Our speaker on 13th February was our member David Senior with a video of his holiday in Jordan in November 1995. Starting off in the capital, Amman, we saw the various remains of Roman occupation, the city walls, the Abdullah mosque, a Greek Orthodox Church and a demonstration of various local crafts. Next stop was a hotel by the Dead Sea which is1000ft. below sea level and provided novel swimming conditions with 26% salinity. The best Greek and Roman remains in the world can be seen in Jerash, some of which had been covered in sand for 2000 years. At the Islamic castle at Aijun, one of David’s group demonstrated a huge stone door which moved on a stone hinge. We also saw Mount Nebo where Moses surveyed the Promised Land. Some incredibly preserved mosaics were seen on display at Madaba. En route to Petra a Crusader castle at Kerak was visited. Petra is the prime tourist attraction in Jordan only accessible by a narrow gorge and was reached by horse and camel, the lucky (?) ones travelling by bone-shaking horse and cart. The city is hewn out of rose-red soft sandstone and, although dating from 300BC, was later used by the Romans. The tour then reached Jordan’s only port, Aqaba, on the Red Sea opposite Eilat in Israel. Great festivities were in progress here in honour of King Hussein’s 60th birthday. We saw the rock formation at Wadi Rum, known as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, where the film Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. It was evident from this film what a stunning number of antiquities are to be seen in Jordan as well as Biblical sites and places associated with Lawrence of Arabia. It was a refreshing change to see a safe Middle Eastern country in such a region of turmoil and constant bloodshed. We meet at 10:00am most Thursdays at The Boathouse, Evesham Rowing Club. On 20th February members and partners will meet at 11:00am for the President’s party, hosted by Bill Underwood whose term as our President will end at the AGM on 27th February. Full details can be found on our website www.eveshamprobus.co.uk Alan Smith Photo caption: Jordan, Amman, King Abdullah Mosque Photo credit: Wikipedia/ author: Berthold Werner Photo licence link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License,_version_1.2