Phase One of my “have the strangest Christmas / New Years plans ever” scheme took me to Jordan for the time leading up to and including Christmas. The first place that I stayed was in the capitol, Amman. It is a busy city of two million plus and, compared to Doha, felt much more like the typical dusty city that comes to mind when people think of the Middle East. That is not to imply that is without charm; in fact quite the opposite was true. People were always friendly and willing to strike up a conversation. The region is also full of history dating back thousands of years. This picture is from the Roman Citadel ruins in the heart of the city and was a preview of what I would see the next day on my visit to Jerash.