Jordan/Israel/London 2010

Vito stayed home while I visited the Holy Land with my father, in celebration of his one year survival over cancer!  We traveled with Gate 1 (email us for recommendations and for a discount code for this tour operator, and scroll to the bottom of this page for a list of tour operators) but also had a few days on our own in Amman and Jerusalem, and I had a little time in London on my own.

Overall impressions:  Jordan is very safe and friendly.  I had read, and Jordanians told me, that there is almost no theft and you can freely walk around with money in your pockets.  English was widely spoken, and the people were kind and helpful.  As a woman I felt a little self-conscious at times without a head scarf, but I was otherwise very modestly dressed and therefore didn’t get any second looks.  We felt welcomed everwhere we went, and I thought people were eager to make our trip enjoyable.  At the time of travel the exchange was about $1=1.41 JD.

While I expected to see a lot of security in Israel, it was more or less just like traveling anywhere.  Though sometimes it’s difficult to deal with Hebrew signs, most things are translated into English, and English is spoken everywhere.

It is amusing to see what I call “double sites.”  These are places of Biblical significance but where the exact location is unknown, so you may find these sites in more than one place.  Rachel’s Tomb is in the Galilee area but also near Bethlehem.  The site of Christ’s baptism is on the River Jordan in Israel, and in Jordan, too.  There is a tomb of the Virgin Mary, but I’m pretty sure we saw that in Turkey.

Speaking of Mary, I’m a little curious why no one has really decided to cash in on her image.  Gift shops sell every manner of trinket and doodad to make a buck, like little vials of dirt from the Holy Land (which someone had brought back to my grandmother 40 years ago and which I always wanted to crack open) and bottles of water from the Jordan.  So given that Israel produces a lot of olive oil, wouldn’t “Extra Virgin” Olive Oil with Mary’s face on it seem like an obvious marketing ploy?  Never seen it, though.

I also noted that Diet 7-up seemed to be widely available at restaurants/cafes in Israel.  I’ve never like cola and was always wishful for the availability of Diet 7-up or similar back in the days when I still drank soda (but I didn’t order it).

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20 February

A morning in London with time to head on the Piccadilly Line over to S. Kensington with a stop for my favorite Muller Crunch Corner yogurt at Waitrose and Gloucester Rd. Tube and then a walk over to the V & A Museum.  Also popped into a slightly upscale thrift shop across the street (on Cromwell Rd.) where I picked up a book to replace the one I forgot on the plane.

The Victoria and Albert new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries are excellent.  I enjoyed the comfy benches with listening stations playing Gregorian chants and other recorded information.

On time arrival in Jordan but ridiculously long line to get the visa (I was told it was much worse than normal).  The visa fee must be paid in Jordanian dinar, but there is a Foreign Exchange counter with reasonable rates in the same hall.  They also take a photo of you (which you’ll never see).  Luckily my driver was still waiting for me, but by the time I got to the hotel it was almost 1 in the morning.  I was really glad I didn’t book him to come back too early the following morning.  The Meridien Hotel is nice, but they claim to not offer any Gold status upgrades or perks (I later find out from our tour group that others did get upgraded – argh).

21 February

At the recommendation of someone on the TripAdvisor Jordan forum, I hired a driver for a couple of days and for the airport runs.  I organized the trip through Sami, the owner of VIP Services, and he sent his nephew Nidal Badawi to work with us.

 

Decent hotel breakfast, 13 JD including tax and service.  Ahmad, the Asst. Manager, came to check on me and then brought me a variety of fresh juices.  Nice personal touch (then he brought them to me every morning, and I was a bit water logged since I had a little of each, not wanting to offend).

Nidal picked me up at 11 am, and we drove straight to Ma’in Hot Springs.  Stopped at a tourist shop but I told him that since this is a private tour let’s not waste everyone’s time when I can guaranty that I won’t buy a thing.

Not much to see along the way, but quite a few Kurdish refugee camps.  Kids playing outside when they probably ought to be in school.  Passed some large wedding banquet halls and a lot of buildings that look to be relatively recent construction.  Rocky road to the springs, and Nidal said they keep pushing the same dirt and gravel around and never properly finish the road.

Descending the hot springs there’s a slight smell of sulfur, but I really didn’t smell it while in the water nor on my skin later.  I had brought a pair of Vito’s swim trunks and a t-shirt to bathe in, but since there were other foreign women there with bikinis I figured my one piece would do just fine.  No Jordanian women – young or old – go in the water.  I found a shady spot and enjoyed the hot soak.  The waterfalls felt great on my back and shoulders, but it felt like they were going to knock out my contact lenses from behind, so I didn’t stay long underneath.  Perfect water temperature.  The dressing room wasn’t too clean and had no shower, so I had to kind of do a messy clean up in the sink.

Is it worth a trip?  Yes, if you love hot springs like I do, or if it’s otherwise on your path to visit some neighboring sites (like Madaba).  There are no towel rentals and only a small shop with few supplies, so you need to bring all your supplies, including flip flops.  Back in Amman we stopped at a local shawarma stand for a delicious snack.  Took a nap at the hotel before heading to pick up Dad at the airport.  UN vehicles and security all over — turns out the President of Tanzania is in town, and staying at our hotel!

Ate a weird but somewhat tasty cauliflower, eggplant and cheese sandwich at the airport.  Now I know what they use all the cauliflower for that I saw trucks selling on the side of the road.  It’s very yellow and not as dense as American white cauliflower, and tastes a lot better, too.

22 Feb.

Desert Castles day – 1^st stop at Qasr Harraneh reminded me of the caravanserai we saw in Turkey.  2^nd stop at Qusayr Amra,  small but more interesting because its many interior frescoes are still intact (though mostly in a state of ruin).  The Rough Guide made an attempt to chart them out, but it was very hard to follow.

Kebab sandwich stop in the town of Azraq. 1.5 JD, fair price.  The town is just one street with a few ordinary shops and eateries.  Qasr Azraq is the largest and most impressive of the 3 “castles” we saw.  Lawrence of Arabia made his headquarters there in 1917.  Some scenes from the Peter O’Toole movie were filmed in Jordan, but I could not get through the four hours of it, no matter how hard I tried!  Just 1 JD buys admission to all 3 sites.  I worry that some of the old petroglyphic stones just laying around inside Qasr Azraq are not being well preserved and are vulnerable to theft or damage.

Most shocking thing is that the bathroom at Qasr Azraq was co-ed!  You can’t pray together, but you can pee together I guess.

We walked around a shopping district near the hotel.  Nothing interesting, but a nice man at a nut shop gave us some chocolate from Dubai, and a small bakery supplied us with some flatbread with a salty cheese and zatar (mixed spice).  Bought a sour fresh squeezed OJ and dumped it.

Ate dinner at Enzo, the Italian restaurant in the hotel.  We were curious about the “Spanish raviolle” advertised on the specials board.  It was actually “spinach,” and we suggested they change the spelling, which they changed to “spinash,” but we figured that clarified things a bit.  They were actually delicious.  Despite being in the hotel dinner cost us only a little more than $20.

23 Feb.

Got suckered into taking a fixed rate cab since he quoted me 5 JD, which is what the hotel concierge said the ride would cost (later I found out, on the return ride, that the meter rate was ½ that).

Started the morning at Darat al Funun Arts Center.  As Rough Guide said, the hilltop Jebel Al Lweibdeh hilltop neighborhood is tranquil with great city views.  The center itself is tiny with only a few pieces in the exhibition.  Makan Arts Center also had nice views but no exhibits at all.  As we descended back into the main city we walked through a furniture making area, and it was interesting to see people going about their work days.

Walked along King Faisal Street, the main shopping area.  A young man working at a perfume stand was wearing a Cal shirt and was happy to pose for a photo.  He kindly directed us to the gold souk.  He gave me his business card, but it’s 100% in Arabic, so I can’t make out the name of the shop or the address, unfortunately.  I went to “Hreish” stop inside the souk, and in 20 minutes they repaired my broken gold chain for 4 JD.  They were friendly and gave us good directions to get to Rainbow Street, a long uphill climb.  Bought some loose teas from Mamoun Kabatilo.  Expensive, and after getting home I realized the quantity was rather tiny for the high price.  Normally I would buy from a supermarket, but I didn’t see one.

Rainbow Street is a nice area, and we stopped for lunch at a Shawermize It, a modern and very clean place.  Dare I say it might be non-smoking (no ashtrays, no smell, but no one else eating)?!  We had a double chicken sandwich for JD 1.30, including the tax.  Desert was a Maltesers flavor ice cream at Gerarde gelateria.  Good, but I should have had the “Arabic” flavor, creamy with pistachio.  One scoop in a waffle type cone=JD 1.20.

Back down the hill we never quite found the fruit market on the map nor the Church of the Saviour, but we did come to the ruins of the Nymphaeum (a Roman site) and its neighboring Souk Sukkr market.  The vendors are all shouting out, and it’s fun.  We bought some plump, juicy dates that were cold and very delicious.  The young Egyptian man wouldn’t take my money.  I went back and bought a fancy little box of fruit for 1JD, thinking they’d be something exotic, but they were just tasteless baby pears.

We walked to the Roman Theatre, which was a good move since later our group tour skipped it since we were running late on time.  Hailing a taxi took a little while, but we finally got one and the driver was treated to Dad’s lecture on the dangers of cigarettes, of which the young man understood maybe 20% (perhaps considerably less than that since he offered Dad one).   With tip the drive was 2JD (1.30 without).

24 Feb.

Ahmad our egg and omelette maker is a sweetheart and makes our morning bright!  Our guide Majdi Saleem is giving us the perfect amount of information.

Petra is AMAZING and so much larger than I expected.  The Treasury (Al Khazneh) is famous from Indiana Jones and photos, but there is so much more.  If we’d had more time I would have climbed the 800 steps to the monastery, but as it was we walked more than 4 hours.

Traded JD for Euros with some little vendor kids and bought a few necklaces for my nieces from some cute girls who told the guide, “These people look like they want to buy from me!”  I spent about $7 for 3 necklaces, money well spent for the satisfaction of letting the girls make the sale.

Souvenirs inside Petra offer the best selection and lowest prices we saw anywhere in Jordan, very often by half.  Dollars, Euros, Dinars all accepted.

25 Feb.

Mt. Nebo is the area of the burial site of Moses. Most of the mosaic floors were under restoration.  Afternoon to Madaba but not nearly enough time to explore.  We only saw the Greek Orthodox Church with the famed mosaic floor of the Holy Land. We missed the Virgin Mary Church and archaeological area, which would have been a better use of our time than spending so much time at the one mosaic and a useless shopping stop.

Grabbed a falafel for just 25 piasters at a busy, local shop.  Like in Italy you must pay first and get a receipt to give to the guy who makes it, but then you have to go back to the cashier to pay.  Made no sense, but the locals didn’t seem bothered.  They cut the pita so it has 4 pockets, and they put French fries in one, tomato-cucumber salad in another, and falafel with hummus in the other two – I skipped the fries and tomato.  Really, really good.

Dinner in Amman at Kan Zaman, which had good reviews online.  However, it was most definitely not worth $35 per person.  I didn’t see any artisans or vendors, and it was too rainy to see the view.  The place  does have a lot of atmosphere, but the food is very mediocre and the man playing annoying instrumental music was not entertaining.

26 Feb.

On Fridays you have to make it to the Allenby Bridge to cross into Israel before they close the border for Shabbat at 11:30.  A slow, but understandable, procedure on both sides.  Heavy rain, but we made it to Tel Aviv before the Carmel Market closed.  It was very lively, and we enjoyed seeing the jumbo pomegranates, carrots, and peppers, but didn’t enjoy the high prices which kept us from buying much of anything.

No trouble getting money from the ATM though there was a long line.    I only took out about $150, which lasted the whole trip since we were able to use credit cards at restaurants and dollars for a few other things (and our admission prices and transportation, except a few cabs in Jerusalem, were included in our tour price).

27 Feb.

Huge Israeli breakfast.  Lots of fish, good selection of cheeses, but disappointingly stingy on fresh fruit.  Did not like the eggs soaked in tea leaves.  Took a Bauhaus architecture free tour offered by the city from Rothschild Blvd.  If anyone says Tel Aviv is the “Paris of the Middle East” then surely it’s because its streets are paved with dog shit (and we saw Superman, a kid in Purim costume, step right smack in some).

The Galle glass exhibit we wanted to see at the Helena Rubenstein Pavilion (one of very few free things to see in the city) was closed because the roof had leaked from all the rain.  Later walked down Bialik Street and enjoyed all the kids in the Purim costumes.  Bialik St. has quite a few arts centers.

Took an Olympics watching break at the hotel and then walked to Jaffa, which is very enjoyable to walk around.  Its old buildings and stone streets are a pleasant contrast to the modern city of Tel Aviv.  No WiFi spots or Internet Cafes to be found anywhere.

28 Feb.

As often happens on my birthday, heavy rain and winds.  Caesarea is fascinating, and I was ashamed to not previously have known anything about this site and its history with King Herod.

Overview of the Ba’hai Gardens in Haifa on our way north, but the recognizable gold dome was covered up since it is being restored.  Stop at a Druze village, but I went off on my own from the bus and had a cheaper, better lunch, though still very overpriced (I can get a falafel on the streets of NYC for less than here, at about $5.50).

Nazareth Church of the Annunciation was built in 1969 over the remains of past churches.  The best thing there are the mosaic representations of Our Lady from around the world and the little St. Joseph’s Church and its grotto, where a pilgrimage group was holding a mass.

Did not like dinner at Kfar Blum kibbutz.  Not at all, and my dairy free chocolate birthday cake would have been a lot better a la mode.  Note that dairy free dinner also means no butter or cheese, and as my friends know, a world without cheese is a world I would rather not live in (a world without real butter isn’t so grand either).

1 March

Day of leisure on the kibbutz.  We walked the Jordan River Promenade and enjoyed the pleasant weather.

Wandered down the road a bit and discovered Thai Village, which is a big summer resort with rafts and kayaks and a Thai restaurant.  Really, really random and can’t imagine that Thais (for whom this is not the holy land) would come here for nature?!  A Thai friend now informs me that they are legendary for building water parks, so go figure!   Relaxed in the room and did Internet stuff since there’s free WiFi.

2 March

Capernaeum archaeological site is thought to be the home of St. Peter and is mentioned in Matthew 4:13.  It was the base of the Galilean ministry.  Now there’s  a modern octagonal church built over the ruins but done beautifully with views from all sides.

Stop at Yardenit, the baptism site of Christ (not to be confused with the one in the north of Jordan).  One gigantic tourist trap that was totally non-spiritual nor inspirational to me.  Not to be outdone with a waste of time stop at a diamond cutting center.  Aggravating how much of the day was wasted at Yardenit and the diamond shop when there were other sites in the area.

Beit She’an National Park is fascinating.  Ruins are all starting to look alike, though.

Night in Jerusalem.  Our beds at the Mt. Zion are so tiny that Dad rolled over and fell out one night.  The shower is crazy though at first you become optimistic that it will not wet the whole bathroom.  It didn’t leak, but since it’s flush to the floor the water gets dragged along the tile with the rubber sweep when the door opens (it keeps the water out during the shower, but then pulls it out later).  So now we can add the Middle East to the list of world regions that can’t figure out showers (Europe and Latin America atop that list).

Jerusalem isn’t too conducive to walking, but we did go to German Colony neighborhood and have a good Italian dinner at Luciana.

3 March

Thought the sinks outside the hotel dining room were to wash your sticky hands after squeezing your own OJ, but they are actually for Orthodox people to wash their hands.  Jerusalem traffic is like L.A.  Western (Wailing) Wall has separate areas for men and women.  The men’s side is where all the action is with a rabbi and his students chanting.  The bowing/rocking to and fro is meant to get the people into a state of exultation and to catapult their prayers up to God.

Not much visible security.  I thought we’d see people with guns all over the place.  Walked parts of the Via Dolorosa and some of the Stations of the Cross.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre was very crowded with pilgrimage groups.  It’s rather dark inside, and it’s chaotic in the way that different Christian denominations control different portions of the church.

A small subgroup of our tour went to Bethlehem in the afternoon.  Since the city is in Palestinian territory, our Israeli coach and guide can’t go in so they arrange for transportation on the other side.  Our guide was Gabriela, a Romanian student at the local Bible college.  Dad flirted with her and told her about our trip to Romania and drinking palinka (a fruit brandy) at the home of an Orthodox priest.  She’s been living in Bethlehem since 1994, which I simply cannot imagine.  We passed a café called “Star and Bucks” with a round green logo.  Guess Starbucks really can’t be bothered to sue them.

Church of the Nativity is also divided between different denominations.  Orthodox “control” the spot of Christ’s birth, marked by a star on the ground, while Catholics control the manger spot just a few feet away.  We also saw the cave where St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin.  We had to scurry away because a Polish pilgrim group was preparing for mass there.

After the tour we were taken to a gift shop owned by Christians (who make up 25% of the population of Bethlehem).  One of their vans took us back to Jerusalem, but the driver attempted to use a less crowded checkpoint and we were denied exit.  Arguing with the arrogant young guards with Uzis draped over their shoulders did nothing to convince them to let us pass.  We ended up taking a scenic route through who knows where.  I feared we might be taken into the hills and gunned down.  I began to silently curse the decision to leave my cell phone in the hotel (the only time I did so on the whole trip) so I couldn’t make a farewell call to my husband.  My only hope that we’d make it was that I did keep seeing road signs pointing to Jerusalem.  Nearly an hour later we were back in our hotel – it had only taken us about 10 minutes to get to Bethlehem in the first place.

We had an evening tour of the illuminated city, which wasn’t really all that except that at night the mosaic façade of the Gesthemane Church is beautifully lit up at night, and the evening calm at the Western Wall is interesting.  Dinner at Olive & Fish was a relief in that it was not a buffet and was pretty decent.  Our group wine expert (who worked for Gallo in CA) rated the Israeli wine a 2 out of 5 (he did say that it’s not for lack of trying, but the climate just isn’t conducive to producing good quality wines).

4 March

Departure for Masada at 7 a.m., but I’m glad we left early because the site does get very crowded.  When you are about to ascend a steep mountain in a cable car, it is not very reassuring to see a notice that in 2 days’ time it will be closed for repair and maintenance.

There is a synagogue at the top of the site, and a Canadian boy was having his Bar Mitvah.  There is also a Torah scribe working up there, and it was interesting to learn about all the work that goes into doing that work.  After 2 weeks of ruins it was difficult to muster up any enthusiasm for more.  My ears and brain reached the point of no return, and the only information I managed to retain was that there had been a mass suicide up there and that most of the bodies were never found.

A trip highlight for me was the Dead Sea.  I’m a water gal (Pisces and all, as my cousin reminds me), so floating in the sea was great.  The water wasn’t very calm, though (probably due to heavy rains earlier in the week), and I was nervous about water splashing into my eyes.  One drop did get in past my sunglasses, and that felt BAD.  The slimy mud felt good underfoot.  At first the water seemed cold, but it was hot out and soon it felt just wonderful.

The dressing area at the public beach is very communal with no privacy whatsoever.  So someone planning to visit who has any sense of modesty should bring a long t-shirt or cover up so that a bathing suit can be taken on and off underneath.  They rent towels there for about $3, but I had brought an old, frayed towel from home as well as an old bathing suit losing its elastic, and I just threw them both away when I was done.  Coming out of the water my face started to sting as the water dried, and my legs (which had been waxed more than 2 weeks earlier) stung a bit, too.

Took another shower at the hotel before going back to German Colony for dinner.   After walking the whole length of the main street we ended up back at Luciana, using a 10% off coupon from our “Jerusalem Coupons” booklet from the hotel.  Even then $30 for a small pizza and a very large soup was expensive, though all good.  They added slivered almonds to the pizza, which was a new concept that added a nice crunch.

5 March

 
Taxi to Yad Vashem, and we contracted him to pick us up later and to also take us to the airport.  50 NIS for the ride.  Yad Vashem is very large and impressive.  The Children’s Memorial is moving, all candlelit with the names and ages of victims being read aloud.  The Museum is huge with many detailed exhibits.  You could easily spend a whole day there.  The Art Museum is small but good.

Taxi to Jaffa Gate to explore the Old City again. This time I was able to get in a much shorter line than before to go inside the Calvary shrine. (site of the crucifixion).

6 March

Not sure why Israeli hotels do not have “Do Not Disturb” signs.  We were awakened to see if we needed fresh towels, which was extra annoying given our 2 am wake-up call to get ready to leave for the airport.  My backpack was swabbed pocket by pocket for explosives, which took ages and made a mess of everything, but I didn’t mind.

Nightmarish arrival to London with Piccadilly Line works and substitute buses, and then some kind of nutty protest near Hyde Park so I had to walk a ways off the bus (I love to walk, but not with luggage).  Somewhere in all the changes I dropped my jacket, so I was really cold that night.  Nice upgraded room at the Sheraton Park Lane, though, and I was able to rest a little.  It was exciting to take a shower where the floor didn’t end up wet and to roll around on the gigantic king sized bed just because I could do it.

Pleasant walk down Piccadilly and resisting the temptations of Laduree and Fortnum & Mason and many others.  Chinatown stroll was enjoyable just to sniff different food.  The National Gallery has a painting of Charles I that was badly damaged by shrapnel during WWII and is only now being restored.  They are documenting the restoration process.

Met a friend in the Café in the Crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Fields for tea and then an old friend for dinner at Busaba Eat Thai, which is starting to replace Wagamama as a London budget favorite (my friend Mandy would like to clarify that we are not “old,” just that we’ve been friends for almost 30 years).  What a rush to eat Thai after 2 weeks in the Middle East!

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