Around the World: Tala goes to Jordan

Hello everyone,

It’s been more than a week since I came back from my first trip for the summer but it feels as if it was yesterday. I had the time of my life. It was amazing! I was planning on spending some good times and making happy memories but the experience totally exceeded my expectations. Today, I will share with you some of my golden moments in Jordan…

Golden moment #1: Dinner at Haret Jdoudna – Madaba

My 3 girlfriends and I arrived to Jordan in the late afternoon and the cousins of our host (and amazing friend who came up with the trip’s idea to begin with) came to pick us up at the airport with their friend. After resting for a while and attending Sunday’s holy mass, it was time for us to eat. So we went to this nice little place called “Haret Jdoudna” where we had many Jordanian Mezza platters… the food was good and the company was too… but there was this annoying one man show who sang as high as he could and made us scream to hear each other.

Golden moment #2: Visit to Mount Nebo and La Storia Museum - Madaba

 

On the second day of our Jordanian stay, we had to visit Mount Nebo where God showed Moses the land he would never reach. It was a nice visit. The site is very beautiful, elevated on a mountain from which one can see the Dead Sea and all the surroundings. But the church was closed for renovation and that’s why we couldn’t visit it.

After the Mount Nebo visit, we went to the La Storia Museum where there are many wax statues placed in various sceneries from the Bible and others placed in a mini traditional village that illustrates the different traditional activities, coffee shops, food market, etc. After the tour in the museum, we entered a small room where something big is being prepared: The world’s biggest mosaic stone portrait (which is going to enter the Guinness World Records Book). Being museum visitors, we got to write our names on a piece of mosaic stone and then glue it… that way we we took part in this huge achievement.

Golden Moment #3: Dinner at Blue Fig – Amman

For our second night, we decided to go for a night out in the city. So we watched a football game at the Hyundai Fan Park - Amman then went to have dinner at Blue Fig. I loved this place. The setting is amazing: you have those pretty little candles on each table and so clients can have a very nice and romantic candlelit dinner. You also have this trendy bar at the end of the terrace with dimmed lights and all kinds of drinks. The food is also amazing at this place. I went for a balsamic chicken with roasted vegetables on the side and skinny French fries. It all tasted delicious.

Golden moment #4: Downtown Amman and Al Hachem Falafel Restaurant

On day 3 of our vacation, we left Madaba and went to Amman because our host wanted to show us the difference between downtown Beirut and downtown Amman… and it was worth it. There is a hugeeee difference between both of them. While downtown Beirut is very luxurious and sophisticated with many international brands stores, downtown Amman is a very popular place and its souk is a very traditional one with small boutiques that sell handmade products or cheap souvenirs. The real problem in downtown Amman is that there is no place to park. I literally mean that. There are no parkings. Not a single one. And you cannot park your car on the side of the road because you’ll get a ticket. So if you do want to visit downtown Amman, I suggest you take a cab or go by bus to spare yourself a lot of unnecessary stress. After our little shopping in the souk, we got really hungry and so Layal, our host,  took us to Al Hachem. This falafel restaurant is known because King Abdullah II of Jordan comes and eats in it. It isn’t actually a real restaurant. It’s more of a sidewalk snack. Anyways, we got the falafel, the bread and the hommos from the restaurant and went to eat them in front of Amman’s Amphitheatre. We just sat there on a public bench: five girls and a bag of falafels. Things were great…

Golden moment #5: Dead Sea

 

That was one moment we were all waiting for… Sun, sand, beach and fun… My girlfriends and I really needed this time to relax and chill… We stayed for one night at the Winter Valley Warwick Resort and Spa. It was not as good as we expected…the electricity wasn’t very stable and so some of our chargers got burnt, we couldn’t reach the beach easily and we had to take a shuttle bus to do so, we only had breakfast there… there were many choices but the food wasn’t that good. At the end it didn’t really mattered but still, we were a little bit disappointed.

Golden moment #6: Petra

Our stay was coming to an end, but there was one important thing we needed to do: visit Petra. It was far from Madaba so we had to wake up early, make some sandwiches for the road and get going. It took us three hours to get there. Then, we walked for 45 min and got to the Petra Treasury. It was sunny and hot but we were 4 girls and 3 guys walking side by side, laughing and taking pictures… so the time went fast and we didn’t even get tired. The view was breathtaking. The Treasury is immense and very imposing and the fact that the interior is closed to the public makes things even more interesting… it makes you wonder what there really is inside and what people used to hide there…. Mystery all the way…

Golden moment #7: Mansaf

 

Few hours before we left Jordan, Layal's aunt invited us to taste a typical Jordanian meal: Mansaf. It’s actually rice with meat and a kind of yogurt called “Jamid”. It’s served in a large platter and everyone stands around it to eat. Men usually eat first and women take what’s left. One has to stand with one hand behind his back and eat with the other one. After being in the right position, one must dig a small hole in the platter right in front of him and then one must make a ball of rice in the palm of his hand and knead it.  Once it’s homogenous, it can be eaten.

As you can see, I only stayed in Jordan for 6 days which are really not enough to visit everything in this beautiful country. My friends and I tried our best to visit as many places as possible and to make the best out of every moment of this wonderful vacation… So everyday it was like getting up at 8 and sleeping at 2am. I actually went to Jordan expecting to get some rest and some sleep that I really needed after the last semester at university but instead, I came back to Lebanon with a huge need to sleep and many memorable moments and unforgettable memories….

Not to forget that this was my first visit to Jordan but it surely won’t be my last… there is a lot more that I need to see, many experiences that I have to live and a few people that I absolutely have to see again. My stay in Jordan was amazing because of those people and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. They are really generous and hospitable. Their presence made our vacation a very special one. So thank you Salameh, Malek and Jamil.

Most importantly thank you Layal, for the trip, for the good times, for everything. You’re the best and I miss you so much bella.

 

Hope you enjoyed today’s post…. Unfortunately it will be my last one for this month. I will get back to you in August :D

 

Enjoy your summer! 

-          Xoxo,

T