The Retired Shows: JORDAN!

February 24 - 25 Raleigh, NC for the Duke v Virginia Tech bb game

Sunday, February 26 and Monday, February 27

Flight schedule: 1:51 Raleigh to Newark, NY. We had about a four hour lay over there. 7:30 pm - 7 1/2 hour flight to Frankfurt, Business Class! Arrived Monday at 9:10 am German time. and then six hour lay over which was spent in the Club. 3:10 pm Frankfurt to Amman, Jordan which was a four hour flight. With time change again, it was 9:20 when we arrived. Coach Nino picked us up and took us to the Saray Hotel in Amman. BEDTIME!

Saray Hotel in Amman, Jordan

Tuesday, Feb. 28

We slept in and then had breakfast at the hotel which was a big tray including cereal, hummus, bread, tomatoes/cucumbers, skillet with an egg omelette, cheese, yogurt, sweet bread.

Don had a coaching meeting, then six of us went out for a late lunch. Lunch was ordered by one of the locals and was Jordanian foods. It was a tapas type lunch where we tried over a dozen types of foods. Foods: raw beef with garlic sauces, fruit & parsley salad, lettuce salad, egg plant, beet salad, plate of olives, peppers, pickles, bread & hummus, meat stuffed fried balls, meat with potato on top, flam type dessert with honey, and a lemon/mint smoothie.

Mo with Don at the restaurant.

After the LONG late lunch we headed back to the hotel and had an early bedtime.

Wednesday, March 1: All day trip to Umm Qais and Jarash

We hired a car and driver to take us to Umm Qais and Jarash.

Umm Qais

Umm Qais is in the NW corner of Jordan and was about a two hour drive. This ancient town of Gadara was ruled by a series of powerful nations. From 63 BC the Romans transformed it into one of the great cities of the Decopolis. We explored the ruins and the vantage point with views of Jordan, Syria, Israel, Palestinians territories and the Sea of Galilee. According to the Bible this is where Jesus cast the demons out of the two men into a herd of pigs who went over the cliff.

Ruins of Umm Qais

Ruins of the West Theater

Look out point over the countries & Sea of Galilee

Colonnaded main road

Jerash

The ruins of Jerash are one of Jordan's major attractions. It is remarkably well preserved Roman provincial city. 333 BC it was settled during the reign of Alexander the Great. Jerash was largely a Roman creation. It became a city of the Decapolis (Roman commercial cities).

HIGHLIGHTS:

We entered the ruins through Hadrian's Arch constructed in 129.

The Hippodrome was next - the ancient sports field.

The Temple of Artemis 11/12 of the columns still stand.

Forum: oval shaped plaza with columns, was used as a market place during Roman times

Cardio Maximus - colonnaded road built in the first century and 500 columns once lined.

South Theater: Once for 5000 people. Well preserved decorated stage.

Temples of Zeus -

N. Theater - used for government meetings

Hadrian's Arch

Hippodrome

Temple of Artemis

Forum

The South Theater

Temple of Zeus

Don had meetings when we returned to Amman. Then we went across the highway to the rooftop restaurant for "pizza". My flatbread was with mixed cheese and Don had beef.

Thursday, March 2 - Ruins of Downtown Amman

We had a morning before camp to see the Roman ruins of Amman.

The Citadel

We took an Uber to the Citadel which sits on the highest hill in Amman. It is the site of an ancient city occupied since the Bronze Age. It was surrounded by a wall. The Temple of Hercules was built around 161 AD . It was spectacular on the hill. The Umayyad Palace was built in 720 AD but was destroyed in the 749 earthquake. The first approach to the palace area was a formed audience hall. This hall leads to the residential area by a colonnade street. The Byzantine Basilica was mostly destroyed by the earthquake.

Temple of Hercules

Domed entrance to the Umayyad Palace

Ruins of the Umayyad Palace

The Roman Theater

We then took an Uber to the Roman Theater, an engineering precision of Amman's most spectacular ancient monument. The theater is cut into the side of a hill with seating of 6000. It was built 138-61 BC with three tiers. We climbed (crawled) to the top! STEEP and SCARY.

View of the theater from the Citadel

From the TOP!

Camp for the afternoon and evening.

Friday & Saturday, March 3 & 4: Camp and Coaching Clinic

Sunday, March 5 - Trip to the Dead Sea

A driver picked us up at 9:00 at the Saray Hotel for a trip to the Dead Sea for a few nights. I planned three stops on the way - Mt. Nebo, Madaba, and Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan.

MT NEBO

Mt. Nebo is where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land, a land he was forbidden to enter. It's believed that he died and later buried in the area.

Highlights: Memorial Viewpoint which gives a view of the Promised Land of ancient Finland, Judah, Jericho, the Negev

Serpent Statue symbolizing the serpent Moses lifted up in the desert.

Moses Memorial Church was built around the 4th century and has some of the best and most preserved mosaics in Jordan dating from around 530.

2nd Stop - Madaba

Madaba is best known for a collection of Byzantine era mosaics. We stopped at the Church of the Apostles. It was an insignificant looking church but contains a remarkable mosaic dedicated to the 12 Apostles created in 568. In the center is Thalassa, a female personification of the sea, surrounded by fish and marine creatures. Native animals, birds, flowers, fruits, and cherubic faces decorate the corners.

3rd stop - Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan

The Jordan River area where John the Baptist lived and preached. We saw where he baptized Jesus and this is where the five apostles met, and whereby the early Christian faith was laid. We took a one hour tour to see the site of Jesus baptism where steps lead down to the original water level and went to the bigger area of the Jordan River. Across from our Jordan side we saw baptisms taking place on the Israel side.

Back in the car we drove to our final destination today - The Dead Sea Mariott Spa. We were upgraded to a beautiful suite with a balcony looking over the three pools and the Dead Sea. We walked around the resort until our suite was ready. Once we got to our room, we quickly changed into swim wear and went back to the Dead Sea for "swimming" and mudding.

We headed to the spa to use the pool and hot tub. We ate dinner at the Italian restaurant. We shared a salad, Don had spaghetti and I had sea bass and lobster risotto.

Monday, March 6 - Dead Sea

At 408 m below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. After a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel we went down to the beach for another go at "swimming" and mud bathings. After that fun experience we headed to one of the pools for the afternoon. We had a couples massage and used the spa hot tub.

Breakfast on the restaurant balcony

Tuesday, March 7 - to Petra

After breakfast at the hotel our driver and car picked us up to Petra. Using the Dead Sea Highway we had an interesting several hour drive. It was the most clear day that we've had so we could see across the Dead Sea as we drove along side it. We drove by vegetable farms with roadside stands, then desert, and then up and over the mountains. We checked in at the Petra Marriott and our drive came back at 3:00 to take us to the Petra Visitor Center so we could spend a few hours exploring Petra.

PETRA

Petra, the great ancient city that's half-hidden in the landscape in southern Jordan. It's one of the world's most treasured UNESCO Heritage sites and in 2007 it was voted into the "New seven wonders of the world".

Petra is linked with the Nabateans, the nomadic tribe from western Arabia who build most of the monuments in the Ancient City. The Nabateans arrived around 6th century BC and they were organized traders and over the next 500 years they used their wealth to build the city of Petra. The Roman cam through by 100 AD, but the earthquakes of 363 and 551 Petra became a "lost city". Rediscovered by a Swiss explorer in 1812.

Walking through the Siq (canyon)

First view of the Treasury

Another tomb

tombs carved in the hillside

The Theater

Back the way we came

Back at the hotel

Sunset over the hills

Wednesday, March 8 - Petra

Full Day Exploring the Ancient City, Petra. We put in 8.5 rugged miles!

Our driver took us to the back gate of Petra. We rode a shuttle to get closer, but still had an hour and an hour and half of walking. We rode mules to conquer some of the supposedly 800 stone steps up to the Monastery.

Herds of goats of the nomads

Nomad tents

The shuttle

Starting on the trail

We will go up that mountain.

Mule ride

The Monastery

Hidden high in the hills, the Monastery is similar in design to the Treasury but far bigger. It was built in the 3rd century BC as a Nabatean tomb.

Firat glimpse of the Monastery

Back down on the other side

Another 800 rugged stone steps

and miles to go

Qasr-al-Bint

It was the main and most important temple of Petra. 30 BC by Nabateans.

Great Temple and Colonnaded Main Street

A major Nabatean temple of the 1st century BC and the colonnaded street marking the center of the Ancient City.

Great Temple

The Royal Tombs

Some of the most impressive burial places in Petra.

The Theater

The Theater is carved into the side of the mountain, originally build by the Nabateans more than 2000 years ago. The Theater was chiseled out of the rock.

The Street of Facades

A row of monumental Nabatean tombs carved into the cliff.

the Treasury

It was a tomb for a Nabatean King Arteas III. The Treasury drives its name from the story that an Egyptian pharaoh his his treasure here while pursuing the Israelites.