Jordan - Jerash/ Gerasa 2008 Hadrians Arch

Okay, I know I am a year late in this doing this post...

Jerash was one of the 10 cities in the Roman Decapolis. I think I read that 6 of these 10 Cities were in Jordan. I was really surprised by how much history is in Jordan. A combination of my ignorance and a lack of marketing that Jordan could really do to encourage more tourism. I absolutely LOVED Jordan...and this and some future blogs will give you a taste of what I saw.

Hadrian's Arch...the REAL One

An Entertainer in the Amphetheater

The Amphetheater

Stairs -- They were designed so that every 7th step was a landing...so you rest on the seventh day.

This was the Temple where they sacrificed ..or honored..or whatever they did to the virgins

Visting Bogota - A final word

Do not go to Bogota unless you speak Spanish and can pass for being Colombian. Failing that, just wear a sign attached to your back that says
“Unemployed, Poor and My Country Doesn’t Negotiate."

It worked for me…JUST KIDDING.

Bogota was not what I expected- it was much nicer and much less third world than I anticipated. Granted, the Northern part of the city where my brother’s family lives is the “Georgetown” of Bogota. There are lots of fabulous restaurants serving all types of cuisine, a big shopping mall, and a strip with brand name designer stores. There was also an obvious police/military presence so I felt quite safe. However, given my brother’s warning I did not wander far off the main drag or into any other parts of the city by myself. There were a number of beautiful parks including one big one with a library and an art museum in it I didn’t get to see. According to wikipedia, the murder rate is lower in Bogota than in Philly! Now that is saying something! I guess the issue in Colombia is Americans may be targeted for political or fund raising activities.....but what do I know…I had spanish speaking, trained killers driving me around in an armored vehicle as my “hosts"

Thank you Mike and Chelle. I had a wonderful Christmas getting to spend time with you and the kids and being a part of your Colombian Adventure!

They have plenty of room so I recommend that EVERYONE go visit them. (Especially the ladies that want cheap, custom made leather boots!)

Obviously, I am not any sort of expert so don’t take my advice….read this New York Time Article about Bogota
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/travel/12bogota.html

Bogota: The Neighborhood

The pictures below are just a sample of a bunch I took walking around Mike and Chelle’s neighborhood.

This is their building.

Even though the country is 90% Catholic, they live near a very exclusive synagogue. (So exclusive, visiting Jews are not allowed to go to services there for security reasons). I probably found the only menorah in the country!

The architecture is diverse but not overly distinctive in this part of town, but there is a lot of brick. It is a pretty orange-reddish brick color with a terracotta tinge. Definitely, not the kind you see on a rainy day in Philly. But I digress….

The northern part of the city reminded me a bit of Barcelona with the green dividers down the middle of the main roads and lots of tiny green “patches” – little parks, canals, etc.

And finally, no trip to a foreign country is complete for me without at LEAST a picture of McDonald’s. Here’s the the drive through near the McCafe off of Parque 93

PS – I went to the Gold Museum which was awesome but no pictures – sorry!

Bogota -Andres: The Restaurant with Floss

Sunday we spent the day at this “restaurant” called Andres Carne De Res. Restaurant is not exactly the right word for this compound. For my NYC friends, Andres is sort of like a combination of Jekyll and Hydes (with weird, live, characters socializing with the patrons), Chucky Cheese (think LOTS of activities for kids), and as my brother Mike calls it, Sanford and Son (think Junkyard). Check out their URL

http://www.andrescarnederes.com/index.html










The “place” sits about 1000 or more people, is systematically decorated with junk, and has tons of activities for the kids. When you enter Andres, they put numbered wristbands around each kid that correspond to numbers on a band that one parent wears. That way, no kid can leave the “compound” without their appropriate parent. They have security checking you when you leave.

Somehow, as the only non-parent in our party, I got the “golden bracelet” and the kids could only leave with me. MIRACULOUSLY, the parents didn’t take advantage of the situation and leave me stranded with 4 kids. Once seated, they pin a name tag on each kid which also has the name of the table the kid is seated at. Then – all the kids go run off and play with all the organized and supervised activities (including but not limited to: face-painting, puppet shows, jewelry making, pizza making, word working, etc.) while the grownups eat, drink, and relax without worrying about their kids. We spent ALL DAY there!







Cuisine – well, they had yummy fresh fruit juices served in coconut shells and MEAT. The “main course” had 5 different types of meat. Below, my brother and I prepare to dig in.


My favorite part (and hopefully, the favorite of my friend Ginny, the dentist) was that the bathrooms are stocked with floss! After all that meat, you need it. I seriously flossed my teeth standing next to some guy who was doing the same!

The Weekend in Bogota

The Salt Catherdal
On Saturday, we went to the “Salt Catherdral of Zipaquira”. It’s an underground Church built into the salt mines. Inside, they have the Stations of the Cross, alter, pews, statues, and salt crystals! It was pretty cool. I don’t think this is the original salt church as I think I read that it caved in or something and this one was carved out again sometime in the 1900s (mid????).

This picture of Maggie is too cute! And no, she is not at the bottom of a deep whole. She's just "resting"

Surprisingly, Maggie and Max actually made it through a 45 minute walking tour in the dark caverns. I think they enjoyed the obstacle course outside more….




That night I went out to dinner with Mike and Chelle, and their British attaché counterparts in Bogota. We had a fabulous meal at a french brassiere (more steak) then went out and did a little bar hopping. What night of bar hopping in my family doesn’t include an Irish bar …no matter what country you are in? I am not sure how, but apparently we stood out as Americans and two guys from Philly (yes, Philly), one of whom works in telecom (yes, for a Cisco “competitor") introduced themselves and forced (YES, FORCED) me to try the Colombia version of grapa, Aguardiente (??). Why do ALL cultures need to have a terrible, black licorice tasting liquor as an after dinner drink. yuck.

Bogota's Montserrat

Montserrat is a Monastery which I believe it the sister monestary to the one in Barcelona that I stayed at when I went to Spain 10 years ago. Given this trip was a bit hampered by the rain, I didn't really get much about the history other than that so I need to do some reading. I believe this is where miracles are said to have occured and on a sunny day you can hike around and walk through the stations of the cross. The altitude is 10,000 feet so the altitude had a little bit of an affect on me. (Actually, that started in Bogota). Despite the fact that it rained AND hailed, I thought the views were amazing. The mist and clouds created a very surreal, majestic view of the mountains above and the city below. The rain, however, was not as much fun for kids….

A view from the mountains

Christmas Eve Day Mike took me and the kids out for a drive through the mountains. Bogota is the capitol of Colombia with about 7m in habitants. It's located in the Andes mountains at an altitude around 8000 ft. So, the city is huge, quite sprawling, and the views are amazing. Mike drove us around in an armored vehicle which essentially is a suburban truck with bullet proof glass windows that don’t roll down. I didn’t get a picture but we certainly stand out compared to all the little cars on the road. It was a beautiful day so I took some pictures of from the mountains of the views of the city below.