We caught a bus from homs to aleppo, arriving in the late afternoon. the bus had really strange suspension- i think a few people almost got seasick because we were literally swaying back and forth like we were in a small boat on a rough sea. it was interesting, but we made it safe and sound. the main attraction of the city is the medieval souq (market), but it was mostly closed because it was friday, which is islam's holy day. we walked to our hotel through the souq and it is so european! really narrow alleys with cobblestone streets and stone walls. our hotel is great- three old houses with courtyards tucked back in a narrow and dark (we use the buddy system here dont worry) alley. for dinner we went into new town at a restaurant that holds the world record for the longest kebab ever (12m long and weighing 15kg!). i got an aleppo kebab with tomatoes and onions and parsley and some spicy sauce. it was tasty! lonely planet says everyone has to try a cherry kebab in aleppo so we sampled that and it was delicious! its little kebab meats in a almost black cherry sauce. really really good and a very unique flavor. after dinner we walked around the christian quarter which was also very european- reminding me once again of york. on our way back to the hotel we passed a fruit and bread market area and we stopped to examine some pancake looking bread. before we knew it, the pancake stand owner came out with a spatula and apron, tying the apron on me and handing me the spatula and directed me to the griddle. the guys that worked there showed me how to flip the pancakes and had mon dropping the batter on the grill. we had an audience! over 50 people (all syrian men of course), just stopped what they were doing and stared and laughed and took hundreds of pictures. we worked back there for about 15 mins, pausing to take pictures with each of the employees in turn plus all there children. at one point i was whisked away to the neighboring fruit stand to take a picture with this 6'6" guy and got a free mandarin for my efforts. they also gave us some of the pancakes with some sort of cheese on top (which i didnt end up eating luckily because mon and marshall ended up with food poisoning from it). it was so much fun though! it was definitely a highlight of the trip. interacting with the locals is just great and everyone is unbelievably friendly here. this morning we had a tour of the souq with a great local guide. we also went inside the citadel for a bit- another crusader castle. the view from the top of the citadel was spectacular, minerets and domes in the haze for miles. marshall, mon and shannon headed back to the hotel right after the citadel because they were feeling sick, so i wandered around the souq by myself for a bit. it is so busy and so crammed- you have to shove through all sorts of people and trucks and motorbikes, dodging the skinned goats and lambs hanging in front of stories. i tried to buy some cookies, but the bakery owner just gave them to me. i ended up with some fruit and really tasty bread to make mon's tummy feel better. oh and the stares! there really are very very few women on the streets here and almost all those we see are in full chador- they even cover there eyes. so literally every man stares at us when we walk around and especially when i was alone. it is not threatening, but just takes some getting used to. well, thats all for now. we are off to dinner. we head to antakya, turkey tomorrow afternoon. bye!
