Today we stayed in Amman which is the capital of Jordan. As is to be expected, traffic is horrible even though gas is like $8 a gallon.   Anyways our morning was filled with Roman Ruins!  Did you know that thetwinsontour LOVE Roman Ruins?  It’s true, we really, really, really do.  

My cell phone told me that the high today was going to be 66 degrees.  Lies!  Just more ways that Tmobile is leading me astray on this trip. I was walking around the Citadel in my official travel hoodie melting in the heat.  It was so toasty out there in the unrelenting sun that it felt like 85 degrees. But I digress.  We went to the Citadel at the top of the hill.   Our guide said, I’m not going to try to tell you all of the history of Jordan on the first day.  And actually that’s a really good thing because as you know, I would have not listened to most of it anyways. 

There’s a whole lot of history up in the Citadel.  The star attraction is the Temple of Hercules because it’s a Roman Ruin.  At one point, probably when the Romans built it, there was a colossal statue of Hercules.  Probably why they named it for him.  But all that remains is one hand and an elbow.  Based on the size of the hand, this Hercules was even bigger than the one in Rome.  Did you know that Ricky Martin was the Spanish voice for Disney’s version of Hercules.  I guess we should have rewatched that to prepare for Jordan instead of Lawrence of Arabia.   Next to the Roman Ruins are Byzantine ruins–the ruins of a Byzantine Church to be more exact.  And then after that, there’s some ancient Islamic ruins.  I think it was a Palace.  But what I do know is that it suffered the same fate as just about everything magnificent in Jordan–earthquake damage.  Don’t know which one, but it doesn’t really matter.  The building now has a wooden dome instead of the original stone dome. And the wooden dome was built by the Spanish! Way to go Spain! Anyways three different cultural eras and building styles right there on top the hill alongside a cave labeled as being an early Bronze Age cave from 2250 BC.  See what I mean? A whole lotta history going on up there!

And do you know what you can see from the Vista point at the Citadel? A Roman theater! That was our next stop. It is a theater, not an Amphitheater. Amphitheaters are complete circles. Theaters are half circles. This means that they were not used by gladiators. Furthermore, this is a Roman theater built in the Greek style. It was built into the side of a mountain and it has really steep seats and steps. Trust me on the steepness– my thighs are really feeling that workout. Thetwinsontour climbed all the way to the top level– grasping onto every step for dear life as we clawed our way to the top. (As previously proven, thetwinsontour will do quite a lot for the perfect selfie opportunity.) Of course, this was steeper and scarier than being in the 2nd level of the Sprint Center. Thetwinsontour knew a small moment of panic of the thought of getting back down. The Romans should really have installed a zip line or an elevator. Not sure what they were thinking. These steps are steep, narrow, and worn with age in the middle. In short, rather precarious for the nimble footed twinsontour. Have no fear! We made it down safely– just started out on my butt, then climbed down them backwards. One step at a time.

After gorging our eyes on so many glorious ruins, we were off to have typical Jordanian food for lunch. We had falafel, pitas, hummus, and French fries. So, the first thing they did was bring out a giant sheet of plastic and covered the table with it. Then they slammed down some piles of pitas right there on the plastic. To eat like a true Jordanian, you tear the pita bread into pieces and dip it into the hummus. Or you do it like an American and spread the hummus evenly onto the pita. This food was simple and delicious. Now, here comes the genius part. Remember those sheets of plastic? When the meal is over, they don’t come pick up each individual plate and carry it away. Nope, they pile it all up and bundle it up like Santa’s bag of presents. Viola! Table cleaned off in 37 seconds.

Of course, there were still more culinary Delights coming our way. Dessert! Ok, and let me tell you, thetwinsontour could eat this on the daily. It is some kind of rice noodles drenched in honey, dusted in pistachios, and resting on a bed of melty-gooey goat’s milk cheese. Sounds disgusting to American sensibilities (reader you know which one of you I am talking to.) But, believe you me. thetwinsontour know their desserts. thetwinsontour will never steer you wrong when it comes to tasty goodness. And this was soooo good. Unfortunately, I gorged myself on the above-mentioned hummus and was not able to eat all of my dessert. Gasp! I know I must be sick because seriously, what is wrong with me?

Throw in a much needed afternoon nap, and that sums up our day in Jordan.

Love,

thetwinsontour

PS. If you want to see pictures you will have to follow the_twins_on_tour on the Instagram or thetwinsontour on Facebook because as previously stated, I am not paying $40 for more storage space on this blog and Flickr is too much of a pain to deal with while I am sitting in my hotel room.