Travel
Amish Dining: A Tasty Adventure at Katie’s Kitchen
NEW YORK – Amish Dining: A Tasty Adventure at Katie’s Kitchen, memorable, charming with simple, honest fare.
Sora Vernikoff
NEW YORK – Amish Dining: A Tasty Adventure at Katie’s Kitchen, memorable, charming with simple, honest fare.
The last leg of my Jordan trip was from Petra to the Dead Sea. We stopped in Madaba and Mount Nebo on our drive to the area. Madaba was our first stop, and famous for its beautiful mosaics. Or, instead, the Madaba mosaics are famous. This small town in Jordan, nineteen miles southwest of Amman and on the King’s Highway, houses one of the oldest maps of the Holy Land, built out of two million pieces and embedded in the floor of the Saint George Greek Orthodox Church.
On my trip to Jordan, after my one night in Wadi Rum, it was off to Petra, Jordan. I had yet to learn what Petra was about, but knew it would be very interesting. By the time we got to Petra, about a 3-hour drive plus lunch, we got to Little Petra. Little Petra is an ancient city like the famous Petra (which we’ll soon talk more about), but only on a much smaller scale. Although this site looks similar to Petra (which you’ll soon see), its purpose is slightly different. Historians believe this place was built during the 1st century when the Nabatean city thrived, and Little Petra was a type of suburb. Thus, you will not find tombs here but houses used by rich citizens or travelers arriving in Petra for their lucrative trade business. Here is an image of Little Petra, and you’ll soon see how similar but much larger Petra (the city) is.
We took in more of Amman the next day, and it was time for an even more exciting adventure at Saraya Rum Luxury Camp. It was off to Wadi Rum, which took about 4 hours. Wadi Rum, also known as The Valley of the Moon, is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, near the border with Saudi Arabia and east of the city of Aqaba.
I arrived in Amman, Jordan, on a tour two days before the war between Israel and Gaza broke out. You can imagine the shock that I was in when I got news of it.
I booked a 14-day cruise on the Norwegian Star with an itinerary that began in Buenos Aires, where I boarded the ship. From there, it was on to Montevideo, Uruguay, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, Punta Arenas, Chile, Ushuaia, and Argentina. We then cruised Stanley, the Falkland Islands, and the bays of Antarctica.
Montevideo’s merchants played an important part in securing Uruguayan independence. From 1807 to 1830, Montevideo was occupied by British, Spanish, Argentine, Portuguese, and Brazilian forces, and its trade population declined. The port in the city is the hub of international transport, and the international airport at Carrasco also serves it.
It was Day 7 on my NCL Cruise to Antarctica, and yes, we’re getting closer. When I was ten years old in Brooklyn, I remember reading a book called The End of The World that chronicled a journey to and through Ushuaia, the capital of Terra del Fuego, Argentina. I told myself I would visit one day, and although it took decades to get there, I finally arrived!
I chose a walking tour of Stanley (aka Port Stanley), the capital city of the Falkland Islands. Stanley is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. The entire population of Stanley is about 3500 people. It’s no wonder I loved being there.
The Mermaid Parade pays tribute to a century of Coney Island ingenuity, revelry, and pageantry by celebrating the artistic vision of the masses. With everything from a crowned King Neptune and Queen Mermaid, fantastical sea creatures and mer-folk, marching bands, and dancing groups, to baby strollers and mechanized floats, the parade showcases the creativity of individuals from the five boroughs and beyond.
