November 21, 2022

Leaving the Levant: Nazareth, Jerusalem, and we’re out

We drove through and saw Nazareth[1] (the boyhood home of Jesus, not the one in Pennsylvania or the Scottish band which sang “Love Hurts”), where because it was Sunday there was very little happening. Still, we visited the church which sits on the traditional site where Mary was apparently told by Angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of Jesus, and the spot where Mary supposedly used to fetch water. For two non-religious folks, it was a bit of a letdown.

Location where Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary

Then, after a stop in the dessert (already posted, it was on to our last destination, Jerusalem, we drove our trusty Hyundai Versa toward Jerusalem, we noticed a change in the topography, leaving the relatively flat desert for hills covered with trees.

We also saw that Jerusalem is under construction. Like, seriously under construction. We had to navigate torn up city streets for a mass transit project, which was not a treat (thankful for automatic transmission in this car); and everywhere we turned throughout our stay we saw building cranes. This old city is modernizing. We made the short walk with all our gear to the Abraham Hostel, the same organization which housed us in Tel Aviv and a true haunt of independent travelers. After doing some laundry we headed over to the Machane Yehuda market a few blocks away.

On our first full day, we explored the old walled part of the city with more rigor. No one is going to accuse me of being a scholar of religion, but I remember enough to have recognized some of the names recounted by our guide Gabi during our extensive walking tour of the old city. We saw highlights from the major religions that share Jerusalem: the Western Wall (Judaism), the Dome of the Rock (Islam), and the Walk of Sorrows to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christianity).

It was a long tour (including a tasty lunch) through the warren of tight lanes and alleys that comprise the four quarters inside the walls of the city (Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish). The pathways were choked with shops, roughly split between selling souvenirs and goods for the locals who live there. We bought a few things, ensuring our bags would be fuller on the flight home.

On our final day, I explored a bit more of the city on foot while Jenn took the afternoon to work on her creative writing. I visited neighboring Mount of Olives to the east, walking up the historic hill, around the sizeable Jewish cemetery and back through the valley of Jehosephat to the walls of the city. It was incredible to walk around one of the most historic cities on earth.

I had to get that walk in early, for as busy as the city was at 1 pm on a Friday (shoulder to shoulder, inching through the tightly packed crowd), by late afternoon the city near our hostel was deserted for Shabbat, which starts at sundown.

*Friday, midday, at the market. Just packed with shoppers*

We’d been warned that Jerusalem is much more observant than other parts of the country, and after about 4pm I saw exactly one small convenience store and one restaurant open for business. Fortunately we were prepared, and cooked dinner at the hostel.

Thus ended our tour of the eastern Mediterranean. Last stop: the East Coast of the USA for Thanksgiving before returning home.

Stay tuned for a couple wrap up posts. 😀

[1]- One interesting side note: I shouldn’t be surprised that we kept running into names I vaguely recall from the bits of religious history I learned as a child. Nazareth, the River Jordan, King Herod, etc. It’s been fun to connect a few dots, and say things like “oh yeah, THAT River Jordan”; “wait, that was here?!?”; etc.

Posted in Israel
Tagged Jerusalem, Nazareth, Western Wall

November 16, 2022

Savoring the last of our travels: M&M desert!

We’re in the final week of our trip before we head back to the US for Thanksgiving. Like the horse sensing the closeness of the barn, we’ve become a bit desensitized to the country we’re traveling through. Akko (aka Acre), in Northern Israel, was fine, but kinda same-same. We’ve seen many lovely coastal cities, vibrant markets and ancient ruins, so maybe it’s just getting harder to impress us at this stage.

So, it’s fair to say we were ebbing a bit, heading into a couple of desert stops, Masada and Mitzpe Ramon, in the southern part of the country.

Then a funny thing happened: we got a bit of a second wind from an unexpected source. We drove south along the river Jordan and the west shores of the Dead Sea (and could almost pick out on the east side the Jordanian resort we visited a couple weeks ago), and stopped at a hostel at the foot of the ruined hilltop citadel of Masada. There’s nothing around this site (no town, store, etc.), so we hunkered down for a short night in our room. We were annoyingly kept awake by the din from buses of high school students (this is a really popular school trip), preparing for our pre-dawn hike up the dry and dusty mountain.

We woke at 5 am, dressed and started up the trail. It was a steep climb (1,200 feet of gain in less than two miles), and the air was heavy and, surprisingly, still hot. The payoff though was worth it with a beautiful sunrise and interesting history.

The site itself is not reconstructed in a meaningful way, though it’s well marked with lots of educational placards. It’s a former castle built by King Herod atop a mountain with views of the Dead Sea, which has become a symbol of pride and defiance of the Jews against the Roman empire. Once again we run into vestiges of the Roman empire — I’m starting to think it was a big deal ;-).

King Herod, also known as Herod the Great, built an opulent palace in 35 BCE with three terraces on the mountain, a sophisticated water system, and appropriate fortifications. The fortress was captured by Jews resisting Roman rule, but later, in 73 CE, during a year-long siege of Masada by Roman troops, 967 rebels chose mass suicide rather than submitting to the Romans. (Note: BCE stands for Before Common Era, a more secular version of BC, Before Christ; CE is Common Era, instead of AD, Anno Domini or “In the year of our Lord.”)

“In the days of the Great Revolt, the last of the rebels against Rome entrenched themselves at Masada, and turned their desperate fight into a symbol of the struggle for freedom.”– Israel Parks Authority

After hiking back down, we ate, showered and packed up the car for a drive to the southern part of the country, the desert town of Mitzpe Ramon. The view from our very comfortable AirBnb apartment was of undeveloped rock and sand- we’re out in the sticks.

The aim here was a some desert exploration- there are interesting formations and sights around the Ramon Geological Reserve. Jenn befriended a very helpful docent at the local visitor center, who suggested a day hike in the crater. It wasn’t long but was more than enough to give us a taste of exercise.

We capped off the day with a guided “star tour”. This desert is a great place to see stars, as the rim of the crater blocks out most ambient light from any surrounding activity. Our guide (a funny man from the US, who’d lived in Palo Alto and then New Jersey before following his daughter to Israel), sat us down and pointed out a series of constellations visible in the winter sky. I got to fulfill some of the night photography I’d been missing!

There’s something about the desert that was alien and soothing at the same time.

It was a needed tonic to lift our flagging spirits, and ready us for our final stop: Jerusalem.

Posted in Israel
Tagged masada, Masada hike, Mitpse Ramon, Star Tours Israel

November 12, 2022

Last Leg on the Ancient Mediterranean Tour: Israel

Phew, made it to Israel. We’ve reached our final country on this empty-nester tour of ancient lands of the Med. I don’t mind admitting I’m feeling a little worn down at this point, and I catch myself thinking of home more and more frequently. I’m trying to stay present and focus on the here and now, so as to wring more from the experience. Most of the time it’s pretty easy to do, and luckily Israel provides a lot to command our attention.

We had to transit through Athens due to the lack of national relations between Lebanon and Israel (flew 1,450 miles to go 130 miles on the map – kinda crazy). After some extra scrutiny from El Al, the Israeli airline known for its ultra tight security, we arrived after a long transit day to a lovely sunset on the tarmac.

For the first time on this trip, we stayed at an honest to goodness hostel — the famed Abraham Hostel. But, no dorm rooms for us. We took one of one their superior rooms with a kitchen and private bathroom. Still, it was fun to hang out with the young and old (we were definitely not the oldest in case you were wondering).

We spent a couple days in Tel Aviv to get our bearings, and had a half-day bike tour of parts of the city. TLV is big, modern and pricey (though Jenn was psyched about the food options; she knew way in advance it’s a haven for good vegan food). Our bike tour was along the coast down to the old port of Jaffa, just to the south, but we also walked some of the nearby neighborhoods (Florentin; Carmel Market). It was energetic and cosmopolitan.

We then picked up our rental car and drove up the coast to Haifa, where we had scheduled a brief tour of the Baha’i Gardens, the main thing to see in the city. Their gardens cascade down a large hill with stunning views of the port city.

We knew nothing of the Baha’i religion, which is an offshoot of Islam that started in the mid 1800’s, and has a small global following of about 8 million people (mostly in India). This site in Israel is their HQ and holiest site, and those of the Baha’i faith must make a pilgrimage here at some point in their lives.

*These pics don’t do it justice. There are 19 tiers to this garden, cascading down a giant hillside. Everything was immaculately maintained.*

Our ultimate destination was the ancient city of Akko (also called Acre). Stop me if you’ve heard this before: one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; a port city with a Crusader-era castle built on top of Roman, Greek and Phoenician towns. It’s not the exact image of Byblos in Lebanon, but it’s eerily familiar with its limestone walls and narrow stone streets.

We had one giant mezze meal in Akko, where we thought we were picking four items from a list of 14, but instead were told that that we’d get all 14 which was the standard fare as we later noticed at other tables. It was a magnificent feast and 12 of the 14 items were vegan, so Jenn was delighted. We managed to eat nearly everything (but we did bring two of the big salads home for dinner).

We have one more week in Israel so stay turned!

Posted in Israel
Tagged Akko, Baha'i, Israel, Tel Aviv
3 Comments

November 10, 2022

Detour off the Road to Damascus

While we had a lot of time in the largest city and capital Beirut, more to see in the country. We scratched the surface, visiting the highlights, but there’s a great deal more that awaits us if we return. It’s a small country (a bit smaller than Connecticut; for comparison, Jordan is about the size of Maine; Italy is roughly Arizona; and Egypt is 50% bigger than Texas) so you can get to all corners with day trips from Beirut, which is very centrally located.

We drove up the coast to the ancient Phoenecian settlement of Byblos. Our guide Tony explained about the many layers of civilizations that have been excavated in the area, dating back 8,000 years. Byblos currently boasts a couple of Crusader-era forts, a Roman amphitheater, and a Neolithic village dig site.

We then drove back south toward the city, and rode up to the mountains immediately above via a cablecar, which afforded incredible views of Beirut and the Mediterranean.

Our first day tour finished with a stop by the Jeita Grotto, a famous cave site full of unbelievable stalactites and stalagmites (holds its own against Carlsbad Caverns in NM, which we saw earlier this year). No pictures allowed inside 😦

Jenn’s been feeling a bit unwell for all of this leg, so I went on my own to a prearranged cooking lesson followed by dinner at the host’s house. I’m not a whiz in the kitchen and this activity is more up Jenn’s alley, but we didn’t want to cancel on Tania as she depends on the money from this side hustle keep afloat. Tania is a technically trained government employee, whose nominal government salary is the equivalent of less than US$100 per month. In addition to classes, she produces food for her pop up store and local markets to supplement.

Jenn was very sad to not be able to go, so the B Team had to hold up the family name. Yikes.

I helped prep for about 3.5 hours, during which time I avoided injury, learned a few things and dirtied to stay out of the way while filming for Jenn. We enjoyed a nice meal with Tania, her parents (her mom also helped cook), one of her brothers, and three friends. It was a fun, boisterous meal with a dash of arak, the local anise-flavored spirit, mixed in as well. Afterward, I brought home a bunch of food that Jenn enjoyed. (She’s feeling better now, btw.)

Our last day centered on a driving tour with our guide Tony to some of the ancient sites around the country. We drove over the coastal mountains to the Bekaa Valley, a fertile region similar to California’s central valley. It was noticeably cooler as we were at some elevation.

Our first stop were the Umayyid ruins at Anjar, which is only about 3 miles from the Syrian border (see footnote 1). These were likely built on top of older Roman ruins (which themselves were atop Greek, which were atop Phoenician, atop probably something else). These were nicely restored, and the site was in fact home to the Syrian army when it occupied parts of Lebanon during the civil war.

Those were impressive, and the setting, amongst a pine forest, was unique among the ruins we’ve seen.

Our next stop at Baalbek was jaw-dropping

Arguably the largest and best-preserved Roman era ruins in the world (including those in Italy), the site was huge. What makes it a treasure is the condition of the Temple of Bacchus, which retains most of its columns but also the carved stone ceiling between the main building and the surrounding columns. Simply incredible, and we had it to ourselves!

The detail was magnificent. Oh, and the engineering feat to raise these enormous, elaborately carved blocks atop pillars 100 feet above ground? Beyond belief.

Jenn and I have seen more than our share of Roman ruins, and I don’t think anything tops this (the Colisseum was spectacular, but Baalbek was mind-blowing). And we had it more or less to ourselves, which while great for us was kind of a shame. Hopefully more people can visit this amazing place.

Finally, we had time to stop at a local winery. Franciscan monks started the winery in the 19th century, and it’s now in private hands. The setting was lovely, the wine was pretty good.

*Did you know Lebanon has a wine region?*

We sincerely hope that Lebanon gets a number of years of peace and quiet to sort themselves out, that other powers in their neighborhood support them, and that they can realize the vast potential the country has to be a fascinating and prosperous land.

And so we flew out the next morning, via Athens to our next and last destination, another country in the Middle East.

(1) On our drive we saw a number of refugee settlements, which have their own history and whose presence creates some consternation with the Lebanese. The UN payments to the refugees often add up to more than what local Lebanese make, as the payments are in USD. Further, the refugees can also get jobs, and so take a lot of positions from locals b/c the refugees aren’t as fussed about their wages. The system (as described to us) would naturally create resentment by the local Lebanese. Lebanon has roughly 2 million refugees, versus a regular population of 4.5 million.

Posted in Lebanon
Tagged Baalbek, Byblos, Lebanon, Lebanon Travel
3 Comments

November 5, 2022

Let’s Root, Root Root for Beirut

After our hectic pace in Jordan with the tour group, we jetted off to Beirut for a long weekend and a private tour. We admit to some apprehension about visiting the Lebanon given the economic and political issues it currently faces (hyper-inflation; inability to form a government; IMF bailout talks). The official exchange rate is $1 USD = 1,500 LL (Lebanese Lira); the black market rate is more like $1USD=37,500LL (more than 20x rate). We weren’t visiting any “unsafe” places (e.g. near the refugee camps or troubled borders), but economic disruption can be a catalyst for civil disruption, so it gave us pause. Also, it didn’t help that when we mentioned we were traveling to Lebanon, everybody raised an eyebrow and some cautioned against going.

But Lebanon proved a wonderful surprise! The country was somewhat different, and much more appealing, than we expected. We always felt 100% safe, whether with a guide or on our own, and the people were friendly and welcoming (a fair amount could speak English). The culture is more progressive and modern than we anticipated, especially compared to other Arab countries. Beirut, once known as “The Paris of the East,” has a lot of potential and we saw blocks of modern restaurants and cafes which were heavily trafficked; it’s a bit of a party town. Outside the capital, there are incredible ruins from before and after the Roman Empire that deserve to be better known. And, of course, the food is amazing.

If you are an adventurous traveler, put Lebanon very high on your list!

The city is built differently than the other Arab cities we’ve seen (Amman and Cairo this trip; Dubai previously). The architecture is incredibly varied and sometimes quite modern, but generally interesting and attractive with lots of balconies, stone facades, and odd shaped windows. It was exotically familiar.

But, the people of Lebanon have struggled over recent years, hit with one crisis after another and the country is fighting to get back on its feet. Locals continually referenced three major events, like we Americans judge things as pre- or post-9/11. The events are the “civil war” (1975 – 1990); the 2019 economic issues; and the 2020 port explosion. Let’s take them in turn.

Crisis #1, Civil War – Growing up we remember hearing about the civil war here (and bombing of the US embassy and military barracks in 1983) but the people we spoke with don’t consider it a typical civil war; it was described more as a proxy war between Syria and Israel (with a dash of Iran and other countries) with Lebanon as the battleground. At various points Syria and Israel occupied parts of Beirut. After the cessation of hostilities, the Lebanese government took a controversial approach to rebuilding the city, creating an entity called Solidere. This entity confiscated property, repaying landowners with shares in this quasi-government entity. This controversial approach allowed for the downtown area to be rebuilt quickly and the result is beautiful blocks with cobblestone streets and new buildings that incorporated original details.

*Several blocks rebuilt following the war. Beautiful streets whose ground floors once contained restaurants and high-end shops, are now nearly abandoned (see crisis #3). Very eerie and sad to see.*

Contrast: see the Holiday Inn (back left) with shell holes

Crisis #2, 2019 Devaluation Effects – The one obvious sign of the current economic issues was the lack of lights; the government can’t really afford to supply electricity. Intersections don’t have lit traffic lights (drivers just figure it out). Open shops are dark, with only the glow of the shopkeeper’s mobile phone indicating the store is open (if a customer comes in, they find a light). Apartment blocks that aren’t vacant look like no one lives there. Many people are really suffering and a typical salary for a white collar professional is only worth USD$60-100/month (a fraction of the value compared to before their currency crisis). Many are supported by relatives abroad but are barely hanging on.

Streets were sometimes lit by the cafes….

Crisis #3, 2020 Port Explosion – In August 2020, a powerful explosion killed 220, injured thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history! Now, two years later, the debris has been cleaned up, but huge areas of the city have yet to reopen. Much of the repair work is waiting the government’s final report on the cause of the blast, which will determine insurance company liability (if it’s an intentional terrorist act, insurers won’t cover the damage). Until then, the area that was beautifully rebuilt in the 1990s and 2000, sits damaged, underused and vacant, but oozing possibilities as the architecture is rich with detail and character. This area was a significant part of our Beirut walking tour.

Explosion site: Some of the silos still stand, awaiting their fate. The city is just behind.

And that’s not all the bad news… Covid has crushed their tourist trade, historically a significant share of their GDP; and they have a refugee crisis brought on by a ten-year civil war in neighboring Syria.

So the country’s been through a LOT over the last generation or so. Given that it has little/no natural resources (it’s not a Gulf state), and a modest industrial base, they continue to make admirable progress. We saw only a very limited view though, and many locals shared grimmer details of daily life under the accumulated weight of events. But, Lebanon could become, once again, a special place in the world, given time and stability.

Next: one more post on Lebanon that covers some amazing day trips and a unique food experience.

Co-author: @bigworldjenn (she co-authors many of the posts, including this one)

November 4, 2022

Crossing (off) Jordan- RedRum Dead

Our Jordan Discovery tour is coming to an end, our final stops after Petra being Wadi Rum, the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. Wadi is Arabic for “valley,” Rum from an Aramaic root meaning “high.” So we finished with High Valley CC, which sounds like a country club in the Rockies. We did see a part of Jordan which looked as posh as this imaginary club, but we’ll get to that.

We rolled out of Petra on the late side of things, as the drive to the desert camp at Wadi Rum was only a couple hours or so. This is a popular stop on the tourist circuit: there are hundreds of camps set up, which only really replicate about 5-10% of the Bedouin experience. We had a two hour jeep drive through the sandstone rock formations, a short hike up a hill for a terrific sunset, and an outstanding dinner (cooked buried in the sand) and a bit of night sky watching before retiring in to our communal tent.

✅ Bedouin experience. Beautiful spot but tough night on the ground with 18 people snoring and snorting all night long!

In the morning, we reunited with our initial driver, Mr. Habibi (not his real name), and our original Zhong Tang Chinese bus, which was familiar and comfortable and had WiFi, so we did just fine driving the couple hours to Aqaba, a city of about 150,000 ashore an arm of the Red Sea called the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is a beach resort town, but had a world-class new beach community where clearly the monied of the region spend their time and dollars.

Most of the group chose to sign on to the four hour snorkel boat (also had a glass bottom) to swim amongst the coral and fish. The undersea sights are accurately ranked among the best in the world; we even saw a sizeable lionfish, which was a treat. Adjacent to Aqaba is Eliat, an Israeli resort city, and it was an odd experience to be snorkeling next to an international border and an active port.

There’s not much in Aqaba itself to see, but we found a small market area was nice to walk around (and we did get some spices).

The small vessel by the woman in pink is (nearly) the entire Jordanian Navy

After a night in Aqaba, it was time to board the bus for the final leg, a trip to a lovely beach resort on the east side of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth at about 1400 feet below sea level!

We got to float in the water for a while before showering and hitting the pool. The salt content (34%) was so high you could see the refraction in the water; it was hard to stay upright as the water pushed us to lie back.

An hour after leaving the OH Resort, we pulled into Amman, completing our circuit. We had one extra day to do a bit of washing, and while Jenn wrote a short story for an upcoming contest, I headed to the Royal Tank Museum.

Next stop: a place that raises eyebrows when people hear we are visiting! 😬 (Don’t worry mom, it’s all fine.)

Posted in Jordan
Tagged aqaba, dead sea, explore! Travel, Jordan, Red sea
1 Comment

November 1, 2022

Petra Shop Boys

So, Petra. That vision from the last scenes in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades were simply breathtaking. Who knew such places existed in the world? Petra’s been on our list for a long time, and we had two entire days to visit this site.

We stayed at the Edom Hotel, which looked much nicer on the outside than inside (we had an older, yucky, un-refurbished room which smelled of cigarette smoke). It was mostly made up for by its location, a very short walk to the entry gate of the site.

Past the gate you walk down a 0.5 mile gravel path, repeatedly saying “no thank you” to the entrepreneurs looking to transport you by horse, donkey, horse-drawn cart or golf cart — really! Then, you enter a slot canyon that is another mile down into the gorge, with incredibly eroded sandstone walls.

You get a small peek of the first major building, named the Treasury by archaeologists, before the slot opens up to the canyon in front of the iconic building. I could hear Indy spur his horse and ride past us as we walked out of the slot. It was amazing. We chose wisely.

We learned that Petra was once a vibrant trading area and capital city for the relatively unknown Nabataean people, nomadic Arabs who first lived in the area about 2500 years ago. They carved these archeological wonders and were known for their rainwater harvesting techniques and incense trading routes. Their civilization later fell to the Romans around 100 AD.

What I failed to realize was that the Treasury, while certainly the best known building, was just the tip of the complex. The whole Petra site is huge, with a warren of trails and paths (some leading up to the canyon rim at various points) and a host of elaborately carved building facades. We had two whole days to explore!

Day 1 we went to the far end and up to the Monastery and along the front of the Tombs. This entailed a final push up nearly a thousand steps, crowded with tourists, vendors, donkeys and donkey crap. Jenn was happy that no one in our group choose to ride a beleaguered beast of burden. Poor donkeys and camels.

Day 2 we hiked up to the High Point of Sacrifice for stunning views of the expansive canyon.

We were fortunate that it wasn’t as busy at it often is; our guide said that they’ve had up to 8,000 daily visitors in Petra, and we heard that on our days we had only about half that, though this is their high season. We were also lucky that we had ample time to explore as another tour group only had five hours (unbelievable, actually). That meant that we had less competition for the restaurants, but also that the shopkeepers were a bit more aggressive (there were stands everywhere).

Petra was quite possibly the high point of the trip. It genuinely lived up to expectations. We walked a *lot*, and were pretty wiped out each day, but it was a truly special place to visit. Our world has some amazing sights.

Next stop: the expansive desert

Posted in Jordan
Tagged Jordan, petra, wonder of the world

October 30, 2022

So, Amman walks into a bar….

Wait, no, haven’t done that yet. We aren’t in Italy anymore, we’re in Jordan. You can find alcohol, but it’s not easy.

We took an early morning flight from Rome to Amman (0650 departure, so we were up *early*), arriving a day or two before starting our ‘Jordan Discovery’ tour. We’re doing a group tour, as it seemed the easiest way to see what we wanted with minimal fuss.

We got settled into Hotel Toledo and explored, then grabbed a much-needed nap. Our hotel was not super close to the couple of fun areas we’d read about, so our initial exploration was in the adjacent residential neighborhood, checking out a mall that could be anywhere (with an H&M, Sketchers, Subway, Starbucks, etc.), a large mosque, and the hostel we’ll stay in on our way out of the country.

The tour began with a day trip to the ruins of Jerash, a city dating to the Roman empire (we’re seeing a lot of ancient Rome on our travels). Its ruins were spread out as the city was pretty sizeable.

We then bussed back to Amman to tour the Citadel, a ruined fort overlooking the city. Amman is much hillier than I expected (in fact, the seven points on the star of the Jordanian flag refer to the seven hills around Amman). The views of the neighboring canyons were impressive.

Along the way, our guide shared information about the country. Jordan is a country of 11 million, of which 4 million live in Amman. About 40% of the 11 million are refugees from neighboring states that have experienced war and hardships. A little under a million of the residents are Christians. We were told that the Jordanian people are tolerant of other religions and it is not proper to ask somebody about their religion.

We didn’t see too many women on the streets, and the ones that we did see wore headscarves and very conservative clothing. The few women we saw without a head scarf were likely local Christians or tourists.

Day 2 was a bus ride south to see an ancient Crusader-era castle at Karak, and the summit of Mount Nebo, climbed by Moses to lay eyes on the promised land.

After concluding at Karak and the castle, we stopped at a mosaic shop to see how they are made (painstaking work!) and took a back-roads bus ride arriving late in the evening at Wadi Musa, the town next door to the country’s crown jewel: Petra.

Stay tuned for some beautiful photos of Jordan’s ancient architectural wonder.

Posted in Uncategorized

October 26, 2022

Good Roma Food Coma

We knew Italy would have amazing food and we found tasty pasta, pizza and focaccia everywhere, everyday (often followed by a nap). Sometimes that’s practically all we’d eat all day.

Vegan options abound, with cheeseless “marinara pizza” and veggie focaccia as regular menu items. Yup, we were immersed in carbohydrate overload but too much of a good thing was, frankly, too much. Tim and I will probably be craving those foods again in a week or two, but for now we’re officially sick of dishes made with white flour!

To find other types of vegan food, I had to dig deeper, consulting Google restaurant reviews and the veg-friendly Happy Cow app. Those sources revealed humble hidden gems in suburban neighborhoods and fancy restaurants that had separate vegan menus. We treated ourselves to one fancy meal in each main city (prices were on par with high-end restaurants at home). The dishes were so creative and beautifully presented as well as palate-pleasing! Here’s a random selection of meals we enjoyed:

But the true food star of our Italian travels was a three night stay at I Pini (Italian for “the Pines”), a fully vegan villa in the Tuscan countryside. The property was walking distance to the cute town of San Gimignano (which Tim covered in an earlier post).

Too cool for the pool, but still a lovely setting

The villa, known for its sustainable practices, has 11 rooms, multiple sitting areas, and a salt-water swimming pool. It is surrounded by its vineyards, olive groves and veggie gardens. Magnificent, vegetable-centric meals were included in the price and they were the highlight. Both breakfast and dinner were multi-course events, with dinner lasting up to two hours. We slowed our pace here after days of bustling activity, and the high-end farm stay was so relaxing. We had the chance to mingle with other guests from places as diverse as Salt Lake City, Denmark and Tel Aviv.

Dinner course 1 – carrot soup w miso mousse

These dishes were simply incredible, at least as good as anything that I’ve ever enjoyed, even at top restaurants in the USA. I was actually a little disappointed that our final night was pizza night, baked in a wood-burning outdoor fire pit, because while it was delicious, it wasn’t as unusual or special.

Every dinner was enjoyed with wine pairings from the villa’s own vineyards.

*This “orange” was one of the seven wines produced from I Pini’s grapes*

Unfortunately, I need to let out my belt (again) because the gelato, something we treated ourselves to frequently, was irresistible. Standard gelato places had vegan fruity flavors, but only a few offered creamy and crave worthy vegan varieties made from nut-milks. I miss them already.

*Salted Caramel and Almond Mocha from Grezzo in Rome*

This wraps our postings about Italy as we are off to another food haven: the Middle East.

Posted in Italy, Vegan Food
Tagged gourmet vegan, Ipini, Italy, vegan food, vegan travel, vegan villa
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October 25, 2022

“Rome (if you want to)….

…. roam around the world”. (You knew we’d do that, didn’t you? And for those who don’t get the reference, it’s from a song from the B-52s circa 1989.)

We had but three days in the Eternal City, but we’ve managed to make our feet ache by adding 30+ miles to our shoes. Actually, this is the first city in which we’ve extensively used public transportation, which is pretty easy and very reasonable all-everything pass (€18 for the a 72-hour card).

Day 1- Colisseum day visit and walking tour around Flaminio (between Vatican and Colisseum)

Not much we can add to descriptions of the Colisseum but it’s an incredible feat of engineering constructed in the first century AD and host to the bloody gladiator games where man fought beasts and other men to the death! What I found most striking was the height of the building- it’s really tall, and I can imagine contemporaries thinking “who knew humans could build something this high”*

Our walking tour finished up around sunset, and took us from the Porta de Popolo down to the Pantheon and back towards the Vatican.

Now I know where the missing Egyptian obelisks went

Day 2- Segway tour, and night photo tour for Tim

Segways are fun, and after a small re-learning curve we enjoyed a roll around some of the neighborhoods. We went to a different part of the city, crossing the Tiber near its one island over to Trastevere, a previously downtrodden but now hip and trendy area.

We also saw the Jewish ghetto and learned that Rome is currently home to the biggest population of Jews in Europe. We had lunch at a Jewish restaurant after the tour, enjoying a platter of pita and dips and a local delicacy, the fried artichoke.

Later, Tim had a night walk with a professional photographer, who took their small group to a few unusual spots.

Day 3- Vatican City tour, and more walking in Flaminio

Our Vatican tour brought home the full force of tourism in Italy —and it’s late October, normally past the leak of the season. It was mobbed, along with everything else in Rome, like few other places we’ve been so far. Our guide, the tough (but sweet to the ladies) Saverio, tried to keep us moving quickly. He was funny, but also tough (“move quickly, quickly now, stay with me. But not in front as I am the tour guide, see my flag?”). The art collection at the Vatican is off the charts amazing, with the lot the largest collection of ancient art in the entire world! One could spend days there. Oh, and the Sistine Chapel was nice too.**