ajholdsamb

[ajholdsamb]

“It’s Aqaba, not Aquaba” but it maybe should be Aquaba?

After our adventures in the desert we were off to the port town of Aqaba! Aqaba has been played an important role in the history of the region; it was an important stop during trade routes from the 10th century BCE onwards and the location where Ottoman forces were ousted during the Arab Revolt. From our view from our room we were able to see the coastlines of Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, which shows how this is a packed area of the Red Sea. I guess some of the country borders were drawn arbitrarily by Britain after WWI, so in 1965 Jordan’s King Hussein made a trade with the Saudi Arabian government: 6,000 km of Jordanian desert for 12 more km of coastline. This deal has worked out for Jordan since this area serves important tourist and trade functions. It’s also where a lot of Jordanians and other travelers from the area come to vacation.

We rolled in dusty from the desert to our really nice hotel, the Al Manyara Resort, looking like the Beverly Hill Billies. Immediately our man Paul (the concierge) took care of us with a towel, coffee, and a juice drink. We were able to chill in the beautiful intricately styled lounge while the check in procedure came to us? This kind of fanciness was new to us, but welcome after doing some intense sightseeing on the days before.

From our room we had a view of the turquoise sea, the mountain ranges, and the pool. We got lunch at the hotel and accidentally ordered some delicious fish that ended up looking like an art piece. Then guy AJ went for a swim and I rested. For dinner we ordered room service (which I think we’ve only ever done one or two times before ?) but it was really tasty & included HOMEMADE pasta. We watched the sunset from our room and then watched a ridiculous movie on tv [guy AJ edit: Employee of the Month starring Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson, I enjoyed it]. The critics did not.

The next morning, after the best buffet breakfast ever (with a wall of homemade doughnuts?!) we went out to make up for being lazy the day before and explore. We saw the remnants of the ancient seaport, walked along the beach, and saw the fort that was a key player in the Arab revolt. It was closed for renovations, which was a common theme through out our walk in Aqaba. It seemed as if a good chunk of the city is under of construction, including pieces of our awesome hotel. This also meant that our 2018 guidebook was already out of date as we were unable to find the other places that we looked for, including a fair trade shop, the oldest church and a snorkeling agency. However it did mean that we were able to see the city! We were happy about this until it got up to 110 degrees, and by then we just wanted to get back to our hotel’s aircon.

After that, guy AJ coordinated a boat excursion with our hotel. We took a dip in the sea while we waited and then were ferried from our hotel to the main boat. AJ and I were the only couple on this cruise, which we noticed later after realizing that almost everyone else belonged to these big families. There were tourists from Egypt, Las Vegas, and more, and it was really fun to see the group dynamics of all the kids getting excited about the boat and the fish (or “SEMEC, SEMEC SEMEC” as I quickly learned). The kids also got a kick out of guy AJ trying to speak in Arabic, and in his words “he enjoyed getting to converse with people who spoke at his fluency level.”

We didn’t go far out (only 12 km of coastline so if you go too far you’re in another country), but we got to see the Japanese Garden (unique coral transplanted by Japanese scientists) as well as a sunken ship from the 80s. Then we did a really pretty snorkeling excursion! After that was a boat cooked barbecue, with delicious fish (although hopefully not the ones we just saw...). On the way back was a dance party where Super Mario showed up? It was very random but very fun.

After dinner we came back to our hotel and tried to order room service again. We tried to just order a scoop of ice cream but misunderstandings ensued and we somehow ended up with four desserts, which I’m sure reinforced the waitstaffs opinions of Americans ;P .

Aqaba was beautiful and relaxing- just what we needed.

With much love and semecs,

The AJs

[ajholdsamb]

Running around Wadi Rum

We’re just back from an overnight camping trip to Wadi Rum! Wadi Rum is one of the most stunning landscapes in Jordan, the country’s biggest wadi (valley), and home to the tallest mountain Jabal Umm ad Dami. Wadi Rum is 280 sq miles of red sand, white sand, and stunning rock formations.

I swear we’re not just visiting movie locations, but to help you picture it , this is the desert that was used in the Martian, live action Aladdin, Rogue One, & Lawrence of Arabia (and where the real Lawrence really did hang out). It makes sense that it has been used in so many outer space movies because the landscape is other worldly. Red sand dunes pile up against giant lonely rock walls with plenty of open desert in between for camels to roam. As an important aside, if I were to describe camels in three words they would be cute, awkward, and stinky.

It has been occupied by people for centuries, as evidenced by the Nabatean and Arabic inscriptions dotting the landscape. My favorite petroglyph looked like a lady having a baby and AJs looked like a man pooping (sometimes we still have the sense of humor of 12 year olds). It was also the site of the 1917-1918 Arabic Revolt, and to imagine warriors charging while riding camels across this desert is really something. Nowadays, the local Bedouin tribes have turned it into and eco and adventure tourism location where you can get a taste of the desert, ride camels, and unwind beneath the stars. If your visiting Jordan, this is one of the must see locations.

We got to the very classy visitors center at about 12:30pm and we were matched up with a nice Bedouin guide. The visitors center is professionally done, and it is great because they have all the prices for the various tours laid out for you so you know you’re paying the right amount and do not have to haggle. I’m a terrible haggler and always end up overpaying or getting flustered and walking away. We decided to do a 4wd five hour tour, rather than a camel or horseback riding one. Riding a camel would definitely be more traditional, but we wouldn’t have been able to see as much, and they are not necessarily comfortable (also see above about their smell). Plus our 4wd tour was really fun. Our seats were in the back of a truck with an improvised canopy and fancy embroidered seat cushions, and with the bumps in the road it was a little like it was a Jordanian roller coaster.

You can arrange a tour before hand, (and the planner in me so wanted to do it that way) but guy AJ let me know that route usually just meant that you paid more money to an outside company that then didn’t pay their Bedouin workers as well. Going through the visitors center was easy and safe, and it helped set our “go with the flow” attitude, that helped keep us open to the amazing trip. If we leaned more into our American tendencies, I think we would’ve wanted to rush more and have a clearly laid out stop by stop experience, but we did it the Bedouin way. We took time to drink tea, savor the desert, and talk with people. As a side note- we saw a poor tourist try to attempt it without a guide or 4wd and they got stuck about 50 feet into the desert.

The whole tour was a blast! We stopped to climb up to Lawrence’s spring, saw a siq filled with ancient petroglyphs, explored a Nabatean ruin, rolled (literally in guy AJs case) down a giant sand dune, climbed a rock bridge and just generally enjoyed the scenery. We had relaxed stops for tea with local bedouins (seemingly all related to our guide) at each sight, and sometime chatted with other nice tourists. They were selling stuff at each site but there was no pressure to buy anything, unlike many of the places we’ve visited. Again, it’s low season because it’s supposed to be hot (I guess sometimes it gets to be 115 degrees?!?!) but it was in the 80s while we were exploring. We also had great air conditioning in the form of being in the back of a moving truck, so all low season meant for us was that the sights we saw were not crowded. We ended our tour as the only tourists at the sunset spot, watching the light change on the red and white sand desert.

We were then dropped off at our secluded Bedouin camp site. There are a million of these through out Wadi Rum and they are pretty interchangeable (except for one that I guess turns into a Russian disco nightly??) but ours was tucked into a little canyon and lovely.

After the best two minute shower I’ve ever had (my hair had so much dirt in it, it stood up on its own), the other guests arrived and it was time for dinner. Dinner was a traditional Bedouin meal cooked in coals under ground and very tasty. The exploring and traveling had made me sleepy, so after some star gazing where we saw a ridiculous amount of shooting stars it was off to sleep in our tent where our beds (with mattresses!) were already set up for us. I know I keep using the word magical, but this experience was pretty magical. If you’re ever in the area, don’t skip Wadi Rum! It’s the closest you can be to being on Mars while staying on earth.

With love,

The very relaxed AJs

[ajholdsamb]

Petra- A world wonder that is truly deserving of the name

We have spent the past two days in Petra, a 2,000 year old Nabatean city that is carved out of ancient sandstone cliffs and looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It is the most famous site in Jordan, receiving over half a million visitors a year. Many people travel to Jordan just to see this site and I can see why. Made famous in modern times by movies like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Petra was famous long before that as the Nabatean capital city. The Nabateans came from nomadic tribes of desert people, who became extremely wealthy by controlling the trade routes between the Graeco-Roman kingdoms to the west and Indian and Chinese empires to the east. AJ want to insert more backstory here?

[Guy AJ: OK! Petra is to me a reminder of how fortune comes and goes and how it can build but also reduce empires. About 2,300 years ago a group of nomadic Arabs, later to be called the Nabateans, occupied parts of Southern Jordan and happened to be at the right place at the right time. The world was getting smaller and cultures were coming into contact with each other unlike ever before. Alexander the Great had just introduced half a continent to Greek society, sometimes after razing a town to the ground then building it back up with more floral patterns in their columns. Anyway, all this cultural exchange meant people wanted more things from further away places.

And what better place to be at that time than Jordan? It is located at the converging point of Africa, Europe, and Asia, a crossroads of significance since the first of our species left Africa. The Nabateans controlled trade routes through this important hub, and were able to acquire great wealth from Indian spices on their way to Alexandria and Greek statues passing through to a Red Sea port. They used their wealth to construct massive and awe inspiring tombs in Petra, which AJ and I stared at in amazement over 2,000 years later, but Petra is so much more than a valley for the dead.

Petra is thought to have been a city of several tens of thousands of people, who bartered over goods in markets, practiced religious rites in temples, and debated public policy in the city’s civic center. The remains of these institutions are mostly in rubble in Petra’s basin area, but the thousands and thousands of potsherds we observed walking around are testimony to the many people who lived here in the literal shadows of the dead from the tombs that ring the city.

Petra was incredibly cosmopolitan - the tombs incorporated stepped motifs from Mesopotamia, obelisks from Egypt, and ornate entablatures from Greece. The columns at Petra are distinctly Nabatean, however, with tops that point out like bull horns unlike any other classical style I’ve seen.

If fortune created Petra than a loss of fortune eroded it. By the time Petra was absorbed by the Roman Empire in the first century AD, new trade routes and greater confidence in seafaring made Petra increasingly obsolete. Although several earthquakes destroyed parts of the city in the following centuries, it is a ruin not from natural disasters but from money drying up and people gradually leaving to find better prospects elsewhere or to return to the way of life of those who founded Petra, herding in the Arabian desert like descendent Bedouin communities do to this day. Petra is a reminder that the good times don’t always last forever, cough, cough USA.]

Now that you have a little backstory, I’ll go into our experiences. Because we saw SO MUCH during our time in Petra, I’m going to write this blog post a little differently. Rather than chronicling everything, I’m going to narrow it down to the top five sites we saw and our top four practical tips. This should give a good overview of our experiences but also not take twenty years to write. Let’s start off with the practical and then get into the fun!

Top Four Practical Tips for visiting Petra

1)Go for more than one day, and stagger your entrance times

This probably increased our enjoyment of Petra tenfold. Through our Jordan Pass (which is a great deal by the way- it includes your visa fee and the entrance fees for every site we are going to visit in Jordan?!) we had bought two days in Petra. If you’re into archaeology, geology, nature, or just like to take it slower I recommend going for at least two days, because Petra is unique and wonderful and huge and there is just so much to see. You can check off the biggest of the sites in one intense sweaty day, but it is so much more enjoyable to take your time.

We decided to start off our first day super early, so we got into the park at the opening time of 6:00. Petra can get really crowded, but at 6:00 the only person there was the one sole ticket taker (we even got confused for a second, thinking that maybe the site was closed). This was such a good way to start off our first day because during the 40-50 min trek in we were often BY OURSELVES. This was especially cool during the walk through the siq, a box canyon with 500 ft. tall walls that meanders magically through to take you to the reveal of Petra’s most famous site- the Treasury. As we were leaving at 1:30 pm this walkway was packed with people and speeding carriages and decidedly less magical.

Getting in early we were also able to appreciate the main sites without being inundated by other tourists or salespeople. We actually got photos of the Treasury without other people in them! At one point on our first day I was like “wow AJ we’ve done so much already, it must be time for lunch” but it was 8am.

Starting early, we were able to do the intense hike up to the ceremonial high place while the weather was still cool. During the downhill hour and a half meander through the Wadi Farasa trail it started to get hot, so I was very happy to not have to climb a bajillion stairs again. After that we we saw a couple more of the big tombs, but then during the hottest and most crowded part of the day we were able to peace out without guilt because we knew we had another day. It was only 1 pm when we began the hour trek home, but by that point we had already had a full 7 hour day.

On our second day, we slept in and got started at 10. We actually began at the museum (which is really well done!) so we didn’t make it into the park until 11:00. Because we had already seen a lot of the main sites we were able to walk straight through to the parts we hadn’t seen and take our time. Then in the mid afternoon we began our all uphill hike to Petra’s Monastery.

I was worried about hiking uphill during the hottest part of the day but because we had gotten a late started we had energy, and a good chunk of the path was shady (side note-this is supposed to be one of Petra’s low seasons because it supposedly gets so hot, but it was in the 80s for us- not too bad!). We were able to have a picnic and enjoy the views, and then walk back through Petra during golden hour right before sunset. Again, there were almost no people! I think many visitors do a quick one day tour where they come in between 10-11 and only stay for a couple of hours. It was so nice to have the full two days in Petra, to get it when it was not crowded, and to see it in the different types of sunlight.

2) Think of the practicalities (you’re going to be doing a lot of hiking)

So real talk, AJ and I looked like dorks in Petra. We were wearing long sleeve tactical hiking gear with pants and had backpacks on with 10 liters of water and snacks (& when I say WE carried 10 liters of water I really mean guy AJ did, he’s such a beast). And yet we saw people in fancy dresses and high heels with no water?? Granted not everyone has to hike for 8 hours a day like we did, but it’s still at least a 50 min hike in through the dirt. You can buy water in the site, but it is way overpriced and it was nice to never have to worry about getting stranded somewhere without it. Plus we drank all of it and never got dehydration headaches👌🏻. It’s also fun to pack in a picnic to enjoy in the park. There are a couple restaurants in the site, but if you bring your own you can pick your spot (with lots of awesome views to choose from). There are also toilets on site, but it’s good to bring tp and handsanitizer because they are often not well stocked. Since it gets super sunny, wearing pants and a long sleeve t-shirt was clutch for the rocky trails, sun protection, and out of respect because despite tourist short shorts, we are still in a Muslim county.

If nothing else, at least wear tennis shoes and bring water.

3) Climb to some high places and get some views!

We did two uphill hikes while in Petra, one to the Ceremonial High Place (for ceremonies) and one to the Monastery. We took both slowly, and while they were steep & straight up hill, there were steps that made them doable. Each climb took about 45-60 minutes one way, with lots of breaks. The views at the end made them all worthwhile. It allowed us to pull back and really see the landscape of the wadi (valley). Both hikes ended up being two of our favorite aspects of Petra- so I’ll talk more about them later.

4) Don’t just try to check off all the main sites- go off the beaten path

Maybe because I had only really seen pictures of the Treasury, I didn’t realize before visiting how large Petra is. Since it was a complex city, the site is spread out and there are SO many places to see. On our first big day I realized just how exhausting trying to check off all the big ones in one day truly is. Some of our favorite aspects were going off the beaten path and exploring random less famous aspects of Petra. It’s fun to find your favorite tomb or take a rest on a side trail, all of which you don’t have time for if you’re trying to power through all the greatest hits.

Now on to the fun stuff!

Top Five Sites of Petra

5)Exploring the unnamed tombs

This fits in very well with our last tip from above. At around 7:15 am after hiking through the siq and spending some time at the treasury, we wandered off the main path to explore some of the unnamed tombs. Each tomb is different, it is fun to pick out your favorites and think about the people who would’ve been buried here or celebrated in these smaller places. They are more intimate than the larger tombs, and it feels really adventurous to get to walk around in these ancient buildings. The sandstone is often gorgeous, and it was really peaceful to take a break in these cool chambers. Also AJ named one the tomb of the drunken sailor cuz it was slanted.

4)Wandering through the Siq

Walking through the siq was a magical experience every time it happened, but especially without crowds and in the light at dawn and dusk. The first time it came as a surprise. We were hiking down from the visitors center when all of the sudden the landscape changed and we were at the entrance to the Siq, a 500 ft. tall canyon with imposing walls that almost block out the sun. Running along the path you can still see the distinct curves used for the Nabatean irrigation system. There are sculptures hidden along the pathway including the remains of what would’ve been a 10 ft. tall camel carving. You can see why the Nabateans would have chosen this geologic feature as their grand entrance, and it served to create a sense of magic for entering this special place.

3)Hiking the Wadi Farasa Trail

On the first day after I thought we’d be in Petra for months but it was only 8 o’clock, we started our hike up to the Sacrificial High Place. I’m glad we started early because it was a steep 45 minute hike and at 8am it wasn’t too hot. After a brief kerfuffle with a donkey (a Bedouin woman was trying to call it to her but we kept accidentally scaring it uphill), we made it to the top! There are panoramic views of Petra, including Aaron’s tomb. This was a sacred place where the Nabateans worshipped the sun and moon with a built in blood drain for sacrifices. It’s easy to tell why it is sacred- up there it’s so easy to feel close to the sky. AJ and I took a moment to lie down on the top to worship the celestial deities as the sun and morning moon faced off above us. Also, it was a tiring hike and we needed to lie down. Next, rather than going back down the steep way we came, we took the Wadi Farasa trail. There was all sorts of cool archaeology (a giant lion fountain!) and geology (sandstone with manganese and iron stripes!) to see on the way down. My favorite part was the the combination of the tomb of the Roman soldier and the garden triclinium because they are directly across from each other, and with the rubble from the column lined promenade it was easy to picture how the ancient people would’ve used this beautiful space.

2)The hike to the Monastery/the end of the world

Our second favorite site was on our other high place trek. This one we did in the late afternoon, and since it is through a canyon it was often shaded. We had a picnic lunch at the top in front of the monastery (one of the largest tombs in Petra that was later turned into a church). However, my favorite part was a spot beyond the monastery. We hiked 15 minutes further to the edge of the mountain to this little Bedouin tent & the views were INSANE! We could see so many mountain ranges come together to into this steep valley, with a convergence of different types of rocks. Guy AJ liked it because, in his words, “we’ve finally reached the edge of Petra.” In other words it was the first time we looked out and didn’t see any archaeology; we had found an end to this seemingly endless site. It was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen.

1)The Treasury reveal

The treasury (or the Khazneh) is the most famous site in all of Petra. Its location is featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as well as countless other movies. In person the detail and scope is awe inspiring, and made all the more impressive by the long walk we had just had through the Siq. The first time the canyon opens up we saw this amazing 2,000 year old building. It was wonderful to get it almost to ourselves in the morning, and we also got to say goodbye without the crowds on the last day. It’s the most famous part of Petra, but for a good reason.

All in all Petra is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen, a highlight of this trip and of my life.

Love,

The very impressed Ajs

[ajholdsamb]

Cruisin’ on the King’s Highway

My second day started with our last delicious breakfast at Le Grand Amman. Then after condensing our 5 separate bags to 3 (now we have room for souvenirs...maybe a giant rug?!?) we were ready to get started with our first driving day. Jordan is a relatively small country and it can be traveled across quickly. However there is not obvious public transportation if you want to go to more than just the main spots. Since I’m with a geoarchaeologist who likes to pause when there are great road cuts or take his time with the archaeology, it made sense for us to rent a car. AJ has driven in lots of foreign countries, and knew it’d be okay out of the main city. However we were a little nervous about getting out of Amman since there are no lanes, no pedestrian crossways, people park wherever, and speed limits are just a suggestion. However, after a brief mix up where we thought our car rental company no longer existed we calmly made it out of the city and our journey began!

Our first stop was Karak, a castle built by the Franks during the crusades. Saladin tried to take it over several times, and his newphew was eventually successful. AJ let me know that during one of the sieges a wedding was taking place inside the castle and Saladin was such a gentlemen that he was like “no y’all do your thing” and just aimed his trebuchets to the other non wedding parts of the castle. Neat! I’d much prefer to be the guards on wedding duty rather than the guards responsible for taking down Saladin. Side note- sieges must either be more chill than I thought or people back then just had much stronger nerves. I go into fight or flight mode if someone honks at me, I can’t imagine getting married while UNDER SIEGE. Anyways, this was a very cool stop! The complex is ginormous and there are tons of labyrinth like passages ways for you to explore. It was my favorite crusader castle ever. That is until we got to the next stop.

After a quick lunch, we were off on the King’s Highway. This road follows an ancient trade route once used by Moses and monitored by Nabatean tribes. It is crazy pretty! This alone was worth renting a car. Dramatic mountains and wadis with nothing but a few goats dotting the landscape.

Our next stop was on top of one of these dramatic peaks- our second crusader castle of Shobak. We had the castle almost to ourselves and it was the perfect mix of reconstruction and untouched ruins. Some places like to “fix” ruins to help tourists imagine what the site used to be like but this is done with varying degrees of success. Kind of like plastic surgery. There’s something magical about seeing what a place looks like after hundreds of years of existing, wearing its age proudly. Shobak was in such a remote location and had panoramic views from its steep perch that it was wonderful spot from which to admire the Jordanian country side, but it would’ve been hell to try to attack. Once the people at Castle Shobak were able to hold out under siege for 18 months. They had a good defensive position but also they had a secret passage way to the river so they could get water. The guide book said we could travel along this passage way so I spent the first half of the trip encouraging AJ to find it. However once he found it, we were only walking a long for a minute before I realized secret passage ways are dark/terrifying and this is how all the scary movies start. Once we reached a roadblock, I booked it out of there so fast that it could almost be believed I had the walking speed of a tall athletic person. AJ is going to be able to tease me for months.

Back on the King’s Highway we came into Wadi Musa, the landscape of Petra. IT IS CRAZY! As AJ was said “it’s unlike any landscape I’ve ever seen. & trust me I’ve seen a lot of landscapes.” He made fun of me for running out of the secret tunnel so I may tease him for that slightly pretentious statement ;P. It looks like we are in Mars, with canyon walls that looks like stacks of pink, orange and purple balls. We did a brief stop at little Petra (reductive Nabatean sculptures! So much archaeology carved into the walls!) and then it was off to our next hotel to rest up for PETRA TOMORROW (*airhorn siren*)!! Many people travel to Jordan just to visit this wonder of the world. We’ll report back after our visit!

With love,

AJ (scaredy cat) & AJ (seen a lot of landscapes)

[ajholdsamb]

Jordan Day One

Marhaba from Amman, Jordan! Today is my first day. I met up with guy AJ after he had completed a month and a half of field work in the Jordanian desert. AJ was working at a really cool Paleolithic site called Haranah 4, which he’ll tell you more about another time. It was convenient that he already knew his way around because he was able to pick me up at the airport at 12:30 am, after a quick 25 hour journey over here. (I flew Emirates for the 16 hour leg and it was fancy y’all!) Our driver was someone AJ has worked with through out the trip and he let us know that he is very lucky that his wife is a good cook, except he is unlucky because she does not cook him desserts. We didn’t let him know we’re doubly unlucky because neither AJ nor I cook well. Maybe we’ll pick up some tips in Jordan.

Ancient Amman was a city of seven hills, each hill with its own distinct neighborhood. Those hills now make up the center of the city of 4 million people. The Citadel is on top of one of the hills and from it you can get great panoramic views of Amman. Even though it has grown, it is still a city all in white, with many of its building hewn out of a beautiful limestone.

The Citadel was the center of Amman during its Greco-Roman period. It is a good example of the Roman colonizing “package” (the system they would install wherever the conquered) and included a market place and impressive temple of Hercules, and a nearby amphitheater.

They have a neat little museum on site but my favorite part was from when after the Romans were ousted- the Umayyad mosque and palace complex. It had a copper roof that had gone teal with age, intricate stone work and would be a sick crib for important peeps back in the day. From the Citadel here you can could also see the truly gigantic Jordan flag (416 feet tall!!!) But to be fair you can see that flag from much of the city. If you’re visiting but don’t have much time I recommend visiting this site to see a good cross section of the history. We had it almost to all to ourselves which we were confused about until we realized that it was 2pm in the middle of the summer and most people were inside avoiding the heat. (Just so my mom doesn’t worry the heat only got to 91 degrees today- so it wasn’t too bad).

After a quick taxi mixup where we got dropped off a 30 minute walk away from our next destination, we made it to the Jordan Museum! As a side note, the Ubers have been really convenient and nice in Jordan so if you have cell service they are definitely preferable to taxis. Oddly enough almost no one was here either so we had the museum to ourselves! The bottom floor had tons of well done exhibits, starting with the Paleolithic and Neolithic (including these eerie Ain Ghazal statues, (think one body two heads, surprised faces) which are some of the earliest known large scale human figurines in the world) and ending with the Dead Sea Scrolls (which were found in the 1940s are some of the oldest copies of biblical text).

The top of floor is an interactive museum about the many inventions that came from the Middle East. It is meant for kids which means that AJ and I had a blast. He tried to fly & perform surgery, while I tried to join the house of knowledge through an virtual quiz game. And now, in the spirit of that floor of the museum here is a random list of a couple of things invented in the Middle East: Surgery, toothbrush, algebra (boo), coffee (yay!), university, clocks, flying machines, cameras, musical notation & maps.

From there we had a walk straight up 1,000 steps to eat at Sufra on Rainbow street. Rainbow street has a lot of shops and cafes, as well as little corners where people will just come to hang out. Sufra felt like an oasis, with palm trees, a fountain, and bougainvillea surrounding the courtyard. Dinner was many mini vegetarian dishes served with pita bread fresh from the oven. We were home before nightfall and it was a great first day. Tomorrow we’re off on the Kings Road!

With love,

AJ & AJ

[ajholdsamb]

#gif

[ajholdsamb]

Irish Midlands

After a great night of sleep in our southern Air BNB we were off to the midlands. Our first stop was the world famous Blarney Castle. This place was BUSTLING, but for good reason- it was a Disneyland like estate with a bunch of activities to complement the main attraction, which is the Blarney Stone. The Blarney Stone is famous for allegedly giving those brave enough to make the trek to the top of the castle and lean out over the parapets to kiss it- the gift of eloquence. A lot of the sassy signs along the way helped clear up the difference between Blarney (ie the ability to be a eloquent and persuasive talker like asking telling a woman you think she looks vibrant and beautiful) and baloney (false lies like telling an 90 year old woman she looks 15). The Blarney Stone was set into the castle tower in 1446, but there are many interesting legends that exist surrounding it’s origins. It’s mystical powers were allegedly first revealed to Cormac McCarthy in the 1300’s by a witch his family had saved from drowning. Kissing the stone is no easy feat, it is at the top of a castle with a narrow stair caste over a hole a person could definitely fall through. Now days they have rails and safeguards installed, but back in the day people did risk life and limb for the legend. Surrounded by a wave of tourists (many seeming to be fellow Americans) I was surprised at how scary kissing the stone actually was. You lie on your back, grab some rails, and then with a worker supporting your back you lean down across a two foot gap to kiss the stone. I’m short so this meant I had to scoot out so from my hips up we’re over the gap, and with the fall being about 37 feet, it did get my heart racing.

Next we explored some of the Blarney castle grounds including the really fun but suspicious rock close with a variety of “Druid sites.” I have quotation marks there because the stories behind these sites is almost certainly baloney, but it was fun nonetheless and the gardens were beautiful. There was a lot more to do that we didn’t have time for, but this would be a great site to take a family. Even though many of the stories surrounding the place seem to be myths and exaggerations, there’s something that seems truly Irish about getting lost in a good tale.

Lunch was at a local Chinese restaurant (which there are a ton of in Ireland?) and then it was off to the rock of Cashel. Guy AJ claimed this site looked like Hogwarts, and he was not wrong. The hill of Cashel was the seat of the ancient kings of Munster, until 1101 when King Briain donated it to the church. It is a beautiful fusion of medieval architecture and Celtic art, with a collection of grand buildings and intricate stonework. Up next we visited another castle called the rock of Dunamase, which I’ll let guy AJ tell you about.

Here’s why it’s hard to storm a castle: it’s really steep, you’re wearing restrictive clothing, and the sides are covered in thorn bushes. I learned all of this firsthand at the Rock of Dunamase. We get there Friday afternoon and at this point in the trip AJ’s seen like 14 castles and driven for countless hours and is ready for a shower. But here’s a trick for your marriage, sometimes if you ask to go to one more castle, they’ll say “ok as long as I get to stay in the car and work on the blog” so it works out because your partner gets to chill and you get to go to all the dangerous parts without them knowing.

So I storm the castle. I’ve stormed castles before, but this one was a doozy. It was built by the Normans, who weren’t just great at invading, but also occupying an area by building massive castles, the likes of which had never been seen. At the time of the 12th century Norman invasion, castles didn’t really exist in Ireland. The closet thing the Irish chiefs had were small wood forts atop earthen mounds that may have been enclosed by a small wood fence. Imagine being an Irish warlord at the time, gazing up at a Norman fortress 30, maybe 40, feet tall, with stone walls up to 10 feet thick, and trying to hold any hope that you could defeat these guys. Trim castle, which we visited later in our trip, is a Norman castle over 100 feet tall, making it the tallest thing for dozens of miles.

Did the Normans need to build their castles this big and tall? I don’t think it was necessary for military purposes. Half their size would still be formidable. Rather, I think they were built as statements. Their size conveys a sense of hopelessness, that it would be impossible to win, and that the power and wealth of the occupiers are immensely greater than those of the native rulers. They were built to make the Irish soldier drop his sword before it wasn’t even raised. Of course that didn’t happen and many battles were waged, but neither of the Norman castles we saw were ever taken by force by the Irish.

Anyway, the Rock of Dunamase is hard to storm. I wandered down what looked like a path toward a cool rear wall of the castle with wonderful stone arches. I get down to the arches and snap some photos and feel pretty great. I’m on the side of a hill, overlooking a huge valley with fields of yellow and green that extend to the horizon. I turn to head back up, but the “trail” I was on is little more than a deer path and I stumble on my first step on the smooth grasses. Ok, can’t go but so I go sideways. Same grass, same problem and I slide down another 5 feet. I try to claw my way up to the edge of the castle, but it’s a castle wall and to figure it’s impossible to climb. So I’m stuck. I go back and forth for a little while, some families look at me with curiosity from the top of the castle wall then move along, all this time I’m covering myself in thorns and thistles and thinking sandals were a bad choice. But imagine trying to do that in armor, with a 20 pound axe, and shoes with less grip than my rainbows. I’da been so dead.

After getting lost on some tricky roads, we got to our next accommodation which ended up being our favorite! We were staying in an AirBNB in Portlaoise aptly named the “Animal Adventure House.” They has a lake, a bonfire station surrounded by fairy lights, ducks, pheasant, bunnies, horses , guinea pigs, a horse, a pirates ship, and emus?! We also had a full kitchen, so we were able to change the pace up by cooking in. We then enjoyed roasting s’mores, some Irish folklore curtesy of WB Yeats and a campfire.

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The South Coast

Sad to leave my new found animal friends, we started our journey to the south coast of Ireland. Today was a longer car ride, but we had some fun archaeological and nature pit stops along the way. I’ll let guy AJ tell you about the archeology in a bit. One of my favorite parts of the day was exploring Dursey Island, which is accessed through Irelands only cable car. Though 6 people do inhabit this island, the main attractions are gorgeous isolated hikes, some sad history, and lots of sheep (and consequently TONS of sheep poop). The cable car is extremely slow carrying only 6 people (or one cow) at a time, but provides some nice views along the way. There was a surprisingly long queue to get on the island, but once you were there you felt very isolated as there were a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. You can do a three to four hour long hike across the whole island, but we chose to make our own trail. AJ explored the archaeological sites and I took in the views. Our favorite spot was a little mermaid like grotto where guy AJ actually took a dip and the water was warmish! Not Southern California warm, but definitely swimmable.

Now here is the update from guy AJ-We’re waiting for the cable car on Dursey Island and just out of sight are the foundations of a fort razed to the ground in 1602 by an English warship and 300 villagers, the entire island’s population, killed in the battle or executed. It’s truly a terrifying history, and I wonder if I’m feeling it more after the ancestry dna kit put me at 60% scotch Irish. But in any case, all of this made it easier to root against England in the World Cup game last night. Go Croatia?

Another thing, feel free to cut AJ, are stone circles. I love stone circles, and so should you. At about when the events of the Old Testament were unfolding, Ireland was a pagan paradise, and people constructed these mini stone henges in the most beautiful locations. At that time, much of the island would have been forested, and it is fun to imagine ceremonies conducted in the center of a forest clearing during a solstice or something. Today they appear quite mysterious and a little spooky even. I was wandering through the forest trying to find one today while AJ was reading at a stream and got mildly lost and faced down a sinister looking goat and thought it might be a pagan god or something and ran away. I still have a lot to learn about Neolithic Ireland.

Thanks guy AJ! We then made the two hour trek to our AirBnB near Skirbereen. They helped us sneak in for the last possible time to get food at 9:50 at Mary Ann’s in Castletownsend. I want to mention the name of the restaurant because it was one of my favorite meals in Ireland so far! The best part was the sticky toffee pudding which neither AJ nor I had ever had before. If you ever happen to be in this extremely tiny town in Ireland (our waiter described it as “you fart and the whole town knows”) we highly recommend it!

With love,

AJ squared

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Killin’ it in Killarney

We spent two nights at a gorgeous Airbnb in Killarney. Killarney is adorable and there is a ton to do there so I’d recommend a visit for anyone making the trek out to Ireland. If that doesn’t convince you, I’ll have to let you know that it was voted Ireland’s “TIDIEST Town of 2011” (we’ve seen other tidy towns, but not a winner of the prestigious title of TIDIEST).

After seeing a lot of rocks and ruins, we had a girl AJ excursion, aka a “walk with hawks” aka learning about and experiencing falconry. I didn’t know I wanted to experience falconry before we started planning this trip, but it was the number one recommended thing for Killarney on TripAdvisor and actually turned out to be a big deal in the area. I LOVED our tour. It was just us and our nice guide John who brought out Meeko, a Harris hawk right away. We learned that hawks cannot be domesticated but since Meeko’s breed hunt in packs they can be trained to “man up” and work with trainers. He was flying up in the trees and eating from our hands within minutes. Seeing such a powerful bird is equal parts exhilarating and awe inspiring. People have been practicing falconry for about 3,000 years and it was commonplace as recently as WWI when falcons would be used to intercept intel from carrier pigeons. With that long history, it turns out a lot of our colloquialisms can be traced back to falconry including:

-Under her thumb (how you hold a falcon’s leash)

-Old codger (person who would carry a group of falcons)

-Take up a hobby (a hobby is a kind of falcon, so this meant picking up a new bird)

-Fed up (when a falcon was full so they wouldn’t want to do any more training or tricks)

Next up were the owls! We got to meet two 12 week old barn owls, Rocko and Ziggy. Unlike the hawk, they liked being petted and shown affection! They even gave each other kisses which was as adorable as it sounds. FYI barn owls feathers are super soft because that helps them fly silently, but also because it makes them more cuddly.

After that we went on a hike. We started off by trying to drive through the Gap of Dunloe, but that is only open to horse drawn carriages and bikes- not our fancy new fangled automatic mobile. So we ended up doing the Torc waterfall hike which was wonderful. Killarney is a town in a valley with one of Ireland’s few natural remaining forests and several lakes, so throughout our hike we were able to get some great views through our the forest. Guy AJ likes to take his own path, so we ended up going the wrong way on the one way trail. However it definitely made the 3 hour hike more bearable when we got to go down the “9 million steps” rather than up them (this stair estimate from one of the exhausted people we passed who had gone the correct way and climbed UP the stairs).

Afterwards, we only had to drive five minutes to get to our next stop- The Muckross House and traditional farms. The Muckross House is a 65 room Tudor mansion built by a local family who helped popularize Killarney as a tourist destination. It was later bought by a wealthy American who gave it to the newly formed country of Ireland in 1932, making it Ireland’s first National Park.

It is a beautiful and lavish estate, and the tour provided lots of insights into Victorian life in Ireland. For example, they have these little shields on stands near the fire in the drawing room. These were used to help ladies “save face” or not have their lead/wax foundation melt off when they needed to get warm by the fire. Perhaps my favorite detail about the castle is the reason it is so lavishly appointed. The original owner Henry Arthur Herbert found out that Queen Victoria was going to be coming to stay with them. He wanted to impress her in the hopes of getting a title, so luckily she gave him a wee bit of notice so that he’d have time to fancy up his crib... about 6 years of notice. Henry spent all those 6 years and all about his savings preparing, but it went well & Queen Victoria really enjoyed her two night stay.

They also have a working farm on site, with living history actors performing traditional farming duties like tending the field, black smithing, raising cattle, etc. My favorite part of this whole experience was they had a series of baby animals that you could visit, including piglets, donkeys, sheep, calves, bunnies, puppies, kittens, goats, and chicks. Some were in pens, but a lot were just wandering around which made it seem more idyllic and something that could definitely not happen in lawsuit prone USA.

Dinner was at the delicious restaurant of Murphy’s in downtown Killarney, while we read classic Irish folktales. We got a drink at labyrinth like O’Reedys while live music played and the World Cup was on. It was a very good day.

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The Dingle Peninsula

Despite its hilarious name, the Dingle Penisula is quite gorgeous. Dingle is located on the southwest coast or Ireland. It is more recently well known for housing some of the filming locations for the most recent Star Wars. We didn’t have a particular spot in mind to visit, today was more about taking in the scenery on the journey. The drive was gorgeous, our first introduction to the peninsula began with a glacier cut valley filled with lakes and waterfalls. We pulled off to the side of the road a couple of times for some mini hikes because it was just jaw dropping beautiful. Then we managed to find the obscure Gallarus Oratory, a stone hut which is thought to be one of the earlierst churches in the area. At this point we continued on throughout the peninsula to see a vast array of views. Sometimes there was a cliff on one side, a rock wall on the other, and a semi coming the other way but it was worth it. My favorite lookout was a turquoise inlet with not one, but two sea caves! I know we are in the Atlantic but the water was so clear it almost looked Caribbean. We ended the night with seafood and a sea view in Dingle, which until recently only had signs in Irish. Before that we also hit a sea side castle, which I’ll have guy AJ explain.

Girl AJ has asked me to write about “all the other archaeology things” so it’s her fault that you’re bored. I’d like to pick up on ill feelings toward the English, because there’s much to discuss. We visited another castle at the mouth of the Shannon river called Carrigafoyle Castle. In the late 1500s was surrounded by an English force of 600. The castle was defended by 30-odd Irish and 17 Spanish soldiers and some of their wives. They held out for 3 days until a cannon was put in position on a hill to the west that blew off an entire face of the tower house. The hole is still there and makes for dramatic photos. After the castle fell, the survivors were hung. This “remember the Alamo” story is repeated almost everywhere we go.

The driving was not for the faint of heart but it was a lovely day and I’m really looking forward to our excursions tomorrow in Killarney!

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Ruins, Rocks, & Tiny Roads

Our first really exploring day in Ireland was a jam packed one. Guy AJ has very kindly planned this trip for us so you can bet there is a ton of cool features for the archaeologically and geologically inclined. After a fuel stop where we had to use charades even though we were both speaking English (our accents were so incomprehensible to each other) we were ready to go.

Our first stop was the Dysert O’Dea Castle (pronounced diesert o dee) and archaeological park. Located at the edge of the Burren, this was a tower house built in the late 15th century by the local ruling family. Tower houses are all over the country, and their design and condition reflect Ireland’s tumultuous past. Unlike the large castles of England or the fairytale fortresses of Germany, Irish tower houses are small and unadorned, built only to protect the family inside. Ireland was never really ruled by a central government, so each local ruler built a tower house to defend himself against his neighbors. In the 16th century, England doubled down on its efforts to add Ireland to the empire, and many tower houses were destroyed from this violence, including part of the castle we saw. The Irish put up fight after fight, and the murder hole above the entrance, where defenders would drop boiling water and stones on the attackers, was a gruesome reminder of the death to occur here before it became such a picturesque tourist location. Seeing sites like this, and the many other ruined forts that dot the countryside, make you appreciate the raw feelings here toward England.

It was rebuilt in the 1980’s and 90s by a descendant of O’Dea- an American from Ohio with the last name O’Day. It was really well done for a private archaeological site. I particularly enjoyed pursuing the top tower and looking out at the rolling green hills. In the surrounding fields there are several other sites you can walk to. The first site we saw was the High Cross or “St. Tola’s cross.” It was created by monks in the 12th century, and local people would make pilgrimages out to it. One side has a relief of a Bishop (possibly St. Tola) and the other side has a crucifixion scene. For centuries locals would remove and use the head of Jesus to cure tooth aches until one of the later owners cemented it on to prevent theft. We could also explore the overgrown Victorian Synge lodge (this family got their name after Henry VIII heard them sing in church), and peer at the Dysert church from 734 ad. We couldn’t enter there because there was a funeral taking place. This highlighted how alive the history is here- the ruins are public places that are still in use.

Next we went on a hike in the Burren National Park. We didn’t much know what to expect from this area because we couldn’t find much online but it was BEAUTIFUL. Otherworldly, with grey limestone rock jutting out at odd angles like a lunar landscape with a serene pale blue lake at the bottom of the hill. It didn’t look much like my mental image of Ireland, no rolling green hills, forests or pastures, but if you’re in the area I’d highly recommend it. My only recommendation would be to drive past the first trail head, to where you can see the mountain. There is plenty of parking on the side of the road and it saves you about a 3/4s mile walk on the gravel road without much of a view.

While on this hike AJ taught me about the histories of the Irish people, the Scottish people, and the English people and how they diverged. I knew they didn’t like each other, but from an American’s perspective I feel like they often get lumped together and I wasn’t sure why England was the one to eventually take over both Ireland and Scotland. AJ explained that England was conquered by Romans, who were obsessed with order and as such they turned into a more cohesive entity with a central ruling government. On the other hand, Ireland and Scotland remained more or less unconquered with smaller local clans. Then they battled for centuries, and when the English did overtake Ireland and Scotland they tried to stamp out a lot of culture as well as people. An example of this is how they made it illegal to speak Irish or hold office if you were Catholic. It reminds me somewhat of what white American settlers did to Native Americans, although we would kidnap children. This conversation helped highlight some of the remaining animosity. An much less intense analogy could be if people thought that all the people who went to school in LA got along, when in reality USC and UCLA hate each other.

Up next we went to

Poulnabrone dolmen, a Neolithic portal tomb. I had actually heard about this from one of my good friends from here visit to Ireland. She had mentioned being disappointed by it because all the marketing material make it appear 45 feet tall, when in reality it is only 6 feet. Since it was on our way anyways we stopped by and having our expectations appropriately lowered, it was cool to see the evidence of people occupying this area between 4200 BC and 2900 BC .

Next was Ailwee cave, which was well marketed and well staffed (our tour guide had a PhD in Paleontology). It was in the news recently for the discovery of a 10,000 year old Bear Skull. My favorite part was the Goonies like cave waterfall and AJs might have been all the fossils.

Last but not least were the Cliffs of Moher. These are one of the most famous sites in Ireland, and as such I was glad AJ had planned ahead. He had gotten us tickets online the day before (which is cheaper), with a visiting window of 4-9 and the idea that it might be slightly less crowded and have nice light later in the day. It was still crowded, but we were able to get some good unobstructed views by hiking to the right along the cliff, past the official site. There is a trail there, but I still had a couple of mini heart attacks just seeing AJ so close to a 700 foot cliff. However it did live up to the hype, and it was STUNNING- dramatic sheer golden faces going straight into the sea and extending for 5 miles. It would be easy to believe in magic with views such as that.

We stayed until it closed at 9:00, and despite our worries actually made the hour drive home without our gps(aka my phone, whose battery had died) because Ireland has surprisingly good signage. The only problem was all the restaurants had stopped serving food. I normally eat at 5:30 pm and fall asleep by 8:30, so this usually wouldn’t be a problem. But lots of people were still out and about and the sun wasn’t fully set so this was a surprise. Luckily we were able to find an open Chinese take out spot, and after several runs through the Dromoland inn’s labyrinth like halls due to a demagnetized key card we were able to eat and crash. It was a wonderful exploring day.

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Dromoland Castle & the ruins of the church in Quinn