Every day in Soriano Nel Cimino, we go down the hill to the little shops in town. We buy fruits and veggies at one of the many produce shops, then cheese, olives, and bread at another shop. We get our coffee freshly ground at the coffee shop. Wine we can get at almost any shop. We go back up the hill to our lovely room and have a fresh Italian lunch. Salute!
To get to our room at the Palazzo Catalani, we walk up a winding cobbled lane (doesn't show well in photo), enter the lobby at the top of the hill, and climb the stairs to the 3rd floor. The restaurant is one floor down from the entrance, with also a nice patio and garden seating area outside. There are 19 rooms, no elevator, and no A/C, but it's 400 years old and the views are fantastic. We love it!
I can't help it, I'm a trogloydite! A huge under ground water storage built by the Romans and then forgotten because it wasn't fresh water. Stories of people pulling water and even fish out of their basements and it was re-discovered in the late 1800's.
Istanbul and Turkey straddle the line between Asia and Europe. There's so much history here it's stunning. The St. Sofia, Haghia Sophia, Aya Sofia or Divine Wisdom, originally built as a church, taken over by the Ottomans and changed to a mosque, it's now a museum. The columns supporting the building were scavenged from sites all over the area, (remember the temple of Artemus?). The Egyptian obelisk was taken from Egypt, cut into thirds and taken to Istanbul in the 4th century.
We took and overnight bus ride then went right out on a tour. Imagine the Anasazi from the southwest with metal tools. These are the types of homes they would have built in Bryce or Zion. Amazing place! we visited an underground city, four out of eight floors were excavated and 10,000 people could live underground under siege for up to six months. Many of the hotels and shops still use the old excavations. One of our friends that we met here, Joyce, stayed at The Cave Hotel.
A natural hot springs and calcium-rich mineral bath, this area was used by the Romans for a health spa. Now, many Russians come here to soak up sun and work on their tan. The ancient city of Hierapolis is above all the deposits and has large varied ruims scattered over many acres. From town, it looks like a snow slope.
Flew into Istanbul, changed planes, flew into Imzir, got in a taxi and drove to Kusadasi, our base of operations for the next two days. Next day we went to Ephesus,one of the best preserved Greco/Roman ruins in the area. Ephesus actually was move twice when the harbor silted up so there are three sites, One has very little but a Temple of Atremus in ruins, (remember that name-it comes up later).
You really float like a cork in the Dead Sea! 31% salt water, if you have any nicks or cuts you find them in a hurry. Picture of Lot's wife, but several areas in this neighborhood make that claim.
The amount of history we are being exposed to is stunning. Mt. Nebo is, per the Bible, where Moses spoke to God and was told that this is the promised land, but you'll die before you get there. He is supposed to be buried up here. The picture is Jericho, Israel.
How many pictures of old Roman and Greek ruins can you look at before you get bored? This is a test. Anyway, we visited an ancient castle called Ajloun on a hill that changed hands several times between the Muslims and the Crusaders. Then we saw Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the area. The theater's acoustics were so refined that by standing in the sweet spot you could be heard in a normal tone of voice in any seat in the theater.
Smells of Jordan: sun baked pine trees giving off their sap into the dry desert air, jasmine blossoms assaulting your nose as you step out of a car, odors wafting over a white-washed wall from somebody's kitchen that makes my mouth water. A breath of fresh air after Mumbai, India.