Last Day in Jordan

Jordan Museum

We see our Czech friends (Ivanka and Martin) at breakfast. They are getting ready to catch their flight home.

After breakfast we catch an Uber to the Jordan Museum. This museum is not part of the Jordan Pass.

The museum is very interesting and worth the visit. I learn a lot and especially enjoy the section on origns of the written word. At one spot I have my name translated into many languages (many of them ancient) and they are printed as a keepsake.

Of course the highlight are some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Truly interesting.

I head to the washroom and a kind gentleman comes up beside me and says, “Excuse me, woman washroom there ” and points in the opposite direction to the men’s washroom I was about to enter.

To the Market

From the museum we decide to walk to the mosque area since John’s map app says its only 15 minutes away. We pass all kind of stores selling coal.

This morning when I looked up the forecast it said sunny…with smoke. No wonder I’ve needed to take my asthma puffers  here.

The map was right. It was not a long walk. Behind the mosque is the souk (market). All kinds of fruit, veggies, meat, fish, clothing and household items are sold here. The fruits and veggies are gorgeous…so fresh.

We buy freshly roasted nuts and dates for lunch later.

The Roman Nymphaneum is nearby. We find it no problem but it is surrounded by a fence.  I see no one inside but there are informational tourist signs around the site. We walk around the whole site but can’t find an entrance. It looks like I’ll just have to be content with pictures I take through the bars.

Lunch at the Roman Theatre

It’s lunch time. I’m craving lentil soup but when we get to the place we bought it yesterday, the guy says he won’ have more for at least another half hour.

We dodge traffic and head to the forum in front of the Roman Theatre to munch on our nuts and dates.

A father is kicking around a ball with a few boys. Another father and a few more boys join in. Soon a third father and kids join the game. After awhile the group breaks up and its back to the original father and kids….but soon another father and kids join in, then a couple of tourists….and so it goes.

A man walks by, looks at us and says  “Welcome.”

A friendly lady comes by and asks us where we are from. We start to chat. Her name is Maha and she is a grade school teacher.

Shopping with Maha

We walk together and she shows me a store with the spices I need for some Jordanian dishes I enjoyed.  Zaatar was one of the spices. We also buy some nuts and dried rose petals for tea.

Maha next shows us a juice shop that she recommends. I cannot believe how inexpensive a large glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate  juice is (about $2.25 CAD).

Our next stop is for kanafeh at a shop called Habiba. This is a Jordanian sweet that is soft cheese covered in a sweet topping…it almost has a creme Brule taste to it.

Habiba is at the end of an alleyway. Local people are lined up. We pay at a booth and are given a ticket. We continue in the line into the baking area where the guy takes our ticket, cuts our pieces, puts them on plates with forks.

We go to an area at the back of the alley that opens up onto a narrow street where we sit on a ledge with many other customers and eat our sweets.

Before we part, Maha recommends Al Madenah Restaurant which she says serves good food and sheesha at good prices.

John and I are stuffed from the juice and filling dessert so we head back to the hotel to get a head start on our packing for our flight to London tomorrow.

Shisha Time

The restaurant has a pretty entrance with a  flower lined stairwell leading up to the second floor. We sit in an enclosed balcony which gives us a perfect view to people watch on the street below.

We are across from the Habiba sweet shop which has a constant lineup of people. The line moves quickly but people keep coming. Apparently it is the place to go.

John orders Mansef which is the national Jordanian dish made from lamb, rice with a special yogurt based sauce to put over top. It is a Bedouin dish.

I order a shrimp Caesar salad since I was still fairly full.

The restaurant also has shisha smoking which we decide to do . It turns out the coals that I have been seeing in shops are for the shisha pipes. John orders apple flavour and I have apple/mint. While puffing, I feel a bit light headed but it quickly dissipates. This can’t be helping my asthma any.

Too soon the night is over and we head back to finish our packing.