Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In contrast, at the foot of the Citadel hill was a large and steeply raked Roman theatre cap-
able of seating about 6,000 people. The structure was in quite good condition and oriented
north, apparently to keep the sun off the seated spectators.
From the Citadel to the Roman theatre, you needed to negotiate a twisted series of steep
steps that spawned numerous dark shadowed stairways running back up into the rank upon
rank of housing clinging to the side of the steep hill. All of it steeped in the characteristic
smell of raw sewage wafting across the huddled dwellings.
The Roman theatre was large with a park fronting the perimeter wall where families were
taking it easy, with kids running up and down and creating a high level of noise and activ-
ity. There were also small groups of young men and women sitting together on the rising
steps of the theatre.
The young women were generally wearing headscarves and some were wearing the veil. I
found this a little surprising, having been given the impression that the majority of women
in Amman would not be so attired.
Refreshments were provided by several teasellers wandering through the site, wearing a
belt of glasses around their waist and carrying large insulated containers of hot water.
Tomorrow, being Friday and the Muslim day of prayer, it is expected that most things will
be closed. Although, it is possible the Souk will be operating and there will be an oppor-
tunity for a walk-through.
Dinner at the hotel was scheduled for rather late, so a couple of us began hunting around in
the immediate neighbourhood to get something sooner. The pickings were not good. There
was a nearby amusement park, called Luna Park, with a popular pizza parlour close by. It
was so popular you couldn't get served. It was noisy and hot and after admitting defeat we
bought some pastries and retreated to the hotel for the late meal.
The travel group was beginning to gather and to my concern I heard mention of numbers
considerably greater than the ten or twelve I had originally been led to believe. It also
emerged that the tour would actually start in Aqaba rather than Amman.
The Souk was relatively small and, from my perspective, the only point of interest was a
street vendor with a number of English language books, particularly school text books, laid
out on the pavement. There were several quite interesting items, but not what I was looking
for at the time.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search