - amazing!

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Posted by Steve on January 22, 2012 in Jordan

Petra, Jordan

18 Jan

Author: Steve

We had intended on going to Istanbul after Spain but after realizing the weather was much colder in January than we had initially thought, Amy started looking into the Middle-East (only one backpack and no real winter clothes is an easy excuse to help dictate some of our travels). Obviously we have heard and read mixed reviews about the Middle-East some saying that certain countries were beautiful retreats while other’s saying to stay away from the region completely. After a lot of research we decided to stay away from the countries that could or would possibly put us in danger and venture to a couple of countries that could provide great historical experiences and allow us all to learn about a part of world we know nothing about other than what we see and read in the media: those two countries being Jordan and Israel.

One of our day trips was Petra, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Petra is easily one of the most eye inspiring places I have ever seen. To walk down the path of the Siq, a dark narrow gorge, which is over 1 km long and huge rock walls some as tall as 650 feet on each side is mind-boggling enough and all worth the trip but then you come upon the majestic view of “The Treasury” . . . it simply moves you beyond words. I never imagined it would be so incredible. That all of this was built starting around the 6^th century B.C. and still stands today for us to walk through to see first hand the magnitude of the builders during that period is something very hard to grasp. We spent the first two hours with a tour guide as he walked us though all the highlights of some of the main portions of the site. Then we took the next 5 hours to walk and venture on our own, with the main objective of walking the 800 plus steps up to see the Monastery and view the End-of-the-World viewing point. Since we are seeing so much during our time in Jordan and Israel we only had one day in Petra but you could easily stay there a number of days and probably still not see everything, it is that big. I am blown away by the ruins and monuments I have seen thus far in Jordan, they are huge and plenty and I am simply amazed by one place just as much as the next.

We all took a short horse ride into Petra.

Kendal and Amy walking through the Siq

You can clearly see the outline of men and camels carved into this wall.

Walking from the Siq into the Treasury

The Treasury (also known as Kazneh) is Petra's most popular site, it was built around the 1st century B.C.

Keegan took this picture - interestingly camels store water in their feet not their humps and according to our guide it used to be complimentary to call your wife a camel.

There was one incredible site after another.

Here's a shot of one of the over 800 carved tombs in Petra as we were walking up to the Monastery.

The Monastery, like the Treasury, was also built sometime during the 1st century B.C. That little object on the bottom is me.

The Monastery, is the largest tomb facade in Petra, measuring 45 meters high and 50 meters wide!

Climbing up to view "the End of the World"

The view of the End of the World

Here's a view up above looking at the Monastery - we walked up from the right side of this picture, you can see the stairs leading to the front of the site.

The rock colors and formations were incredible.

Leaving Petra after a long, fun day!

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Posted by Steve on January 18, 2012 in Jordan

Welcome to Jordan

15 Jan

Author: Keegan

AHLAN WA SAHLAN TO JORDAN!

( Ahlan wa sahlan in Arabic means Welcome)

Our arrival to Jordan started out great because our airline (Turkish Airline) had the BEST airplane food EVER! Wait, can you hear me?? I said it had the BEST airplane food EVER!!! (I highly suggest you to take this airline when/if you ever go to Jordan). So, now we are in Jordan, yes the Middle East, and we have a guide so we don’t have to think about where we are going to go and how we are going to get there! On our first day we went to Jerash, Ajlun and Amman. In Jerash and we had a local tour guide who showed us around. When you enter Jerash there is a huge arch to welcome Emperor Hadrian that was built in 129 A.D. It’s a beautiful stone arch – sadly Hadrian died before he came to Jerash so he never got to see the arch they made for him. While we were there we walked on a street that horse-drawn carriages rode on like a lloooonnngggg time ago and you could see where they rode because they left indents on the street. We also saw a theatre. In the theatre there was a certain spot that echoed so everyone could hear and if you stepped out of the place there would be no echo. The type of stone and how they made the theater was the reason it had that great sound system. So it was pretty cool! There were musicians there that played some traditional music for us. We learned that the theater is still used today for concerts. What I liked the most were the ruins for a temple specifically for Zeus the King of the Gods.

Hadrian's Arch

This is a picture down one of the main colonnaded streets

Here's one of the indents from the carriages I told you about

Here's the entrance to the temple of Zeus. You walk up the stairs and go a long away again until you hit more stairs, it was a huge temple.

This structure was off one of the main roads - people lived in Jerash over 6500 years ago.

In the amphitheater this musician played for us and then grabbed my dad and started dancing with him...awkward.

Jerash was huge, it seemed like we walked forever.

The columns were amazing. Our guide put a spoon in a crack on the bottom of one of the columns and moved the huge column with his hands. The spoon started moving up and down, they made these columns sturdy enough for very high winds.

We had a great time in Jerash!

We also went to Ajlun, north of Amman, which is a HUGE castle! We were able to explore the castle – it’s amazing how much is still in place after all that time. The castles are always cool inside because the stones keep the temperature down. I always wonder how they made these castles way back then.

Inside the Ajlun Castle - it was built in 1184 A.D.

Another shot inside the Ajlun Castle - it was huge and almost everywhere were perfect places to make a movie

One of the great views from the Ajlun Castle - back then it was used to watch for enemy attacks

The hotel we stayed at was in Amman and Amman is Jordan’s capital. We saw ruins at the Citadel and one was the Temple of Hercules built between 162-166 A.D. We also saw ruins for an amphitheater. It was a full day but it was cool to see all the ancient ruins. While at the citadel in Amman we ran into a lot of school kids – they were on break from testing in the morning. Other than the girls wearing headscarves they seemed like anyone you would meet anywhere else. They actually were really friendly and kept saying “hello, hi” to us. They asked my mom to take a picture of them all together with their cell phone, they were very happy teenage girls and they said they loved the U.S.

Amman, Jordan

Temple of Hercules - much bigger than this picture shows

That's what's left of a hand and elbow from a huge Roman-Greco statue

That's me and Mom running to check out a view of Amman and the ruins from the Amman amphitheater

The Jordan Valley and the ruins of the Amman Amphitheater

Here are some fun facts about Jordan:

1. Did you know that when kids go to school they learn… all at public school

A. The Torah- Jewish

B. The Bible- Christian

C. And the Koran- Muslim

2. Did you know that Amman is also known as Philadelphia?

Amman means the city of brotherly love.

3. Do you know how Arabic is read and written?

From right to left. The binding on the magazine in our hotel was on the right.

By for now!

Keegan

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Posted by Steve on January 15, 2012 in Jordan

Cathedrals and Palaces in Spain

11 Jan

Author: Amy

All of these sites deserve their own blogs – they have so much history, character and personality of their own. Unfortunately, we are heading out of Spain and it’s time to get these blogs posted.

The Giralda and Cathedral of Seville – There is a mausoleum with the remains of Christopher Columbus in the Cathedral. Part of his DNA was sent to Huston, Texas and it was confirmed that his remains are here. He is held up by 4 Heralds representing 4 Kingdoms, it’s an amazing display. The Giralda is the Minaret – built between 1184-1198 for the Mosque of Seville. Minarets provide a visual focal point and are used for the call to prayer. The muezzin would ride his horse up the ramps of the 98 meter tower to call for prayers, 5 times a day. I would consider this to be the center of Seville, we passed the Cathedral countless times during our stay in Seville. One evening we saw the 8pm bells toll – it was a magnificent sight and sound that we all will remember. The Seville Cathedral was built over the Mosque of Seville and it is the biggest “Gothic” temple in the world.

Cathedral of Seville

Giralda

Christopher Columbus rests here

The Alcázar in Seville is a gorgeous site – it is a group of palaces mostly Arabic style but throughout there is some Gothic influence. It is filled with mosaic tiles and one room is more beautiful than the next. Kendal felt she was a princess in another life and hoped this was where she lived. The gardens here are beautiful. There is a huge labyrinth of 6 foot tall shrubs that the kids ran through for more than an hour. We went here with my brother and his family and sent him and his wife to the Cathedral – we stayed back with the kids and let them enjoy the outdoor gardens. It was a fun day.

Alcázar

Fountain at Alcázar

Hiding in the Labyrinth garden at Alcázar

Gardens of Alcázar

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain. My understanding is that this location was the last stand for the Moors before the Christians invaded and took it all over in 1492. It is also where Christopher Columbus received the support of Isabella and Ferdinand to sail to the New World. It is a wonderful retreat. We took a day trip by train with my brother and his family. It is a very busy place and they only allow people to enter morning or afternoon. We arrived at 11am but were not allowed in until 2pm. Visiting the main palace is dependant by the time they give you. We were given 4pm, our train left at 5pm. We considered trying to get a peek and running to the train but people were in line at 3:30 – a lot of people! Rather than be rushed we skipped it. The Alhambra is really an estate with multiple castles and gardens. The scalloped windows frame the beautiful views of Granada and the snow-capped mountains. A huge part of the Moorish influence is the gardens and their water features. Water was the purest symbol of life to the Moors. It’s truly a beautiful site and even more are the views of the surroundings snow-capped mountains. Hope you enjoy the photos

On our way to Granada

Beautiful water features at the Alhambra

In the Palace of Charles V

Gorgeous view from Alhambra - snow-capped mountains

Inside the Roman Baths at the Alhambra

We always love the ancient water systems

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Posted by Steve on January 11, 2012 in Spain

Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza– Sevilla, Spain

09 Jan

Author: Steve

Unfortunately or fortunately it is not bullfighting season in Spain, it typically starts up around Easter and goes through to the end of summer, with a few exceptions throughout the year. This time of year the bullfighting moves to South America and Mexico. We did however take a walk over to the main bullfighting ring here in Seville, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, for a tour. This ring was constructed during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. It was very interesting to learn more about this deep Spanish tradition of bullfighting, like how it was a sport that took place for Spanish Kings and Royalty back in the 8^th to 15^th centuries, it changed during that time from a fight on horseback to a fight on foot. Before the bullfight came to Spain it’s history originated from the sacrificing of bulls in ancient Greece through Roman times.

We weren’t allowed to run around the ring like I wanted to so that was a little disappointing. I always thought they had locker rooms, so I was hoping to check out where the matadors get psyched up but they have no locker rooms . . . they get dressed at home or if they are visiting, at their hotel room. I think if it would have been bullfighting season Keegan and I would have gone to see one but I doubt we would have enjoyed the long brutal process.

On January 1, 2012 a ban of bullfighting in Catalonia took effect. Barcelona, which resides in the Catalonia region, saw their last bullfight at the end of this last season on September 25, 2011. A lot of controversy surrounds this topic in Spain; some believing with great passion in preserving this deep tradition and others want to eliminate the barbaric nature of this sport. The fight to ban bullfighting in Andalucia (Sevilla falls within this region) will be a tougher battle due to the much stronger support of maintaining all their deep traditions and how they view this has a pure art-form. Only time will tell . . .

The entrance to the Plaza de Toros

Kendal in the museum

In front of the area reserved for royalty, that's as close as they'd let us non-royals get.

The ring just begging us to run around on it

This beautiful chapel is located right before the matador enters the primary door to the ring. It's the matadors time to say his prayers.

Here is the "Puerta Principle" the principle or main door to enter the ring. We tried to lose our guide so we could sneak in the ring but she was watching us too close.

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Posted by Steve on January 9, 2012 in Spain

Jamon, Jamon and more Jamon – Spain

07 Jan

Author: Steve

It is uncanny the amount of ham that is not only eaten but displayed in this country. It is truly a religious icon of staggering power. To not eat ham in this country I believe would be social suicide. Spaniards are the largest consumers of ham in the world, it’s estimated that each Spaniard eats about 5 kilo’s of cured ham per year, that’s over 11 pounds! The last few days as we went out for tapa’s I imagined myself with my head face down on the table raising my hand in the air mumbling, “no más jamon, no más jamon”. I definitely appreciate the intense curing process involved, the many different types of ham and how differently the livestock is fed. Most of it is really great tasting, in fact I’ve read that Spain’s ham is some of the best and nutritious in the world . . . but every meal?

In any case I researched what the great fascination is between this country and it’s ham and sure enough, it dates back to some religious origins. The history of ham dates back as far as 1300 B.C. when the Celts arrived in what is now Spain and ham was so important to their survival that they had granite statues of pigs made and used as territorial markers and tombstones. The Muslims ruled Spain between 711 A.D. and 1492 and in the Quran it is strictly forbidden to consume pigs. However, when the Christians regained control of the region and kicked out the Jews and Moors, it was again popular and symbolic to eat pork to display openly that you were not a Jew or a Moor. It was another way for the Spanish Inquisition to monitor who was not converted to Christianity because they refused to eat pork. If the convertor did eat pork they sometimes still didn’t believe you really converted and you were arrested for questioning and many times worse. This is a symbol of cultural strength, defiance and fortitude over hundreds of years and so proudly displayed throughout the streets of Spain. So basically some five-hundred years later and Spain is still shoveling down ham like there’s no tomorrow.

Jamon

and more Jamon

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Posted by Steve on January 7, 2012 in Spain

Calle de San Jacinto – Triana

04 Jan

Author: Steve

As I’ve mentioned before in past blogs, our street, Calle de San Jacinto, is a very active pedestrian location. A couple Friday’s ago we were heading out the door to catch a bus for a day trip to Jerez and as luck would have it they were putting up a stage in the middle of Calle de San Jacinto for a flamenco show. We decided to forgo the Jerez trip and do it the next day so we could see the show. One of the main pastry shops was setting up a big table outside to sell some great pastries. After listening to the flamenco for a while we decided to buy a treat. I got in the semi-long line and right as I was about to ask for a cookie, a man (I believe he was the owner) comes out with a large pan of, what looked like custard with cookies crumbled on top. The crowd, all with lustful smiles, became slightly aggressive and I was pushed out of the way. Before the man started to spoon it out a news reporter came up with a cameraman to interview the owner regarding this desert. Needless to say I was quite curious as to why these people wanted that custard dish so bad. After doing my best to stand my ground I looked over at Amy and the kids, they were sitting and talking to a grandfather-type gentleman and they were all looking at me (laughing) with a euro in one hand and holding it straight out. Okay I guess that’s the trick, so I started holding my euro up high to get what I wanted. I got one for us to share and it was very good. We think it’s a warm flan, which made the dessert the texture of pudding, the gentleman Amy was talking to rubbed his large belly and said with a big smile, “it’s just a lot of sugar and flour”.

Keegan in front of the stage right before the performers came out. It would be hard to count how many times they had a stage on this street while we were there.

This was the first stand they put up . . . oh my gosh how they love their churros!! They even add additional stands throughout the city during the holidays. A favorite treat that we've seen is dipping their churro's in chocolate sauce.

Here's the cameraman and news reporter interviewing the owner with his dessert. I'm in the background after being pushed back. When the dessert was only half gone the owner would just grab a spoon full and eat from the pan, a quadruple dipper - true story.

Got my euro and ready to buy.

Another day we headed out I was very nervous for the safety of my family . . . the last few days prior to this they had been remodeling the facade of a building for a new bank a few doors down. As I walked out the door I looked up and saw 2 snipers on the roof in front of our apartment and there were people blocked off from the bank and that section of the street with police tape. Amy thought immediately that they were probably bringing money to the bank especially with all the police cars everywhere you looked. I told them to hold still I would go check it out. As I got to the line I saw a man walking out of the bank with his hands semi-raised and then I saw another man behind him. The man behind him had his jacket open and under his jacket you could clearly see a vest of EXPLOSIVES! All I’m thinking at this point is these people are crazy and my first thought was to yell to Amy and tell her to run and save the children. But as I looked around everyone was smiling. Well they were shooting a movie and the guy in front was the Director giving the explosives guy/actor direction. We stayed and watched for a while since we had never been so close to a filming like this in our lives. We got to see everything it was very interesting. We always felt we were walking on a movie set as we walked down our street and seems like we were.

Snipers on the roof.

The blocked off street used as a movie set.

School in Tomares – Spain

01 Jan

Author: Kendal

While in Sevilla we were able to experience a Spanish school in a town called Tomares. We went with our American friend Alex, who had invited us to some of his classes. At the school, all the kids are learning English. Keegan and I felt like we were celebrities because all the kids wanted to talk to us. They had me stand in front of one of the classrooms and give a small presentation about the trip that we are on. I had to use simple words though and talk a little slowly because they weren’t all very good English speakers yet. Some of them even asked questions about things like; what’s my favorite color, what do you like to do in your free time, and the most common one “do you like Justin Bieber?” Keegan went to a music class and was able to play an instrument (they played the Star Wars theme song). It was all very fun and most of the teachers there spoke some English so that was nice. The town was really cute, and since it was only a short bus ride away we went back during the weekend to watch a soccer game. The town had a special Christmas area with little rides and an ice rink (ok it wasn’t really ice more like hard plastic, we skated on it though). While there we ran into some of the kids from the school and we talked with them for a little while, hung out at the “ice” rink and went to a restaurant with them as well. One of the girl’s moms is American so she spoke perfect English with us; the girl’s grandma was also in town visiting from Virginia. I do miss my girl time with my friends so it was nice to “hang” with some girls and have some laughs. Special thanks to Alex and José Manuel for letting us visit their school.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!! Kendal

Here is the soccer game we went to in Tomares - I think they were a semi-pro team. It was fun because when Tomares would score the players would run and hug the little kids watching from the side of the field.