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July 16, 2005
Settling in
I've been here for a few days now and I'm beginning to find my feet.
The city itself is very charming, but not without problems. The first impression is that it's pretty grubby by European standards, but once you get past that there are some pretty fantastic buildings here, from the Roman era up to the 19th century. Of course dotted amongst them are some pretty awful soviet style creations from the 70's. We had a short walking tour of the old city yesterday, most places were shut as it was Friday, but there was a real sense of history.
The people I've met have all been very nice and very helpful, but the language barrier is a problem. English is not widely spoken, and the Arabic script makes it impossible to read anything. This is a place where it is very easy to get lost, even with a map.
There is quite a mix of dress to be seen on the streets, most women wear headscarves, some with the full head to toe black garb, or heavy overcoats, which can't be fun in the 35C heat. Walking behind them might be a gang of women who wouldn't look out of place in Milan.
Buying anything from a shop or stall has involved pointing and handing over the cash. I managed to get that a bit wrong last night when I went to this stall outside the hotel to get a few bits of fruit:
I pointed at the plums and indicated that I wanted 4. I came back to him a few seconds later and he handed me a 4 kilo bag. That'll keep me busy for a few days. The cost? 100 Syrian pounds, or Eur 1.60.
My hotel room is your standard business room, with a small kitchenette.
The view is looking west into the Old city.
Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, these were taken with my phone. I'm still working on getting my camera connected to the laptop.
I'm off now to the Old City in search of a restaurant for tonight's meal. Not too much beer tonight, I have an early start in the morning.
Posted by Richard at July 16, 2005 05:15 PM
Comments
Interesting. Don't eat too many plums......whats the Damascas version of Delhi Belly? ;)
What is the food like?
Posted by: Lemon at July 16, 2005 09:37 PM
The desert spurts maybe? sorry.
Not a bad view. Sounds less hostile than one might think... and way cheap.
Posted by: Lord Anthony at July 20, 2005 10:36 PM