An evening exploration of the streets of Damascus… “…no recorded event has occurred in the world but Damascus was in existence to receive news of it. Go back as far as you will into the vague past, there was always a Damascus… She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires and will … Continue reading
Found in a narrow valley in the foothills of Jebel Libnan ash-Sharqiyya, Maaloula (also known as Maalula) is an appealing little village in which yellow-stone and silvery-blue-painted homes are stacked up against a sheer cliff. The mainly Greek Catholic village is one of the last remaining places where Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is … Continue reading
The windshield was dirty and cracked, the picture is blurry… I didn’t care because I was so pumped up to actually be entering Syria: I should mention at this point how unexpected taking the above picture was for me. We met a number of people in Lebanon that were refused entry to Syria on suspicion … Continue reading
The Minaret of Qaitbay as seen from the outside of the Umayyad Mosque… Considered the first monumental work of architecture in Islamic history, the Umayyad Mosque (also called the Great Mosque of Damascus) is a melting pot of different faiths. It houses the mausoleum of John the Baptist — which is said to contain his … Continue reading
As we were entering Damascus, our taxi driver pointed out the palace where Bashar al-Assad lives on a hill overlooking the city. It’s quite a structure: You can get a pretty good view of the impressive layout of the palace and the surrounding gardens from Google Earth. Just type in “Damascus, Syria” and zoom in … Continue reading
Most of the attention on Syria is focused on the cities (such as Damascus) and the towns (where much of the activity associated with the current uprising is taking place). But, I wanted to give you a better feel for what all of the space in between (which represents the majority of Syrian territory) is … Continue reading
I was rather taken by this motorcycle we came across outside a monastery in rural Syria. It has far more character than any of the motorcycles I have ever owned: Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 