The plan for today was to do some sightseeing, shop for souvenirs and relax in a café. There's so much to see in Madaba that we never actually got to the relaxing part. It was still a great day though.
Started at St George's Church. It has a mosaic, created in AD 560, the oldest map of Palestine in existence. Most tourists stop in at Madaba on an excursion, see St George's, and get back on the tour bus. However there is much more in Madaba, better preserved mosaics that look nicer.
We did a little souvenir shopping, dropped them off at the hotel, and grabbed some lunch from a busy little take-out place.
Next was back to sightseeing. We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. You really get a sense of the history in Madaba. It's the longest continuously inhabited place in the world -- people have been living here since 4500 BC. There are a couple archaeological sites where you see layer upon layer of buildings from different eras.
The Shrine of the Beheading of John the Baptist was really interesting. The church itself was okay. But you can climb to the top of the belfry for great views of Madaba (in Jordan there's not many high buildings where you can do this). And then under the church are tunnels and the Acropolis Museum, which has a working Moabite well from 3000 years ago.
After our touristing, we called in at the Black Iris to plan out excursions for the remainder of our trip. It's getting a little busier tourist-wise, so we also made hotel reservations for the rest of the trip.
Went back to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. They had another live band. The singer for this band had really great stage presence - we were both impressed with him.
Started at St George's Church. It has a mosaic, created in AD 560, the oldest map of Palestine in existence. Most tourists stop in at Madaba on an excursion, see St George's, and get back on the tour bus. However there is much more in Madaba, better preserved mosaics that look nicer.
We did a little souvenir shopping, dropped them off at the hotel, and grabbed some lunch from a busy little take-out place.
Next was back to sightseeing. We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. You really get a sense of the history in Madaba. It's the longest continuously inhabited place in the world -- people have been living here since 4500 BC. There are a couple archaeological sites where you see layer upon layer of buildings from different eras.
The Shrine of the Beheading of John the Baptist was really interesting. The church itself was okay. But you can climb to the top of the belfry for great views of Madaba (in Jordan there's not many high buildings where you can do this). And then under the church are tunnels and the Acropolis Museum, which has a working Moabite well from 3000 years ago.
After our touristing, we called in at the Black Iris to plan out excursions for the remainder of our trip. It's getting a little busier tourist-wise, so we also made hotel reservations for the rest of the trip.
Went back to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. They had another live band. The singer for this band had really great stage presence - we were both impressed with him.
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