A Bit of Indulgence

From Damascus it was only a hot, crowded, four hour cab ride to Beirut, but it may as well have been a different world. Gone were the women in veils and head coverings and in their place were women wearing tight jeans and tank tops. The signs were all in English and almost everyone seemed to speak it as well. We didn't lose the high temperatures in Beirut, but we did gain some intense humidity. Think Georgia in July. We splurged and settled into a large, heavily air conditioned hotel room for some down time after our constant movement through southeastern Turkey and Syria. Because of the heat, we decided the best way to explore Beirut would be nocturnally.
Beirut is full of stylish bars and happening nightclubs. It was a Monday night but still the club we went to was jampacked and we were treated to an amazing bartender show a la Tom Cruise in Cocktail ... juggling bottles of booze and pouring shots through glasses stacked 20 high.
Needless to say, we spent the next day doing some recovery and having what we call an "American Day" with burgers at The Hard Rock Cafe. Our free 48 hour transit visas expired quickly, so we made a dash back to Damascus and then hopped straightaway into another taxi for Amman, Jordan.
Amman is built around many hills and while we did stay in the cheap, grotty old part of downtown, there was a thoroughly posh, westernized neighborhood about a 15 minute cab ride away where we spent the evening. There was a startling difference between the two neighborhoods. We went from conservatively veiled women, to women all made up and wearing designer clothes at the snazzy cafe we chose for dinner. I actually had Mexican food for dinner!! Mmmmm...sour cream, my good friend. Oh, how I have missed you. And here is the kicker. As embarrassing as it is to admit, we went next door to the brand new Starbucks that had recently opened. It was another little piece of heaven. After weeks of drinking Nescafe we lingered over our REAL coffees and felt thoroughly indulged.