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<\/a><\/p>\nNorth of the arch is the Hippodrome which is currently under restoration. \u00a0A huge building was built during the 3rd century AD and was designed for horse racing and other sports events.<\/p>\n
We entered the sprawling open-air museum through the south gate. \u00a0Alexander the Great conquered the area in 334 BC and Gerasa became the site of a Macedonian Greek colony.<\/p>\n The ancient city was ravished by massive earthquakes and many wars which took place over the years. \u00a0The ruins of Gerasa laid buried until 1806 when a German explorer, Jasper Seetzen, began a number of excavations. \u00a0During this time, Jerash was inhabited by a small Muslim community. \u00a0The Oval Plaza or Forum from the 1st century AD is enclosed by 160 Ionic columns:<\/p>\n Gerasa\u00a0is considered to be the most significant and best preserved Greco-Roman city ever discovered. \u00a0Excavations and preservation continue today because much of the ancient city still lies under the earth. \u00a0Jerash has flourished during the last 100 years and is a popular tourist attraction. \u00a0The Temple of Zeus in the photo below was built during the 1st to 2nd\u00a0century AD.<\/p>\n At the Southern Theater which is an amphitheater which seats 3000 people, we were greeted by three musicians dressed in traditional Jordanian military costumes. \u00a0They played Scottish tunes\u00a0for us and led our group in a dance.<\/p>\n The Temple of Artemis was dedicated to honor the patron goddess of the city:<\/p>\n The Cardo, or main thoroughfare, connected the different sections of the city and led me back to the Arch of Hadrian.<\/p>\n We had a Jordanian lunch at the Green Valley Restaurant. \u00a0It was a large and noisy restaurant filled with international tourists and friendly servers.<\/p>\n After lunch, we drove through fertile green hills lined with olive groves to the city of Ajlun to climb up to the top of the Ajloun Castle. \u00a0This\u00a0is a\u00a012th century Muslim castle placed on a hilltop in the northwestern part of Jordan.<\/p>\n The fortress was constructed in 1185 AD in order to help the authorities in Damascus control the Bedouin tribes of the region.<\/p>\n The fortress dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan Valley and was one of the very few Muslim fortresses built to protect their realm against the Crusaders. \u00a0Here is a view of the modern city of Ajlun from the top of the castle:<\/p>\n We spoke to a lovely young Jordanian couple who were visiting Ajloun Castle with their young son. \u00a0Below is a group photo:<\/p>\n Mohammad ran into one of his cousins who was selling coffee-with-cardamom at the side of the road. \u00a0We decided that Muhammad had thousands of cousins scattered all over Jordan. \u00a0They posed for a photo:<\/p>\n Later, we went to dinner in the old section of Amman. We ate at a local family restaurant called Hasham which was tucked into an alleyway between two buildings. \u00a0It was an experience!!<\/p>\n We waited in a long line with\u00a0local people to buy\u00a0knafeh<\/i>\u00a0(pronounced: ka-nah-feh)<\/em>\u00a0a sweet dessert made with stretchy cheese layered with flat cake and topped with pistachios.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n