In Which We Visit Ajloun Castle and Tel Mar Elyas

Realizing that Susan's time in Jordan is drawing to a close, we've stepped up our "Castle Tour of Jordan" (I had no idea the Crusaders and Umayyid Caliphs were such prolific builders).  On yesterday's agenda was Ajloun Castle. 

On the way, we took a short break at a grocery store to confirm directions and buy snacks. The owner's wife and mother waylaid me and, after confirming I was "USA" asked: "Obama...why?" in tones of deep anguish and disgust. I wanted to answer "Because of Bush" but wasn't sure I was up for a deep philosophical and political discussion.  So, onward and upwards we went.

Ajloun Castle was built by Saladin's less famous nephew Izz al-Din Usama as a counter to the Crusader castles in Karak, in southern Jordan, and Belvoir, in the Galilee.  It overlooks and protects the three main wadis connecting the Jordan River Valley to northern Jordan and Syria. 

I was expecting more of the same broken-down castles we saw spread throughout the eastern desert but Ajlun surprised me. Huge and relatively intact, I could easily imagine coming around a corner to find a bunch of soldiers readying a pot of hot oil and stacking up the cannon-balls, ready to beat back Crusaders.

would hate to be roaming these halls at night

he is a pretty saintly baby...

cannon balls

the upper floors were in various stages of intactness

Jordan River Valley

Since it was in the area, we also stopped at Tel Mar Elias, the site of Tishbe, the hometown of the prophet Elijah. There are the remains of a large and a little church there with some fairly intact mosaics. 

chevron is so hot right now

baptismal font

Crew is clearly absorbing it all... 

There is also a tree with ribbons (and kleenexes and plastic bags) tied all over it.  Neither guidebook could give an adequate explanation for why these were tied into the tree - perhaps the Jordanian equivalent of tie-ing the yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree? Or maybe they just couldn't find a trash can and were more conscientious about the dangers of littering than the rest of Jordan?

In Which We Spend 24 Hours in Jerusalem

I skipped work Thursday and went with some good friends over to Jerusalem. Our missions for the trip were as follows: 1. Walk around the Dome of the Rock; and 2. Eat delicious, delicious french toast.

We arrived in Jerusalem and, after a quick stop for schwarma, headed into the Old City towards the Temple Mount aka Haram Ash-Sharif. Much to my embarrassment, I got us lost trying to take a shortcut through the Jewish Quarter. After a short, very hot, wait in line (punctuated by a Magnum Bar break), we finally got onto the complex.

gonna miss this lady

and these urchins

who have posing down to an art

With our first mission accomplished, we were able to focus on the important things. Shopping and eating! We had delicious pizza for dinner and spent way too much money on Ben Yehuda Street. 

After a sleepover that involved a pillow fight and watching VH1 music videos (they actually still show them here!), we got up Friday morning and accomplished mission number two. We were too busy eating delicious french toast to take any pictures. Priorities, people.

I am currently experiencing the sad part of Embassy summers - when everyone leaves and moves on to new posts and you're left behind. I will dearly miss these friends...

Huy and Home

On our last day, we retraced some of my Dad's mission haunts in Huy, Belgium, where we walked around the Grand Place, Cathedral and almost bought a fedora. We tried, and failed, to find his old house...sadly "at the bottom of the hill above a butcher shop" was not descriptive enough after a 30 year gap.

One of the biggest draws of Huy was the "fun"-icular, which lured us with promises of fun-times. Sadly, it was out of commission after a tragic accident involving a helicopter and the funicular wires. So we took pictures of clover and of our disappointment at missing out on the funicular ride.

Then it was off to the airport. After we dropped Rachel and the rental car off, Susan and I had a few hours to kill. Which was good because we also had three bottles of water and a bottle of Diet Coke to kill, before we could go through security (I couldn't bring myself to throw it away since it cost a pretty Euro). 

Since Susan was "full", it was down to me to finish it all off.  When I opened the last bottle of water, and final bottle of liquid, I was dismayed to discover it was sparkling water, which I detest. Hoping to make it slightly more palatable, I added grape gatorade powder. And it immediately exploded into a volcano of foamy water ($10 to whomever can explain the chemistry behind that one!). Luckily, my cat-like speed and reflexes prevented it from getting me all wet and eventually what remained of the water calmed down long enough for me to finish it off.

A Little More Bruges and a Little Brussels

Yesterday, we made it to the Belfry one minute late and to the Church of Our Lady four minutes late and were denied admission to each.  So, we delayed our departure from Bruges long enough to have another round of waffles and then work off the calories walking up the Belfry and around the church.

We drove from Bruges to Brussels for a quick stop into the Grand Place (the jewel of Europe's main squares) and a view of the Mannekin Pis. We also stopped into the Church of St.'s Michael and Gudule which was massive and impressive. And made a great backdrop for some mock umbrella fighting.

felt a bit like we were having an elaborately carved building face-off

I'm sure there's a switchblade hidden somewhere in all this carving

his mustache seriously needed some pulling

adorably jaunty

umbrella fight!

best use of a thesaurus ever

Bruges and De Haan

We woke up in Bruges to grey rain clouds contrasting with orange roofs. Luckily, we only actually got rained on once throughout the day, although the 60 degree weather felt quite chilly after the 90+ days we've been having in Amman.

We packed in a full day of windmills, churches, town squares, waffles, canals, window shopping, museums and chocolate. Obviously, the chocolate and waffles were the highlight (especially the waffles with chocolate). But in general, Bruges was surprisingly charming and endearing. Sometimes I feel like every European city is the same, with a Cathedral, Town Hall and Square, giant Clock and cobblestone streets. But Bruges surprised me and made me wish we didn't have to move on.

view from our window

one of many, many beautiful canals

a platform "where lovers met" (according to the boat guide)

questionable items for sale at the flea market

Church of Our Lady

the cutest of the Four Horsemen

Rachel's favorite kind of dog...

And Susan's favorite kind of troll

wish our daisies would grow like this

mmmmmmmmmmm.....

entrapment

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

one of four windmills left

what I imagine is inside the mouths of swans

quite possible true with this one, particularly nasty, swan

After 6 p.m., everything in Bruges had shut down. Since the sun didn't set until 11 p.m., we decided to drive out to De Haan, on the coast.  It was surprisingly cold, down to about 40 degrees, which led to the use of head scarves which then led to a rendition of "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof. We watched the sunset and then headed back into town, to sleep and prepare for our next Belgian Adventure.

"Find me a Match of myyyy Own"

a little bored waiting for the sunset

sunset...definitely worth the cold...maybe?