Driving Jordan

08:55 Alyson 0 Comments

Lately I’ve been looking for new types of experiences in my travel. I know I sound horribly spoiled when I say I’m a bit over cathedrals and ruins, but the truth is I’m really looking for things now that give me a new perspective and a better insight into the local culture, not just something I’ve done before.  Part of this is trying to get an authentic feel for the places I go, away from the tourist packed streets, shops and restaurants, and into places that you discover on your own or through locals, so I’ve been focused on independent travel. I’ve found when you’re in a tour (especially depending on the tour or country) you stop in places that were built to serve the giant buses of tourists that stop in some of the most popular destinations of the world.

Jordan was one of my first true experiments with this outside of Europe, because not only were we not with a group, but we decided to drive ourselves. We figure, if we can drive in Istanbul, we can drive most places?

 

 So, after picking up our car in Amman, we started our explorations.  While our first overnight stay was at the Dead Sea, we had planned a few other pit stops on the way where a car would be necessary.

First was Mount Nebo – this is where Moses was said to stand out and see the promised land of Israel. You can see the vast expanse of desert around the mountain, dotted with lakes (or pools) and even the Dead Sea in the edge of your view. There is a church on site which supposedly has beautiful mosaics, but it was closed when we visited, so we snapped some shots, took in the expanse of it all, then started our drive towards the Jordan River.
 
The road weaved back and forth on the desert plain, taking you from a mount to one of the lowest areas in the world. You passed bedouin tents with fires out front and can imagine a lively scene at night with music, dancing and laughter around the camp fire. In some places, you may have been stopped by a shepherd moving his sheep across to the other side of the road, in no particular hurry. It highlights the way that many locals live and the bedouin history of the area.

 The Jordan River was easy to find after joining the main road, thanks to many signs in English that dotted the highway. Along with the signs, we found tons of people selling fruits, vegetables and who knows what else along the road to those who can be enticed to stop. You can't drive yourself through the sites at the River Jordan, so we waited for the bus and crammed ourselves in along with everyone else, giving me flashbacks to my days boarding the buses in Istanbul.
 
We walked around the site with the guide, who I think was mainly there to make sure no one wandered over into Israel. The main place to see is the site where historians think Jesus was baptised. Nowadays, it's not on the river, just a sad pool of water that doesn't connect to anything else and is not fit for anyone to dip as much as a toe in. There are the relics of a church nearby that were likely built to commemorate the importance of the site. 
 

 After that, we followed the path down to the river itself. It's a slow moving river, flanked on either side by rushes, and so narrow that you can see the Israel side a stones throw away (really, less than 50 metres away). The Jordan side seemed more relaxed, with people watching, talking quietly among themselves and sitting to take in the tranquility.  The Israel side is full of people in white robes, immersing themselves in the water, either to clean themselves or have themselves baptised by others. We sat for some time, just watching - it may have 5 minutes, 30 minutes, I can't recall now, but just taking in the nature and scene around us.
 
Then it was back to the crowded bus, back to our hot car, and back on the road. As we drove, we saw the way of life in Jordan. More street vendors selling fruits, waters and knick knacks. More shepherds along with their gaggly looking sheep, and even some with camels, sat beside the road, perhaps waiting to spit on the next passerby. I was happy to be in control, making our own pace and picking our own stops, but for now, we decided to keep on going and headed further down into Jordan.

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Remembering D-Day

16:30 Alyson 0 Comments

As I mentioned, I'm trying to work back through my backlog of travels to fill you in. I'm not quite done telling my story of Jordan, but with the 70th anniversary of D-Day today, I decided to skip ahead and fill you in on a part of our France trip instead.

We went early in May to Paris and Normandy with Paul's brother and his wife; it's so easy to get to from London via the Eurostar, then we rented a car to drive out to the coast.

Our first day and evening in Normandy was spent around some of the important sites of World War II. We started off in Bayeux, famed for it's tapestry which dates back to the 11th century showing the Norman conquest of England. After viewing the tapestry, we wandered the old streets on a quiet Sunday morning, grabbing some coffee and crepes and settling in to watch time pass us by in typical French fashion.  The slow paced morning put is in the right, somber mood for the afternoon.

We had arranged a tour of the Normandy beaches through a tour company for the remainder of the day. While I'm all for independent travel, I decided this was a case where I wanted an expert telling me the significance and history of what we were looking at.  

 
After a brief start at Gold Beach, we headed over to Omaha Beach. It's now almost a resort town despite it's haunting history. A merry-go-round overlooks the beaches with tourists and families dipping their toes in the water, which 70 years ago to this day were filled by an army and everything that comes along with it.  They had build floating docks after the landings to help bring all the tanks and supplies onto the beach and we could still see some evidence of them to this day; even more can be seen with the right tide.  

You can see the edge of the artifical harbour out to the right
Next was a stop to the American Cemetery; unlike it's neighboring Omaha Beach, this is haunting. The design of the cemetery is beautiful, filled with trees, a large memorial upfront, and thousands of crosses and star of Davids commemorating those who died. Walking among those crosses help give a picture of the magnitude of loss in the war and their hometowns put into perspective how close to home this was for many people. While the beaches themselves were historical, this was an emotional experience.

 
To end our tour of the beaches, we went to Pointe du Hoc (to go to Utah beach, you'll need a full day). This was a strategic position from either side of the war, as the artillery there could be used to fire upon the beaches to the East (Omaha) and the west (Utah). To take control of this location, a battalion of US Army Rangers was sent. Before they would be able to reach the target, they had to scale cliffs of 100 feet.  Amazingly, despite the odds, they were successful, but it was a long battle and they were cut off from the rest of the army for 60 hours, meaning a lot of casualties.

One of the cliffs they climbed, erroded over time

In order to put the Rangers in the best position, there was shells fired from a boat in advance to help disarm the enemy, or at least have them give a bit of retreat. Because of this, the land is pockmarked, with deep dips in the land creating almost a lunar landscape. Unlike other parts of the area where the holes have slowly filled in over time, these remain, only now filled with grasses and flowers, the changes in depth the only reminder of what they had previously been.

 
On the walk back to the car, there were stories telling us the history of the brave Rangers who went on such a dangerous mission. These little personal stories help to paint a clearer picture of the war - they weren't just soldiers, but people like us including doctors, teachers, parents.

 
If visiting Normandy, I would highly recommend taking a tour of the area and the guide you have is key. We were lucky enough to have someone who had studied history and was a guide part time while he finished his book (about World War II), so he brought the history to life and answered every question we had. There's also lots of literature out that that can give you a better detailed background of the war. We were recommended D-Day which includes photos and videos from the war as well.

 One of the guns at Pointe du Hoc

Thank you to all the Veterans who fought for peace.

"They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate." 
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 6 June 1944

 


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I'm back!

11:58 Alyson 2 Comments

I've been a bad blogger lately, but that's mostly to blame on being a good traveller.

The last 3 months have found me in: Israel, Sweden, USA, Belgium, Jordan, Dubai, Wales, France, South Africa, Belgium again and Italy.

While I've been racking up frequent flyer points, I haven't exactly been finding time to blog. I know, what a sob story, but to be honest, it's tough. I lived out of a suitcase with only 12 hours at home in a 3 week period. I've had at least 5 overnight flights within a few weeks, which has seriously disrupted my sleep cycle. I've missed out on seeing Paul and Belle, and missed dinners and outings with friends.

Besides the busy travel schedule, add in work, (and if you had read closely) moving house then all the day to day things that seem to add up when you're out of town (hello laundry!) and it has left zero time for personal things, much less blogging.

It also means that I am ecstatic about the next two months where I have very little work travel and nothing planned for Paul and I. While I'm sure something will come up, it's a bit freeing to having nothing big on the calendar for the next 5 months.

So, this summer will be filled with London and me time. I'm starting up running and catching up on reading, working on my French (bonjour) and of course, blogging. I've got lots of things to catch up on before I forget them, so this summer will still be filled with blogs of my travel adventures, just not quite real time.

But first, I better go fold some laundry and pack up boxes!

Looking forward to beautiful summer days in London!

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My Corner of London: Notting Hill

23:26 Alyson 1 Comments

When I first moved to London, it was overwhelming trying to find a place to live.

I saw 20+ flats in one day, put in two offers the next day and ended up in Notting Hill.

Little did I know how much I would come to love my little neighborhood.

While London is a huge metropolis, it's broken down into smaller boroughs with their own unique personalities and communities. From arty, hipster communities in Shoreditch, to the posher neighborhoods of Chelsea, everyone has an identity that I didn't know about when I moved to London. Yet somehow, I stumbled upon the gold of Notting Hill.

 
While most Americans know the neighborhood because of the movie by the same name, it's not necessarily a hugely popular expat community (at least the part that I live in, and especially compared to St John's Wood and Chelsea). We've got everything from Portobello Road and Carnival, to some of the best restaurants in London (including the world famed Ledbury), crammed into little roads lined with your typical yet beautiful London buildings covered in ivy, wisteria and even little monkeys in the case of Lancaster Road.

 
I've spent so many afternoons and evenings wandering the streets, familiarising myself with its nooks and crannies yet there is still so much to discover as the neighborhood continues to change.

 
Yet, after 2 years in Notting Hill, we've decided it's time for a change. It's not quite Istanbul to London, but it is our own little shaking up of our world in London.  We'll be moving to Chiswick in a few weeks. The main reason is to get Paul closer to work, but I'm also excited to see if I can love a new part of London as much as I love my current neighborhood. I'm a bit apprehensive Chiswick may not live up to my exceedingly high expectations after our first London flat, but we're going to give it a go. With a beautiful high street, parks and the Thames nearby, I'm hoping we'll fall in love with London all over again.
 
So, with only a few weeks left a resident of my beloved Notting Hill, I wanted to finally take some time to share with a few of my favourite parts of it.

 





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