The Citadel

Today we decided to tour the city. This took us out of our West Amman comfort zone (though we had a driver so we weren't too adventurous). First stop was The Citadel and the Pillars of Hercules atop a Jabal or hill(Amman is built on a series of hills just like Rome). The Roman portion was commissioned by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in a city then known as Philadelphia. I urge readers to google this site as I have not yet mastered uploading photos on blogspot. It was very dramatic with antiquities dating back to 1950 B.C. The Roman columns forming the Pillars of Hercules are visible for miles around the Old City. There are ruins of a Byzantine church there dating from the 600s A.D. A small museum of antiquities is also there. Next stop was the Roman Amphitheater which is remarkably well preserved. We saw it in then moved on to Habibah, the most famous kenefeh shop in Amman. Terry previously described this dessert which is highly unusual and delicious. It proved the axiom "life is short, eat dessert first" because then we headed to.... Wild Jordan is a cafe perched precariously on a hillside with stunning views of Amman and the Citadel. It is modern (unusual for this part of town) and affiliated with a nature conservancy. It has a gift shop of high end Jordanian crafts and another great thing, a highly efficient air conditioner which by this point we direly needed. Of note was a plaque saying Wild Jordan is a gift from the people of the United States, which generated table talk about the pros and cons of foreign aid. Our lunch was excellent and a needed break. Following Wild Jordan we toured by car several neighborhoods, the most notable of which was that of the Royal Palace. It is not visible from the road but some of the grounds were. The many large villas neighboring the Royal Palace were spectacular.