Madaba, Roman Ruins, and Departure--10/15--18, 2023

The highlight of our time in Madaba was our visit to the well-preserved and restored Roman ruins of Jerash.

After checking into the Salome Hotel in Madaba, we took a walk to the Byzantine Saint George Church.

In this church, we saw some remarkable mosaics of the fourth-century church, which included a mosaic map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

The following morning we took a drive north past Amman to Jerash, once one of the grandest, ancient Roman cities in the world that existed over 2,000 years ago. It is one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world.  It declined rapidly following an earthquake in 747 and was only rediscovered in 1878 with the arrival of the Circassians from Russia.  Its archaeological value was quickly recognized and excavation began and continues to to date.

We started at Hadrian’s Arch with a group photo and then proceeded along the walkway until we came to the huge Hippodrome used for Roman games.

Hippodrome

We then came to the Forum with its many columns that curved around the forum which also contained the Temple of Zeus.

Once again, Musa took a group shot at the Forum forum following his wonderful talk about the Roman complex here.

After that, we were free to wander about the area, and I continued my walk past the following historical attractions.

The Cardo Maximus--Main Street

The Byzantine Cathedral--455--749 AD

 The Nyphonaum--190 AD, was built to provide water for the baths and drinking water and came from a nearby reservoir.

Sanctuary of Artemis

North Theater

Temple of Artemis

South Theater

Temple of Zeus

We ended our tour at Hadrian’s Arch just as the big storm clouds were looming up overhead. we then passed through the nearby bazaar on our way to our bus and route back to our hotel.

That evening we had our final dinner and of course, Musa did his group shot with us at the Fokar & Bhar Restaurant where Musa treated us to plate after plate of delicious mezzes including baba ghanoush, hummus, falafel, shrimp, kofta, vegetables, and other tasty delights.  I was too busy eating to take good pictures of the food offerings.

Just after leaving the restaurant, Musa took his final group shot along with the Fokar & Bhar Restaurant two owners.

Some left late at night or early morning and four of us left around noon on October 17th for the Queen Alia International Airport just 20 minutes away in the desert.

My Turkish Air flight left at around 3 o’clock to Istanbul and arrived there around 6 PM.  After dinner, I wandered about a bit and found some comfortable lounge chairs where I could read and watch the other planes arrive and depart.  

I needed some sleep so I checked out the Istanbul airport hotel and the cost was over $320 USD I looked around a bit and came across these sleep pods where the cost was just under $100, so I used one for a very good night's sleep until morning.

I enjoyed some Turkish coffee along with my mango drink and mushroom omelet and again enjoyed sitting in the lounge chairs waiting for my October 18th, 2 pm Turkish Air flight back home to Seattle—a 13-hour flight over Greenland and northern Canada.

When I arrived in Seattle at 4:30 PM I caught the light rail back to downtown Seattle under a beautiful clear, crisp sky with Mt. Rainier welcoming me home.  Very cold but a beautiful end to my Egypt-Jordan 2023 adventure.

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