Archives for February 2011

or Driving in Circles.

Our second day in Jordan we climbed back in the rental car and headed in the direction of the Dead Sea. Our first stop? Mount Nebo. It was on this site that Moses viewed the promised land. On this day, we viewed brown hills and a lot haze.

The church at the top is currently undergoing restoration so there wasn’t much else to explore. Back in the car.

Next stop? Madaba.

Madaba, oh Madaba, your streets and signage are so irritating. It was quite the hunt for the Tourist Authority in Madaba. The streets were narrow. The signs were inconsistent. The map was backwards. The driver was annoyed. Molly was persistent. Just as we were about to forget our plans and head out of town, we found it. Hamdililah!

And we stayed approximately 5 minutes before walking down to a nearby church. In the floor of the church is a 6th century mosaic map of Jerusalem.

After a pizza lunch, we hopped back in the car. I’d say our time driving around the city was nearly equal to the time spent at the sights.

Oh, Madaba.

xo, jill

Um ‘Kay?

To finish off our day we decided to visit the Roman ruins of Umm Qays before heading back to Amman. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the sun sets early in Jordan. The drive turned into a race between us and the sun. We arrived just in time to take a few photos and climb up on the stones to peek over the political boundaries into Syria and Palestine.

Molly and I had both been interested in learning how to take silhouettes after seeing these beautiful images. This setting seemed like the perfect opportunity to practice. Look, it’s Molly!

Shortly thereafter we drove back to Amman for the night.

xo, jill

The ruins of Romans.

After bidding farewell to Sarah in Muscat, I took a quick flight to Jordan to meet up with Molly and her sister. How nice to arrive at the hotel in a foreign country… only to see one of your favorite faces!

Bright and early the next morning we rented a car and drove the approximately 50 kilometers up to Jerash.

We spent a pleasant morning exploring one of the “best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world.”

I’m always amazed at the skilled craftsmanship of the past. I was particularly impressed by these statues we stumbled upon. So lifelike.

We grabbed some lunch in town before heading out on our next adventure.

xo, jill

My best move.

Back in December I went to Jordan. You probably forgot because I never blogged about it. But I’m ready now… well, almost.

Here’s when I convinced Molly to photograph “my best move.” She’s the best at indulging my silliness. Or maybe she realized that if she’d take my photo I’d knock it off. And by knock it off I mean stop calling out “Hey, Molly! Look, it’s my best move!”

xo, jill