Oct 23 – Amman

Very much a change of pace this morning…no churches and no piles of rocks.  We are visiting the Royal Automobile Museum.  The museum contains many of the cars and motorcycles collected by the Jordanian kings dating back to 1916.  Plus, there are few much older cars and motorcycles.  It was actually very interesting.  And they all shone and glistened...not a speck of dust to be found on any of these. 

Alvis SD Speed 20 - 1936

Amphicar - 1966

Benz Patent Motor Car - 1886

Buick Roadmaster Convertible Coupe - 1949

Daimler Experimental Motorcycle - 1885

Mercedes Benz 770 K Open Tourer Armored - 1943

Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss - 2009

Packard Twelve Dual Cowl Phaeton - 1938

Martian Rover from the movie, The Martian - 2015

Showroom Motorcycles

Showroom

Star Wars Speeder, Rise of Skywalker - 2019

Tron Motorcycle - 1982

*************************************
More Royal Automobile Museum
*************************************

From there we went to the Jordan Museum.  There were the usual artifacts and historical information…

with the highlight being a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were on display.

Mary found the upper level and it was very interesting.  A bit more kid-friendly but with a lot of wonderful information about the scientific and mathematical discoveries from the Golden Age of the eastern civilizations (which took place during the Dark Ages in Europe). 

Paul and Tara missed the upper floor so, after Mary enthused about it, they both headed up for a quick walk around. 

The it was off to central Amman where we stopped at a bakery known for its Ka ak Bread.  We bought some, tried a stuffed falafel from the adjacent falafel shop, had some fresh pomegranate juice (and carrot…not fond),...

and then found a famous hole in the wall restaurant where we had their hummus and falafels (and a couple of other dishes) with our Ka ak Bread. 

We stopped at a jewelers where Tara bought a couple of gold, bangle bracelets. 

More scenes from walking around town.

Oldest Building in Amma

Then it was off to explore a nearby local market.  Lots of fruits and vegetables, bakers, spices, desserts, and general food stocks.    

No stop anywhere in the Mediterranean world is complete without a stop at the nearest Roman Theater.  And of course, Amman has one. It is well restored and is used for performances.

There was a small folklore museum adjacent to the theater.

Last stop of the day was the hilltop Citadel,

with its views of the theater,

views of the city,

location of several ruins including the Temple of Hercules.

There was also a small archaeological museum on the top of the hill as well.

Before heading back to the hotel we stopped at a local shop famous for its kunefe (a shredded wheat and cheese dessert).  Not nearly as good as we have had in Turkey.  But just the shop itself was an experience...gigantic round trays of kunefe.  They'd just cut a big chunk off and throw it on a plate for you.  

 Some huge murals on some of the buildings.

       *************************************
More Amman
*************************************

Lots to see today.