R&R in Jordan: Jordan Day 1 Oh, the places you'll go

So, we left Atlanta at 10:00 last night. It's very odd leaving so late at night. We had a Mexican dinner before we left home, much to the delight of the people sitting around us I'm sure, only to be served dinner on the plane at about 11:00.

The Flight was uneventful if fantastically cold. I got very friendly with my Delta blanket.

We had a three-and-a-half-hour layover in Paris. We went straight to our gate to check-in and get our boarding passes and then headed to get a proper cup of coffee; the one on the plane was woefully insufficient. An hour before our flight we went back to the gate only to find the plane that was there was going to Algeria! Now, I would love to see Algeria but I had spent a not-insignificant amount of time planning a trip to Jordan so this was worrying. After we both enjoyed a major dose of adrenaline, we realized there had been a gate change. We soon found the right gate and lined up with everyone else to get ready to board when, of course, there was another gate change. Everyone raced for that gate only to find there was no plane. An hour or so later our plane did arrive and as we boarded a young woman pulled us out of line. I assumed we were randomly selected for extra security. But, the young woman couldn't get her computer to work so we were released to board. Here we are at our seats on Royal Jordanian Airlines.

And here we are after they called our name on the plane speaker to get a hold of a flight attendant who then escorted us to first-class and served tea with cardamom.

In our research, we have heard that Jordanians are the nicest, most hospitable people imaginable. Getting bumped up aside, the young male flight attendant who went to see why our names were being called offered to hold the baby of a couple who had two other children in tow. I said something like, "that looks awfully natural for you" and Rebecca said, "He has your eyes." He laughed and held up the baby in front of him with a mock terrified face and said, "Does he?!"

Here we see a passenger who has found a new post-pandemic way of using his face mask.

Originally Rebecca and I were sat across from one another but another passenger asked the flight attendant to ask us if we wanted to trade with him so we could sit together. Again - nice!

Below are pictures of the dinner menu.

And here it comes. Fortunately, it was served family-style so that we could try everything. The standouts were the pomegranate salad, the couscous, the shrimp, and the chicken. Rebecca had a good Jordanian rosé and I had a Cabernet of unknown origin. There was a Jordanian Shiraz which the flight attendant subtly waved me off of!

Here is Rebecca's appetizer plate. I've never had fava beans served in their shell. They really need to be shelled it turns out!

Another cold flight and a much better blanket.

Passport control was also relatively uneventful but that we had to go back down the hall to get a visa which we knew about but didn't see the signs for. We bought a thing called a Jordan pass for $100 each which paid for our visa ($40) and will pay for our two days in Petra ($100) plus all of the other tourist sights we'll see. It's a good deal. Also below is a little video of something special.

We skipped the prayer rooms.

We emerged outside to an assault of sound which really made the whole thing seem real.

A nice man helped us arrange a taxi for a charge of course and we were off. The cab driver yelled at this guy who came over to interpret for us and put the address into the driver's phone. The driver didn't speak or read English. He was very nice about it.