Rainy day in Amman

Our first full day in Amman was supposed to be spent doing a private driving tour of the area. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It didn't get out of the 40s today, and the was heavy rain and snow flurries until about 3 PM. Fortunately, the tour company was able to move the tour back until tomorrow when the weather will be much better. So, today we did some indoor activities instead.

First, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet here at the Sheraton Amman. I upgraded our room to a Club Room, which includes free breakfast, afternoon snacks, and evening cocktails. This has already proven to be an excellent decision. The breakfast buffet is the best I have EVER seen!

Of course there are eggs and omelettes cooked to order, plus the European cold cuts and cheese, and the Arabic  vegetables, flat bread and grilled halloumi cheese (which we are becoming very fond of!). The pastry section is also well stocked (they had several kinds of croissants and at least 6 kinds of jam) and there is a smoothie bar, and every kind of coffee imaginable. And real pork sausage and bacon hidden off to the side of the hot items! YUM! We thoroughly enjoyed it all, and we weren't even hungry for lunch.

I had heard about The Jordan Museum online, and it was a short cab ride from our hotel, so we decided to check it out. The Jordan Museum

Admission was only 5 JD each, which was a real bargain. The museum covers all of the region's history from prehistoric times until the Great Arab Revolt 100 years ago. We both really enjoyed learning more about the area, especially the Nabateans (who built Petra), and the Greek and Roman occupations. Our World History classes back in high school barely scratched the surface of this time period, and there was so much to see and learn.

They also had a very good exhibit about the Bedouin tribes! We took our time, and we ended up spending about 3 hours there.

Tonight's dinner was at Naranj, which is the Amman location of Sean's favorite classy restaurant from Kuwait City. We were happy to find that it was only a short cab ride from the hotel, and right around the corner from the US Embassy.

 

The food here was very good! Sean had his usual lamb chops, and I had a hot pot with stuffed grape leaves and sliced lamb. We shared a fattoush salad and hummus with lamb and pine nuts. This was one of the best meals we had on the entire trip!

We shared a plate of Jordanian sweets, and had tea for dessert. The round balls were coconut, and they were my favorite! The Jordanians love their sweets, and it's easy to see why. 

On the way back from dinner, our cab driver asked if we wanted to stop in a shop for souvenirs. Sure! I bought a beautiful blue embroidered scarf, and a hand painted camel bone box with horses on it.

When we got outside, the cab had a flat tire! Fortunately, we were just down the street from our hotel, so we told the cab driver it was no big deal, and we walked back. We made it in time to enjoy drinks in the Club lounge, too!