Jordan Trip – Day 5

Mom and Dad woke up early to take a walk with Nicole around West Amman. They descended the hill on Al Khabila Street toward the Bedouin village and walked up and down all around the neighborhood. The trash was ubiquitous as it had been all week. 



A Bedouin with his huge flock of sheep walked right past them. 



By 9:30, Pete was ready and they headed out for a day in Amman. Sam hung out this day back at the house. First, Nicole traversed the busy city traffic through Rainbow Street, stopped briefly at the Sydney Hotel for a quick geocache hunt, and negotiated the twists and turns up the hill and narrow streets to the Citadel. They walked around the Citadel and museum for an hour or so. 





Mom and Nicole were mobbed by a group of schoolgirls wanting to talk to them and take their picture. 



Then they went down the steep winding hill and steps to the main drag in Amman. Pete and Dad got some sha warmas and brought them over to the outdoor café (Hashem) where Mom and Nicole were eating Falafel. 



After lunch, they walked through the shops and markets. Pete and Dad found a plate they liked, but Mom convinced them to wait and see what was in Madaba. The candy shop was a fun ordeal, where no less than three vendors came up with various prices for Pete's assorted bag of candy. Then some random guy showed up from thin air to collect the money from Pete and hand it to the cashier. Pete also bought a large lemon and pomegranate at the large produce market. The vendors sang out their wares at the various booths, including chants of “Half Dinar! Half Dinar!” at what Dad called the Jordanian dollar store. Dad saw a shop with nice Vans that upon closer inspection turned to actually be “Yans”. 



Mom and Nicole wound their way back up the hill to the car, while Dad and Pete scaled the Citadel wall, crossed a grassy field, and found a breach in the gate. They proved that the fortress was still a bit vulnerable to a creative and determined attack by international forces! After returning home, Mom and Nicole headed out to their Jordanian cooking class.

Meanwhile, Pete, Sam, and Dad went with Mr. Brad to pick up Nick at school and go over to the Royal Automobile Museum.



They finished up at the Taj Mall food court for dinner and dessert. Security at the mall was amusing – you walked through the metal detector, the alarm goes off, and then the guy waves his hand near you like he’s patting you down, and then you proceed into the mall. The Sbarro did not look too good, so Sam got Papa John’s while Pete got Popeye’s. Pete went with Nick to Pinkberry, and Sam to Haagen Dazs. Dad picked up his new Arabic Atari t-shirt, and it was time to head home.