Today was another early day... up and out at 8am. We headed to Jerash, the Greco-Roman city just outside Amman. It is by far the most complete Roman ruins I have ever seen. The site is massive and includes a Hippodrome for chariot races and events, a very large plaza with many intact pillars, Zeus' temple, a small theatre to the side that was so well intact that we could head a coin dropped by our tour guide in the middle of the stage. They also, and I kid you not, had bagpipes! That's right while in the theatre two bag pipe players and a drummer came in and started playing it was pretty neat and a bit odd. I didn't get the full explanation but they have been here for a while and they came down from somewhere. There was a beautiful mosaic, other temples and cathedrals as well as a paved street that is still very complete considering it was probably put in place in 2nd century AD.
We then walking up a bit where they had some free Dead Sea mud and we all lathered up and waited along the shore until it dried and then headed back in the Dead Sea to wash it off. We accessed the Dead Sea through a hotel (where we had lunch) that has four pool and a (rather tame) water slide. So we hung out at the pool for a few hours and soaked in some of the Jordanian sun. I feel like I'm finally on vacation. It did take a while but the afternoon at the sea was wonderful.
We returned to Amman, freshened up and than we headed to Hashem restaurant that the others raved about! Not just the good food but the amazingly low price. They were not kidding about this place, it was delicious! They brought us each a sheet of paper (think 11x17) better know as our plate and then the food began! We got falafel (both tiny ones and larger ones stuffed with caramelized onions), hummus, beans with chilis, french fries (as previously mentioned everything comes with fries), sliced tomatoes, mint, hot sauce, and onions. Everyone got a very large piece of very fresh pita bread and then everyone dug in! It was really good food and with drinks, everything came to 33 JD for all 13 of us! Just to compare, our first night here Sue and I had dinner and it cost 30 JD for the two of us! We then wanted to try their traditional sweets (and Aziz had recommended a place) we where discussing it on the corner when someone ahead of us turned around and said, if you want sweets you must come to my restaurant, and then one of the guys on the tour recognized him so we followed him a bit down the road to the place the Aziz described - Habibah! We got two types of desserts that where very similar. Both had a sweet cheese base and a crunchy topping. One was like a crumble and the other was like shredded wheat and both where doused in a sweet syrup and topped with pistachios. Sue called it right when she said it was like Jordanian cheesecake! It was very good and also very inexpensive. We met our tour guide one last time in the bar on the roof of our hotel. I can't believe my time here is already done. I hope to one day return to Jordan, Insha'Allah.
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