Jerash

For my birthday Ben and I went to Jerash. An ancient city with a history that goes back to 7000 B.C. It was conquered by the Romans 63 B.C. and inhabited until a strong earthquake destroyed a large portion of the city in the 8th century A.D.  This is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Near East and the size of the site as well as the preservation of the standing structures was epic. 

Hadrian's Arch. This is the entrance to the ancient site. 

Mount Nebo

Last minute trips are the best. You get all the excitement of going on vacation but without having to wait to actually leave. Ben had an unexpected three day weekend in Jordan and I was able to fly out to join him for his long weekend. It was especially fortuitous because this three day weekend just happened to be over my 27th birthday! Party all around. My first full day there we decided to take it easy and drive to Mt. Nebo, which is only a 30 minute drive from the hotel we were staying at.  Even though it is called a mountain it is not like the mountains in Utah. We were able to drive right to the top and have a great view of the Holy Land.

The view towards The Holy Land. 

Longleat House

When Ben is home we like to alternate between little vacations and big vacations. As he travels so much it is not always a break for him to travel even more when he is home. For one of our little vacations we took a overnight trip to Somerset. The sites we wanted to hit were Stonehenge and Longleat house, both an easy drive from London. So we rented a fiat500 and hit the road. 

Frogmore House

Frogmore house is basically a guest house on the Windsor estate. It is only open to the public a handful of days every year because it is mostly used for guest of the queen. I went with my friend Rachael to visit it because it also happens to be where Victoria and Albert are buried. 

Highclere Castle

The final season of Downton Abbey has begun. I have been a Downton fan from the beginning but I am not sad that it is ending. Although I love the show I think the characters are becoming more and more one dimensional and taking on either 'pro change' or 'against change' sides on all topics. I highly doubt that in the 1920's there was this much talk of 'change' in a normal house hold. Hindsight is 20/20, and I think the writing of the show reflects the knowledge we have looking back on that time period. Nevertheless, I was super excited to go and visit Highclere Castle. The castle and grounds were beautiful. It is so fun that they use the castle as is for the filming of Downton. No pictures were allowed inside so all the pictures are of the castle and grounds.