We are back in Egypt after an amazing trip to Jordan.

I apparently knew next to nothing about this beautiful country before landing in Amman last week, and was surprised again and again during our visit.  The archeological sites were obviously amazing, but the country itself was lovely.  In some ways, Amman looked a lot like Cairo–a patchwork of beige buildings and hazy skies–but rather than a vast expanse of these little tan washed-out cubes stretching as far as the eye can see, everything was spread across undulating hills, catching light and shadows, and providing a much needed visual break.  Oh, and there were awesome ruins everywhere.

Walking around Amman at night, hand in hand with my husband, it suddenly dawned on me how delightful it is to be able to walk, chin up, on a proper sidewalk.  I think there is a lot to be said for not having to watch your step everywhere you go for fear of breaking your ankle on the crumbling sidewalks, getting snagged on purely pointless barbed wire, crunching through broken glass and garbage, and of course minding the ridiculous traffic.  To look up, not down, while strolling along a level surface, is something I really used to take for granted.  Anyhow, walking along Rainbow Street in Amman, there was a lovely mix of shops, bars, and restaurants with everything ranging from shawarma to donuts to baklava to restaurants with ambiance and beautiful views of the city.

And this is just the modern city of Amman!  The sites were incredible!  We saw crusader castles, Roman and Ottoman ruins, Petra, the Dead Sea, the Jordan river, and the Sea of Galilee among other things.  I’ll be posting pictures soon, but here are a few of Jordan’s beautiful and varied landscape to get started.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  We returned home to Cairo on Saturday.  The typical chaos at the airport probably seemed all the more chaotic after being away, and on the drive home, a giant head of cabbage flew off of a truck in front of us and probably almost killed us.   And I laughed, because strangely, it is good to be home.