Traveling my tastebuds

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Well it was surely a good sign when told by the border gaurds in Jordan that I wasnt allowed to walk across the border, and was instead given a lift over in a canary yellow Mustang Charger.

Mohammed Didnt go but I did

My First day in Damascus unfortunatly happened to be a Friday, so almost everything was shut! I did manage to check out the Al Azeem Palace - after getting lost for at least an hour beforehand. Enjoyed the most amazing fresh mint Lemonade at the Leila Terrace restaurant. I checked out the Umayyad mosque - which used to be a byzantine cathedral, which was in turn a temple to Jupiter. Felt very uncomfertable, even in my Jedi Knight grey robe (tourists have to wear them) really, really shouldn't go into mosque on friday. Checked out the Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque though - this time i only had to wear a big black robe and my head scarf. It holds the remains of Mohammads granddaughter and is a very sacred place. Unfortunatly this doesnt explain why the ceiling looks like a mirror ball exploded. One of the young gaurdians of the mosque was kind enough to give me some english litrature on the history of Sayyida Ruqayya and the mosque which was quite interesting. He was then quite keen to go home and get a book in english for me to read. when i politely declined he was still pretty keen on giving me his phone number - Just in case I needed anything whilst i was staying in Damascus. Ahh Friendly people those Syrians. Id only been in the country less the 24hours and Id already Had 3 dinner offers, 4 for cups of tea, 2 blokes offering me ciggarettes and 2 wanting to be my guide.
The next day prooved a lot quiter on that front - mainly because i spent it at the National museum. I also went to Ghraoui - Damascus' Premier Chocolatier. Oh my God!!!! Their chocolate covered Apricots stuffed with pistacio nuts are almost sexual! Later in the day i also indulaged in some Ice cream from the souq, beautifully milky and with that fantastic streatchy texture that you get from arabic Ice cream (caused of course by the inclusion of Arabic Gum in the Ice cream mix). Divinely subtle taste and texture!

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Photos

80's Mosque Decoration
When Bad things happen to Good Mosques