Umm Qais

The weather finally thawed enough to get out of town. We drove two hours north to the town of Umm Qais, to explore the ruins of the ancient town of Gadara.

Gadara was a center of Greek culture in the region before being placed under Roman control in the first century B.C. An ancient Roman amphitheater is one of the highlights of the ruins, as are the ancient stone roads, many still showing the ruts of chariot and wagon wheels.  

The winter had brought a surprising amount of rain. There were many points over the summer when I was convinced it would never rain in Amman, but not only did it rain, it even sleeted two weekends in a row (much to my consternation...the weekend Elise was in India, it sleeted the entire weekend, forcing me to remain inside with three rambunctious kids. On Friday, I was relegated to allowing them free reign over the den. They took the pillows off every couch and bed and lined the room, then proceeded to wrestle for the better part of several hours. My only guidance being if someone starts to cry, stop. After a couple hours of board games, I knew they were going to have to let out some steam one way or another). 

The rain had turned the hills to the north of Amman green, much greener than the last time we drove to the north. I've never been to Ireland, but the rolling green hills and stone brought it to mind. 

The weather was perfect. From the archaeological site at Umm Qais, you can see the Sea of Galilee in Israel, the Golan Heights, down into southern Syria, and even the snow-capped peak of Mt. Hermon on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the distance.

After exploring the site on foot, we had lunch at the Umm Qais Rest House, with fantastic views of the surrounding valleys, not to mention good mezze and mixed grill, and cold Karakale -- the local Jordanian microbrew -- and local white wine. Elise even tried sheesha for the first time!