Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We were looking for a particular shop that sold several sought-after items. This required a
bit of hunting but after a couple of unsuccessful searches up near the St Ananias Chapel,
we decided it was hiding behind one of the closed shutters and decided to give it a miss.
Pushing on back up Straight Street I encountered English language newspapers for the first
time in Syria. They were at the front of the smallest and most improbable kiosk. I felt faint
at the thought of sitting down and immersing myself in what was happening around the
world, even though the news was several days old. It was also time for refreshments and
we entered quite a swish restaurant to get to the balcony we had espied on the first floor.
The meal was not particularly palatable, but it gave us an opportunity to rest the feet and
watch the goings on between a group of workmen who had parked their vehicles in slots
reserved for a nearby church. The workers clearly couldn't care less, and the priests were
trying to be considered and calm. Our meandering continued, enjoying the absence of any
pressure to be somewhere by some time.
We decided to check out a gallery that by our reckoning was a little out of town, requiring
a cab journey. The resulting experience was one of those reasons why one travels.
The cab headed to the outer suburbs through leafy streets and art deco style buildings, spoilt
somewhat by the profusion of satellite dishes on the facades.
We eventually found the gallery, which was closed. According to the Lonely Planet it
should have been open. Giving them the benefit of the doubt we went for a walk through
the nearby streets and returned; they were still closed. The guard, sitting in a small sentry
box across the road, shrugged his shoulders when we asked about opening times. At that
point we decided to give the gallery a miss and began walking, until, a short block away,
a passing motorist guessed our interest and stopped. He referred to the gallery by name,
indicating he would chase them by phone and so we returned, only to wait again.
Giving up on the gallery, we moved on to have a look around before heading back into
town. Every street was lined with cars. They were double and sometimes triple parked.
From time to time we would see cars with flat tyres and covered in dust. They seem to have
been abandoned.
We came to a busy square and saw the US Embassy, surrounded by a wall of bars 20
feet high, topped with barbwire. The buildings inside the compound were also topped with
barbwire.
