Life is a patchwork of experiences
I can’t resist a pretty scarf and I usually end up bringing one home from my travels. This colorful collection was on display on the trail up to the Monastery at the Petra Archeological Site in Jordan. The trail was a little over a mile and included 800 steps. If you have to huff and puff as you are going up hill, it’s nice to have pretty things to look at.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
The Treasury building has become the symbol of Jordan’s Petra UNESCO World Heritage site. Made famous in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, this 2000 year old archeological site was first rediscovered by a westerner in 1812 by explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. But unlike the movie version, the inside of the Treasury is just a few simple unadorned block rooms cut out of the stone. Sitting by itself in this canyon, there is no hint of all the other tombs and ruins of a once thriving the city beyond.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Throughout Petra, the local Bedouin young men offer tourists donkey rides to help them climb up to the viewpoints or to get around the huge site. At the end of the day, as the archeological site begins to close down and the setting sun casts an orange glow on the complex of Nabatean tombs, they ride their donkeys back home for the night.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Most photos of Petra show the “Treasury” building which was made famous in the “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” movie. I actually liked ad-Deir or the “Monastery” a little better.
If you’ve seen the movie Martian then you have seen the unearthly landscape that makes up the UNESCO World Heritage site of Wadi Rum in Jordan. Day tours of the area are common, but for a truly out of this world experience, consider spending a night surrounded by nothing but desert sand and star filled skies.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre is an important religious site for the Christian faith. Tradition holds that the church is built over the site where Jesus was crucified and then buried. There are many chapels and items of religious significance in this church. Here, I was struck by the contrast of pilgrims prostrating themselves over the Stone of Anointing where it is believed that Jesus’ body was prepared for burial, and the Christian orthodox nun standing behind them, looking at her cell phone.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the rock on top of it is a sacred site to both the Jewish and Islamic faiths. In Judaism, the rock is where Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac. For Muslims it is the location from which Muhammed started his journey to heaven. The octagonal Dome of the Rock which sits atop this Foundation Stone was built in 691 CE, though it has been rebuilt a few times since then. Visitors can tour the outside of the Dome of the Rock during non-Muslim prayer times, but cannot go inside unless they are Muslim. Even just seeing the outside, it was a beautiful structure to visit.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
For all my friends and readers that are celebrating Hanukah, I thought I would share a photo of the Western Wall from our trip to Jerusalem a few years ago.
Continue reading “PhotoPOSTcard: At Jerusalem’s Western Wall”
A few years ago on a Midwest road trip I stopped in Indianapolis and indulged my Chihuly glass art obsession. I visited the Indianapolis Children’s Museum primarily to see Chihuly’s Fireworks of Glass and Pergola Ceiling. This is one of his signature inverted chandelier designs that is over four stories tall and has 3200 pieces of glass. I also had fun exploring the museum which is one of the best children’s museums in the country and is also the biggest in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
This is the classic view you get of Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The majority of Horseshoe Falls lies in Canada, but with the erosion over the past 400 years since the falls were discovered by Europeans, a corner of Horseshoe falls now also sits on American soil. To get a wet and really up close perspective of these falls, you can take a boat ride from either country: the Maid of the Mist on the American side and Hornblower Niagara Cruises on the Canadian side.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
