Portland is a very well run and welcoming city. A thing I especially liked was the ubiquitous bubblers. I consider bubblers a sign of civic virtue. Another unique feature is the free public transportation. Yes – free, at least within the city. That keeps down the traffic and makes the city more open.
You notice but do not immediately comprehend that all the buildings in the downtown area have retail space on the street level and even the streets near tall buildings are tree lined. This makes the city livelier and more pleasant. Nothing is so depressing for a city street than to have it made into a canyon of blank walls. I suppose the challenge is to keep stores in those many storefronts but it doesn’t have to be all retail. There were things like Bally’s and some offices.
Mariza and I had supper at Jake’s Grill. It was founded in the early part of the 20th Century. A lot of the buildings are from around then. They are well maintained. We had lunch at Old Town Pizza. Mariza wanted to go because she read that it was haunted. According to the story the place is haunted by the ghost of a prostitute murdered by her employers after she tried to get out of the business. I think they just made that up.
Below is Mariza on the Portland street. She saw a lot more of the city than I did, since she did not attend the tree farm conference. I hope she will contribute an entry.
This is the first of the out of sequence posts from Frankfurt. I will dump them in, but please look back a few posts when you come on these.
My sister believes in ghosts and she has what she purports to be a picture of one, so when I noticed the interesting – almost three dimensional – play of the light, I had to take a picture. Maybe I can sell it to “National Enquirer.”
The picture above is from Goethe’s house in Frankfurt. A believer in ghosts might well say that this was Goethe’s wife or maybe a serving girl. It seems a little small, but I suppose people were smaller in those days, or maybe you shrink when you turn into a ghost. You can easily imagine it as a woman in 18th century costume in profile. What do you think?
Frankfurt was the first city I visited outside the U.S. That was almost thirty years ago. Time flies. Things have changed in Frankfurt, but not that much. I use Euro instead of Deutsch Marks and the city seems more international than German. There are a lot of immigrants and Irish pubs.
I met three Irishmen in the youth hostel when I was here in 1979. They had checked into a hotel and went out to get drunk. That night, none of them could remember where their hotel was located and they still couldn’t – three days later. It didn’t bother them too much. They seemed to have money. During the day, they walked around the city trying to recognize their erstwhile lodging. At night, they went out and got drunk. Maybe they got stranded permanently and founded one of those Irish pubs.
The Irish wandered Europe and the world in those days looking for work. Germany was booming and they could find unskilled work. Today the Irish economy is one of the most vibrant in the world and the Germans envy their low unemployment rate. Ireland used to have high taxes and a government unfriendly too business. No more. It is now easy to set up shop in Ireland and the country has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world; it around 12% compared to the Germans’ (and ours) of around 35%. Some things change.
BTW – I heard that number on the debates today AFTER I wrote this. I guess I am topical.
But a picture is worth a thousand words. Below are some pictures with captions of less than a thousand words to explain them.
I was hungry most of the time when I visited Germany in 1979. I didn’t bring enough money, so I lost weight. One of my favorite dishes was goulash soup at Weinerwald. IT was cheap. I loved it. Hunger is the best cook and it doesn’t taste as good now as then, but I still eat it when I can, for old time’s sake. Below is what I like to eat now. This is breakfast at Courtyard. Much healthier food, but still enough fat to make it good. BTW – Courtyard Marriotts in Europe are great. They are usually in nice, wooded locations and they are not too expensive.
Even with my meager funds in 1979, I still could afford beer – liquid bread, cornflakes in a bottle. My favorite beer was Heniger, a local Frankfurt product. It still is good. The picture is from the old town square. It is great to sit in the sun on a cool day and drink a cool beer.
Es gibt kein schoneres leben
You can tell a good beer by the “cling”. Cling is the foam that adheres to the sides off the glass as you drink it down. It should look foamy, with small bubbles. If there is not much cling, the beer is too light. If the bubbles are too big, it probably means that the cup is a little dirty. Don’t order anything containing mayonnaise at that establishment. Below is good cling. The beer is Bitberger, with the slogan “bitte ein bit” – please a bit(berger). It doesn’t translate so well.
Germany has a good street culture, with lots of sidewalk cafes an food shops. This is typical of the bread and pastry shops. I couldn’t stay in Germany too long. The beer and chocolate would be too tempting.
This post is getting a little long. Let me continue in the next post.
P.S. It may seem like I drink a lot of beer. I don’t …usually. The Marines (and me) drink not a drop of it during deployment. I do like beer and during my time in dry and beer free Al Asad I developed an aching hunger for the liquid bread. As luck would have it, I spent a day in Germany on my way home. I saw my chances and I took ’em.
Im Himmel gibt’s kein Bier, Drum trinken wir es hier. Denn sind wir nicht mehr hier, Dann trinken die andern unser Bier.
I went down to Washington to meet Chrissy for lunch and took advantage of being there to see some of the memorials.
Washington is a truly beautiful city. There is a lot to see and it is all free. I corrected a German tourist who I overheard saying to a fellow European, “Americans have so little history that they have to make a bigger thing of so short a time.” I pointed out the truth that we Americans enjoy the OLDEST continuous government in the world after only the UK. We have not had a radical or violent overthrow of our government since 1776 and we have lived under the same Constitution – never suspended – since 1788. I asked him just to think about it. I didn’t point out that Germany was not a country until 1871 and that it went through some interesting changes after that.
Below is the new office building where I will work in 2009, although I bet I won’t get a good view of the Potomac.
Below is the same building in April. They are making good progress.
Many Europeans have a different and, IMO, mistaken view of history. They fix on places and traditions instead of people. Some people live close to old things but no “people” or culture is older than any other. My mother’s family left the new Germany soon after Otto Von Bismarck’s unification thing in 1871. My father’s family left Poland (then subject to the Russian Empire) soon after. I am glad they did. When they came to America, they didn’t just set back the human clock to zero and start over. They added to America’s in a shared heritage. I have been to Germany. We make better sausages in Milwaukee, but they still make better beer.
BTW – I hear my great-grandfather used to imply that things were better in Germany. This made him unpopular during World War I. Of course he was not telling the truth. ALL immigrants think that America is better than the places they left, otherwise they would be there and not here. It is true even if they don’t want to admit it.
Below – Washington still has many big and beautiful American elms.
There is no such thing as a culture outside its human carriers. It is not resident in old buildings, the land or anything else non-human. Parents pass their culture on to their children and some cultural traits can be astonishingly long-lived, but each transition produces an imperfect copy. This is great. Otherwise the culture would be as dead as a rock. No two individuals have the same understanding of their culture. We talk about culture as thought it was something palpable, but it really is just a chimera and a very ephemeral one at that. Better to adapt the best things you can find rather than stick only with the adaptations that worked for your grandparents. Even the best things must be adapted. Living people adapt and so do living cultures. I think America does this well. I love our traditions and still feel a kind of excitement when I walk around the Capitol Mall, even though I done it literally hundreds of times. On the other hand, I would not want to be limited to the skills of Washington’s dentist.
Above is WWII memorial from behind.
Of course, I didn’t bore the European tourists with all that either. Germans usually have good teeth.
I thought of change and persistence as I walked past the World War II memorial. It is a new memorial, but it is so very well done and fits perfectly into the Mall that you would think it had been there forever. It commemorates the courage of my father’s generation. Each year there are fewer and fewer of them. Their courage is something worth passing along.
There is one simple tradition that seems to be disappearing – bubblers.* There are still bubblers on the Mall. There used to be lots of bubblers around generally, now not so much. I suppose they are trouble to maintain. Vandals break them or put gum in the spigots. But I think the culture has taken a small wrong turn in not keeping those things around. A bubbler is an obvious symbol of civic virtue. Everybody gets to have something everybody needs and it is available to all. The symbolism is one of the reason that separate bubblers were so offensive during the time of Jim Crow. Now people sell bottles of water. Everybody carries a bottle of water around to “hydrate”. I would rather have the bubblers.
The kids like Busch Gardens because of the roller-coasters. I like them too, but good amusement parks are places where you see experimental urban planning techniques and methods of cueing control. First the amusments.
Along side is Espen arm wresting the machine. He won, but it still cost 50 cents.
We went on the new ride called the Griffon. It has a fantastic vertical drop. Roller-coasters keep getting better. I recall the first time I went to Busch Gardens about twenty years ago. The best they could do back then was the Loch Ness Monster. My favorite is Apollo’s Chariot because you feel like you are going to fly out when you hit the high points.
The park is designed around a European theme. They have Italy, Germany, England, Ireland and France. Busch Gardens in Florida has an Africa theme.
Below is the Ireland part of Busch Gardens.
Now for the urban planning. Amusement parks create the illusions of space and distance. They do this by using travel time and changes of venue. Most of us cannot measure straight line distance very well. Instead, we use the proxies of time and effort. We also notice changes in scenery, especially when we pass through some kind of threshold such as a bridge, arch or gate. When you walk between and among the various parts of a well designed park, you never get to go the straight line. You often have to take some kind of transportation, usually a train, that makes it seem like you are embarking on a journey. You also cross a lot of thresholds. Bridges, arches and gates are placed strategically to make you think you have entered a different place. It works.
Below – there are nice gardens at Busch Gardens. One reason I like that park is that it is pretty.
Amusement parks are some of the places where various methods are best applied, but they are the basis of all good urban and park planning. I read a very good book re called A Pattern Language where the authors tried to figure out the patterns that make landscapes and cities pleasant. The book is full of suggestions that apply across cultures. I found a website re. You have to be member to get all the benefits, but it has some nice picture.
Below are Espen and Alex, practicing their usual looks, in Busch Gardens England.
At the risk of sounding like a philistine, IMO most great cities have that amusement park atmosphere and were essentially built with that same idea in mind. That is why people like to go there. Go to Venice, the Vatican, Paris or Vienna and tell me you cannot see that. It is just that in those days the amusements were for the princes and fat cats. At first I just thought amusement parks copied these places, but the closer I looked the more I understood that these were indeed amusement parks only on a grander scale and had developed more snob-appeal from just being around a long time. Just as in a modern Disney World or Busch Gardens, patronage allowed architects, engineers and artists to experiment with new forms. If the popes or the Medici could have built a roller coaster, they would have had one. Imagine them whooping it up on the drop. A roller coaster is a wonder of engineering and physics and requires an understanding of human perceptions and psychology. It is no small thing, physically or intellectually. I don’t doubt that Leonardo da Vinci designed one or two of them, but like the other things he drew, they didn’t go into production.
Below is the wisteria. Grows fast. Notice the arch as you pass from one section to the next.
For example, a path with uneven width (i.e. with wider spots and curves) is more appealing than a straight road. People all over the world like structures with galleries or porches. A well designed house offers a transition area from outside space to inside space. We are attracted to houses with a sheltering roof. A room with a corner with windows on both walls is nicer than one with windows only on one. Most of the things are obvious WHEN they are pointed out. Unfortunately, many of our modern cities violate almost all the precepts of a comfortable place to live. In recent years, we have designed our cities for the convenience of the automobile and make humans second class inhabitants in our cities. It doesn’t have to be that way and we can learn from what they do at quality amusement parks and public gardens.
Below is Busch Garden’s Italian street.
Some communities are being designed with the human principle in mind. Unfortunately, they tend to be only upscale places where ordinary people cannot afford to live. They also tend to run up against zoning rules. Recently, we also have the added permutation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Most of the nicest places in my favorite cities such as Krakow, Vienna or Istanbul would never pass the tests of accessibility. In theory, you could build a neighborhood as charming as some of those we find in great old cities, but modern rules would not permit it. However, you might be able to get an erzatz version as in Busch Gardens. That is not so bad.
Below are Alex and Espen entering the German section. Notice again the distinct entry.
Re housing, I read an article in this month’s Wilson Quarterly about housing. The author was Witold Rybczynski, who wrote a very good book called City Life that I read a couple years ago. Witold Rybczynski says that housing is so expensive because of all the restrictions governments place on land use and building requirements. Places where the red tape is the strongest, such as the New England and the West Coast, have much higher home prices. It is not simply a matter of greater demand, but also of artificially restricted supply. Builders are complicit in this, although you can see why they would be almost forced to do it. If a parcel of buildable land costs a lot, it just makes sense to build a big, expensive house there to make it worth the effort. Many people have more house than they need, but they have been convinced that they need even more. I recommend both the article and the book. Unfortunately, neither is available online, so you have to look at them in the old fashioned paper way (Wilson Quarterly is worth the subscription, BTW), but I did find a good interview with author.
Below is Roman Rapids at Busch Gardens. You get wet, but it was hot so good. Only Alex and I went. Mariza took the picture. Espen paid a quarter to try to squirt us from the side, but missed.
PS – this is a little off topic, but as long as we are talking re things that make life work, I also found a good article re freshwater. This is the link.
Below – the kids don’t like to have their pictures taken.
IMO – the recuperation part of R&R is getting a chance to think about things besides work, so this is what I have been doing.
Above – Mariza and Sponge Bob.
Below – Espen got a gum package that gave a shock when you tried to take one. He couldn’t understand why he got no takers. We are all suspicious of him bearing gifts.
We drove from Jerash a dozen kilometers and eight centuries to the castle at Ajloun. It was built in 1184 by the Muslims to secure local iron mines and as a counter to the Crusader castle at Belvoir, across the plains. They say you can see Belvoir from Ajloun, but the day was a little too hazy in that direction for that, or maybe we didn’t look in the right spot. If you notice the picture up top is very clear sky. That is looking NE. I don’t know why there was so much haze to the west.
Ajloun never fulfilled its original purpose. Saladin defeated the Crusaders at the battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1189, which was the beginning of their expulsion from the region. Castles are interesting to look at and sometimes beautiful, but it is well to remember that they were part of a military technology. Before the advent of accurate cannon, it was very difficult to capture a well defended castle. It was a real force multiplier and also a potent psychological symbol of the power and control.
This castle looks like others I have seen. It is a little less sophisticated than those I saw in Poland or Germany since it is an earlier version than most of those. The most sophisticated castle I have ever seen in the Teutonic Knight’s castle at Malbork in Northern Poland. That one is made of bricks, however, not stone.
below are some pines on the landscape. I think they are Turkish or Alleppo pines, but I am not very good at identifying such species. Some of them almost look like my loblolly pines.
Ajloun is situated on a hilltop with wonderful views of the surrounding area. The area here is semi-arid, but it supports olive, apricot and pistachio groves as well as significant pine forests. As you can see from the pictures, it is a pleasant countryside.
As I write this, the pleasant countryside is a pleasant memory. I am on my way back to Al Asad. Right now I am stuck in Baghdad, in the Internet café waiting. I have learned that I cannot get a flight to AA until Tuesday and then I have to go a circuitous route, on rotary wing, so I figure there will certainly be a dust storm somewhere to strand me in some shit hole along the way. I have decided to go down to Kuwait instead. I have a good chance of getting there tonight and then I have a better chance of catching a fixed wing flight to Al Asad. The longer way sometimes leads faster home. Wish me luck. It is going to be a long trip no matter what.
I am looking forward to getting back to work at Al Asad. The work is usually interesting, even if conditions are sometimes challenging. There is still a lot for me to do in my last months. I read the news about improvements in Iraq. Casualties are way down for both Iraqis and Americans. I think we are going to succeed here in Iraq put we have to finish our job and I have to finish mine. Less than four months to do. Hard to believe. Time flies when you are having fun.
Jordanians are very welcoming and English is common, at least around the places tourists go. I have written and include pictures re some of the great places in Jordan. It is not as cheap as you might think, largely because a foreigner had to spend a bit more for the reasons below and because of the lack of a western style middle class. Let me explain that one.
In developed countries like Germany, France or the U.S., things cost more in general. But you can take advantage of the amenities the ordinary folks enjoy in terms of moderately priced hotels, restaurants and transit. In developing countries, you tend to have two classes of accommodation – first class and not really good enough, so you have to either move up or down scale. Old guys like me are less enthusiastic about repeating our youthful hostel experience, so we move up and tend to spend a bit more than we would for a week’s U.S. vacation. The class or Marriott resort we enjoyed here is better than we would get for the same price in the U.S., but in the U.S. we would have gone to a cheaper – but still acceptable – hotel. In Washington or Paris, I happily take ordinary public transportation; in places like Jordan or Egypt, maybe not.
Taxi Driver
We had a good taxi driver that we used all week. His name is Sami and I recommend him. He knows his way around, doesn’t get lost and doesn’t take you a lot of shops owned by his friends who give you a “special deal.” He has seven brothers and they all own cabs, so you can be sure to get a good ride. His number is 079/5921225.
Affirmative Action in Cola Pricing
Foreigners pay more for most things. A can of coke costs a Jordanian dinar, maybe two. Locals are not paying that much. Sometimes there is even a sign saying so. The entry fee at the Jordan River was $2 for Jordanians; $3 for other Arabs and $7 for everybody else. At least that is transparency.
If you ask people about this, they don’t think charging foreigners more for everything is dishonest. They view it as sort of an affirmative action programs. They say that they are NOT charging foreigners more; they are just giving a break to the locals. The practical effect is identical, but it sounds much nicer when you are giving one guy a break instead of ripping off someone else.
You get a fair break at places with posted menus and at shops that have those electronic scanners. The scanners don’t cheat or recognize ethnicity. The real cost of a can of coke is around $0.25 – 0.40. Another problem for a foreigner in an Arab country is that the numbers are different. I though that math was almost universal, but its not. Arab numbers are completely different from those used in other places. I was surprised by this, since I know that they call the numbers we use the Hindu-Arabic number system. Arab numbers are actually like this ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨ . The Jordanian currency has the international numbers on one side and the Arabic on the other, so that is helpful, but the initial glance makes it easy to give the wrong amount of money.
Of course, we really cannot complain too much. English is common here and signs are mostly in English and Arabic.
Travelocity
And beyond that, the trouble we have had with the American company Travelocity. Chrissy’s flight back to the U.S. was moved from 1030 to 1330. She got an email telling her that. It would have made her connection to Dulles impossible. She tried to get in touch with Travelocity. They don’t have an international number. It cost us around $50 in telephone charges, being put on hold etc. to find out nothing. Finally they just seemed to have cancelled her flight. Finally, we got it figured out – we hope. But we still have no confirmation, although two operators promised email confirmations. She had no confirmation on their site. My advice is that if you travel overseas, don’t use Travelocity.
Marriott
We stayed at Marriott in Petra, Dead Sea and Amman. Marriott is great. They understand the international traveler. I recommend Marriott whenever you can. Marriott in Jordan gives really good discounts if you have a CAC card. Book early, however. The CAC rates get used up fast.
“In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury.” This is the opening line of Gibbon’s “Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire.” Visiting the ruins of the once great city of Jerash gave us something to think about.
Below is Hadrian’s Arch. The Emperor Hadrian traveled a lot and evidently erected arches wherever he went. This is the entrance to Jerash.
The second century was indeed a great time. Pax Romana has created the world’s first globalization. Like today, diverse peoples mixed in a world market and a type of world system. Greek was the language of educated commerce and Latin was the language of the law. The world would not really see the recreation of this sort of trading system until 19th century. English now plays the world language role of ancient Greek & Latin. Our situation is like that of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century and like them, we think it will never really end.
Jarash shows the breadth of Roman civilization. It was nowhere near the center of the empire. It was not a key Roman city, but Roman civilization reached here as it did in Petra. Look at the pictures of this ordinary Roman town and imagine how it must have been.
I suppose it was a lot like today. People hangin around selling trinkets, calling out “Mr. Where you from? Rome. Rome number one.”
Below – Yay Rome
The wonder of Rome, however, was not in only the buildings you see here. A great part was in the “software” – laws and administration and much of physical base of Rome’s greatness was literally on or under that ground. Roman roads tied the Empire together. You can still walk on Roman roads and bridges from here on the edges of the Arabian Desert all the way to Hadrian’s Wall on the edge of Scotland. It was the Internet of the times.
Under the ground was something as astonishing – water works. Many Roman cities sat in semi arid places. The Romans brought in water from distant mountains and provide sewage systems to take out the waste. When the Empire collapsed, so did this infrastructure and Roman towns shrunk and sometimes disappeared.
Above is the Hippodrome, home to chariot races.
Imagine the Barbarians, scratching their keisters in the forums of Roman cites wondering where that water in the fountain is coming from and knowing they would be unable to keep the system running. When the Germanic tribes in the west or the Arabs in the east conquered Roman territory, they did not usually intend to destroy everything Even the Vandals, despite their fierce reputation, tried to keep things going. But as the Roman engineers and administrators died out, w/o suitable replacement, the light of civilization dimmed, not all at once. It was more like breaking up a campfire and letting the isolated embers of a fire gradually die. The empire was a network and the parts nourished each other. Without the network you get Jerash – beautiful ruins but dead as the rocks around them.
The other thing you learn when visiting abandoned cities is that cities are not forever. I think about that in relation to a great American city like New Orleans. Much of that city will need to be abandoned soon and returned to the cypress and tupelo. The engineering required to keep a below seawater district dry is just not worth the ecological harm. But – as usual – I digress.
Most of you are familiar with Petra, even if you do not know. It is often featured in pictures and it was the backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
You get to Petra down a long narrow gorge long ago carved by the action of water. Petra was an important & prosperous trading center until trade routes shifted. An earthquake that damaged the water distribution system ensured its continued decline. Eventually, most of the people wandered off and leaving the site to Bedouins. The Bedouins are still there, offering donkey & camel rides and selling various trinkets. Their goats wander the neighboring ridges, picturesquely destroying the local vegetation.
Seeing the Petra ruins is an all day trip. Of course, you could spend years exploring the whole complex and visiting all the side structures. We climbed a couple. There were mostly large, cavernous spaces. Tomb raiders have long since cleaned out anything of value. Some of the climbs are difficult and probably dangerous. Take a look at this steep climb and rickety bridge.
On the plus side, the rocks in the region are some kind of sandstone, which stays rough and provides a good gripping surface for walking. The rocks in Athens were some kind of marble or alabaster. It got very smooth and slippery.
The hardest part of the trip is from the main area up to the monastery. It is a steep climb that takes around 45 minutes. The Bedouins offer donkey rides up. I would not want to ride the stinky animals nor would I trust them not to hurl me into the abyss. They seem ornery and nasty. I know they are supposedly sure-footed, but I prefer to be on my own feet.
It is a hike with many beautiful views and well worth the effort. You have to get out of the way as the donkeys come down.
The Romans controlled the place for around 500 years. Say what you will about them, the Romans built to last. Even at this edge of their world, there are roads that are still useful after all this time and there is evidence of their good government. BTW, Chrissy asked me when the Byzantines took over from the Romans, as we visited a Byzantine church. Of course, the Byzantines WERE the Romans, the Eastern Roman Empire just transitioned. There was no clear break for them. The Byzantines called themselves Romans until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The term “Byantine” is a 19th Century creation.
The picture on the left shows the treasury at Petra. This is the part of the city that is generally shown on all the pictures. It is literally carved out of the rock.
The Nabataeans, who made these structures, were tolerant and eclectic. They mixed and matched their cultural influences and probably were themselves a diverse people, typical of one sitting on trade routes and so actively engaged in commerce, with a Semitic/Arab base. They left no significant literature and not even inscriptions on their buildings, which makes it hard for historians to categorize them. This makes then a sort of stealth people and the mystery appeals to some.
In structure on left, as in most others, you can see influences of the Greeks, Romans, Persians & Egyptians. Of course, the shapes and types of rock face dictated some of the forms.
On the way back out through the gorge we saw why you might not want to ride the horse carts. As we came in the passage, we saw a driver having trouble with his horse. We noticed, but didn’t think too much about it. When we were about half way up, we heard the sound of hoofs coming behind. It was the same cart – cart # 3 – careening until semi-control, with too terrified Japanese tourists hanging on for dear life, not having a wonderful day. I bet they never rent another horse and buggy.
Below shows what these horse carts look like.
I will let this link explain re history of the place. There are a few inaccuracies in the link. For example, Pompey was not a Roman emperor, but the site does a good job with other background.
Petra is amazing; I am glad I got to see it. Photos cannot do it justice. We got a map/tourist guide from the visitor’s center; they were out of English ones, so I picked Spanish. I thought we would be able figure out what it said. Luckily, there were signboards in English along the path giving details on the main sites.
We decided to go to the end of the trail, to Ad-Deir (the Monasterio), which is the second most famous attraction after Al-Khazneh (el Tesoro, or the Treasury) in Petra. The brochure said there were over 800 “peldanos tallados” on the way to Ad-Deir; we didn’t know what that meant, I figured it was some sort of carved rosettes or decorations on the Monastery facade. Eight-hundred seemed like a lot, but they probably had a lot of free time.
I was pretty wrong; “peldanos tallados” actually means “carved steps”–and there are waaay more than 800 of them. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top—uphill all the way–and because we are good planners, we went up during the hottest part of the afternoon. I was pretty happy to finally get there—but it was worth the hike. Bedouins set up tables along the walking paths and even on the switchbacks on the way up to Ad-Deir. They were selling drinks, jewelry and trinkets-mostly junk; lots of beaded necklaces (from India). Even the kids were selling; a pair of what appeared to be three year olds had a stand selling rocks, and seemed to be making money at it. John took a photo of a little girl holding a baby goat; she charged him a dinar. That’s a dollar and half, pretty good money for just sitting there looking adorable for 10 seconds.
This is John’s new hat, it speaks for itself. At least he got the guy to knock 5 dinars off the price.
