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We have had a great time in Damascus reputedly the oldest city in the world having been constantly occupied from many centuries BC. We stayed in the centre very close to the original walled city which consists of a number of mosques, a citadel, a Roman Road called The Straight Road, two covered shopping streets similar to the grand bazaar in Istanbul, a number of soukes (very narrow windy lanes which often go under the second storey of shops and houses), and courtyard houses presenting a bald two storey frontage to the street. Many of the homes behind these ordinary facades are magnificant with much marble, vaulted ceilings and pools.
There are no parks as we know them - any unbuilt area is dusty, stoney and littered with plastic, not enough room forr children to kick a ball and so children play with small stones, marbles, tyres etc. The places to go are the mosques which are immense, clean of dust and sand and the praying areas are covered with lovely mats. People bring their children who play in the clean open areas and bring food to eat. Anyone can come in and take as many photos as you like; in some areas women and men pray separately. Our western women have to borrow a coat with head cover.
Grog can be puchased to take away but there is only a small demand, few restaurants serve or allow alcohol. Some young wealthy males would stop at the grog shop opposite us and purchase a cocktail served in a plastic milkshake container with a lid and straw -a typical drink consisted of three double shots of spirits with ice and some mixer, each drink being a one off involving much discussion re its contents.
Syrians are very muslim, many purdas, full burkas and very daggy dull clothing. They are much on the side of the Palestinians and down on the Israel and USA governments, although seem OK with American people. See photos of cartoons on blog. The traders all spoke some English and were very honest and friendly, would often give free samples. Their sweets are much the same as what we consider Lebanese or Greek ie honey, pastry and seed based which are often sold by the kilo, two or three pieces of baclava costs less than $1 or could be given free!
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