Amman & Jerash - Jordan's Historic Heartbeat
Brace yourselves folks, I’m about to give you a whistle-stop insight into mine and The Man Birds recent adventures in Jordan! First off, I have to say just how incredibly friendly the Jordanian people are; without exception, everyone we came across was super polite and welcoming, regardless of how good their spoken English was.
We flew with Royal Jordanian airline, and they gave us the most fantastic start to our journey as they welcomed us onboard our aeroplane. One thing that surprised me was the lack of in-flight retail offerings – I do love me a bit of merch when in the air (not that I hadn’t already made a couple of purchases in the duty free at Stanstead airport!). That aside, the entertainment selection was pretty fab, as was the food and drink service: done with utmost professionalism and smiliness (if that’s a word?!).
Arriving at Queen Alia airport, we discovered how clean it was - and speedily easy to navigate through; something Marrakech could learn from - and figured that the luggage team must have eaten their Weetabix, given how quickly we were collecting our luggage from the carousel. We’d arranged our holiday with help from local personal travel agent Sally-Ann, who’d connected us with ‘Dream Jordan’, and their driver (Raed) collected us arrival-side and soon got us on the road to our first stop, Amman West Hotel in the country’s capital, Amman.
Our late-night arrival meant that we’d missed dinner, but the team had thoughtfully provided us with a substantial buffet selection of food and water. On top of that, because it was our silver anniversary ‘tour’, the housekeeping team had decorated our [huge] room with rose petals on the floor and on the bed, writing ‘I love You’ in petals on the pristine white bed-covers and arranging towels into love-heart shapes.
The welcome didn’t stop there, though: there was also a personal note congratulating us on our celebration and the most divine Chocolate cake decorated with piped swirls and fresh Strawberries. Now, I know we are famed for or gluttony, but even His Nibs and I weren’t going to be able to demolish a 20-portion cake!! What we did was eat a big wodge and then take it down to reception the next day and ask the manager to invite his weekend team to have a slice on their breaks and join in on our celebration.
In the morning, Chef was more than happy to make us fresh Omelettes with our choice of fillings, and they were gloriously light and fluffy. Given we were up for exploring, we needed to be fuelled up and raring to go!
We had a guide around Jerash (aka the city of a thousand columns), taking in the wonderful colonnaded street ruins and the beautiful amphitheatre and its have-to-experience-it-to believe-it acoustics. Our guide showed us where to stand (and it was literally inch precise!) to hear our voices project around the air as if coming through headphones with that stereo sound; no microphone needed here – even at normal volume, our voices were heard loud-and-clear by all those within the space!
After that, it was off to savour an alfresco lunch at a women’s-run co-operative, Beit Khairat Souf, where we also purchased some Pomegranate Molasses and a Thyme, Garlic and Olive Oil marinade. The flat, Kofte-style Lamb was beautifully spiced and bathed in a mouth-watering Yoghurt sauce that contained softened, sliced Potatoes within it. This dish truly was bursting with taste and spices. Fresh salads, flatbreads and dips also found their way to us and we were proper little Weebles as we made our way back to Raed and his air-conditioned Rav4!
Replete, it was time to explore the Citadel in Amman. This site is absolutely a ‘must see’ if you’re in Jordan; mind-blowingly, this site spans a huge time-frame that encompasses the Ammonite Kingdom (Iron Age), the Hellenistic period, the Roman Era, and Ayyubid rule. Among the ruins are a 1700metre long wall that dates back to the Bronze Age, a Byzantine Church, and the Umayyad Palace. History buffs, this is your happy place, and even if History isn’t ‘your thing’, trust me, you can’t fail to be impressed.
Making the most of our short time in Amman, we hopped into the city and explored before discovering a roof-top terrace at Pasha Hotel and enjoying a drink whilst taking in the view.
After that, it was back to Amman West Hotel to get dressed for dinner, which was buffet-style and had so much choice it was mind-boggling! Chef cooked the meats to juicy glory and the salads were colourful and crisp…and I discovered a delicious new pudding called Umm Ali. This treasure has that marvellous, comforting texture of our own Bread-and-Butter pudding but is way creamier and has a richer taste, thanks to the addition of [in this case] Rose’s delicate note. A scattering of chopped Pistachio nuts added some texture and another layer of subtle flavour. There are many interpretations of this dessert, as I was to discover at each of our destinations; each one equally addictive – nom nom nom.
Read part 2 of our Jordan adventure
Petra & Little Petra - Ancient Wonders and Desert Hospitality
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