In mid 1993 Sally and I flew to France to meet Merle and Nicole and travel with them to meet Chivvis (who was studying Arabic) in Damascus, Syria. We stayed in the city about a week then spent another two weeks traveling around Syria, using just about every means of conveyance except a camel.

We stayed with Chivvis in a wonderful old house in the Christian area of the old city. This is her landlady's mother in the courtyard of the house.

An atypical street (not curved and relatively wide) in the old part of Damascus - the "Street Called Straight" leading to the souk. Click on picture to see picture of Assad at the end of street.

A familiar sight in the countryside (this between Homs and Palmyra) - Bedouin herder with his flock.

Palmyra (Greek and Latin for Tadmur) was a major stop on the east-west trade route from around the 3rd century BC through the 6th century AD. It's currently a magnificant ruin in the desert.

The Monument Arch - built the beginning of the 3rd century - main entrance to the Grand Colonnade.

Sally leaning on one of the columns on the road from the Temple of Belshamin to the Tetrapylon.

The theater, where the people met the wild animals.

Funerary towers with single red poppy. The tombs contained coffins in niches up 5 levels.

Are we really going to climb that hill to see the castle and the view?

The intrepid travellers, Nicole, Carole, Merle, and Chivvis at the castle overlooking Palmyra.

The Arab castle seen through these Roman pillers is Qalaat Ibn Maan, 17th century.

This is the view from the castle looking at the land on the other side of the hill.

The taxi we took from Palmyra to Raqqa. Sally's admiring our first view of the Euphrates.

From the ruins of Zenobia's castle looking down to the Euphrates.

We were invited to Sunday brunch at the home of a young man from the hotel in Raqqa.

Scrambled eggs, olives, cucumber, yoghurt, cheese, jam, tea, bread, spices, olive oil. Yum!

Waiting for the bus to Deir Ez Zur.

A little break in Deir Ez Zur. That's a French built pedestrian bridge over the Euphrates.

A young camel and a Bedouin camp in the desert between Tadmur and Deir Ez Zur.

This was my favorite ruin. It's Rasafah. The structure is a Byzantine Basillica. This place had been buried by the desert and then dug up. The bowl shapes are the result of archaeological digging. Sheep and goats are everywhere.

In the center is a cistern, 40 feet deep. The city was destroyed in the 8th c. by the Abbasids.

Sally sitting inside the Basillica at Rasafah. Those pillars are pink marble.

Lion awaiting his restoration at Ain-Dara.

Foot steps leading to the alter at Ain-Dara.

Sally at the museum in Aleppo, the last place we visited. These black basalt statues are 9th c. BC, from Tell Halaf in NE Syria. I love the eyes!