Riyadh: Street Art

I don't know what the images mean, and I don't know if the red paint was addeded after in an attempt to hide the images, but here are some examples of street art in Riyadh.

Everyone seems to be happy in the images.

Smiles all-round.

Riyadh: Architcture

Krak des Chevaliers

Krak des Chevaliers, the most impressive crusader castle remaining is about a three hour drive from Damascus, but is well worth the trip.

Back in the day there was less concern about falling from windows.


This is one of the two stables... they must have had a lot of horses.

Damascus

Perhaps the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.

Damascus is not a museum like most historical European cities.

Things also don't appear to have changed in the last 500 years. Global Capitalism is pretty much non-existent making this one of the most interesting cities in the world.

Aleppo: Apamea Heat

Did I mention that it was hot at Apamea? That 1.5km roman street isn't covered by canvas like it was 2000 years ago.

Aleppo: Surounding Sites

On a day trip (well actually half a day) we visited some nearby sites.

Qal'at Samaan, actually know to everyone as St Simeon's Cathedral. This was once the largest church in the world and was built around a pillar that a monk perched on top of to live and give sermons.

Serjilla, one of the 'Dead Cities', a town that was abandoned around the 5th Century and remains remarkably preserved.

Apamea: an old roman city with the world's longest surviving Roman colonnade.