Damascus

Everything was good in Amman until they announced the flight was three hours late. I arrived in Damascus at 2:30 am on a holiday instead of 10 pm with no hotel reservations. Taxi dropped me off at a dark alley and the driver pointed that the hotel was up the alley. He did not speak English so there was no point discussing the interesting location. Grab my pack and headed up the alley. The hotel was closed for the night for some reason. Choice two was two doors down and they were open. They had only on bed left in a dorm and I took it. The gods are good to those who are foolish. In the morning I found out I am sharing the room with three women. And Cindy (short for Cinderella) invites me to breakfast. The gods are really good! I wander the street of old Damascus for the day and found most shops closed for the holiday. Christian quarter was a little more lively. Jewish quarter did not seem right when I only found a statue of a Madonna as the only religious symbol. Did run into Cindy again and found a nice restaurant for dinner, then even got her name. (Remember the bird in the Grim fairy tales was brighter than the prince.) After that it was time to push and shoved our way into Bekdash ice cream parlor where we grab a local favorite a vanilla cone with it topped with pistachio nuts. Then you need to pull a statue of liberty as you push your way out. The cone was worth the chaos. Off for Palmyra tomorrow. Not sure of which of the roman temples I should visit first to thank the right god? All the young boys in Damascus have toy guns which they happily run around and shot each other and Cindy. She is Dutch so they liked shooting her and for some reason, maybe it is because some of the guns shoot pellets, she did not appreciate being a target. At me they never took aim. I was next to her when some urchins targeted her and they never even thought about shooting me. Don't know why they have a thing for the Dutch. The good news is that a 10 year old can field strip a toy pistol that has all the same parts that a real pistol does.
Love & Kisses
Steve