#ask schroed

You're very welcome! These eyes live rent-free in my head ever since I saw a gorgeous video essay about Cabanel's masterpiece on the Art Deco Youtube channel:

https://youtu.be/FfYgKu9M-Qs?si=tgSRQFkh1AO7GAVV

(For context, it's this reblog.)

Oh my gosh you're right, this is the perfect addition! 😂😂😂

Firstly, I'm sorry for the delayed answer. I somehow didn't notice your ask until now (turns out the asks inbox is rather well hidden in the tumblr app 😅).

And honestly, I can't tell much about Amman, because our Jordan trip was rather short in general (I'm very happy spouse an I found the time at all, but it was kind of a Better A Few Days Than Nothing At All situation), and I don't have more than a tourist's perspective.

That being said, here are a few personal impressions I have about Amman:

It's buzzing with life! Especially on top of one of Amman's hills, one can hear lots of traffic, people talking and/or shouting, children playing, all kinds of animals. I was absolutely amazed by how lively this city sounds.

Also, Amman is h u g e. We were told it takes six hours to cross it via car. Which of course is also due to its bustling traffic. Naturally, in the three days or so we were in Amman, we barely scratched the surface of this marvellous city.

There's a striking lack of public transport. From what I've seen and heard, either you own a ride, or you know someone with a ride, or you take a taxi/uber (our travel agency back home organized a local driver for us, who was very helpful). Anything else ends up with you walking.

As someone who doesn't like shorts, I did love that only the tourists wore shorts. Everyone who seemed local wore trousers.

Drinking tap water is not advisable. Like, I mentioned using boiled tap water for tea to someone and got an Are You Nuts look in response (I refreshed my typhoid shots before my Jordan trip, so I felt rather safe about that). You might know that already, I guess. However, I'm from a country with high quality tap water, so some questions surrounding water quality don't come to me as automatically as to other people (like, Where do the ice cubes in my drink come from?). As a side note, I loved the little yoghurt cups that were used as packaging for water. They're very light, which is very practical when one has to carry one's waste for some time till one finds the next bin. Clever!

Spouse and I felt very safe in Amman, and everyone we met was kind and hospitatable. Of course, we obviously were tourists. But still. We encountered nothing but kindness. One example: There is a Coptic Orthodox church in Suliman al Nabulsi Street, and after we asked if the church was open, someone immediatly gave us a lovely little tour for just a pay what you want donation for the church.

Fav places of mine were Amman Citadel (marvellous ruins, thousands of years of history, and one helluva view!), Darat al Funun (a lovely art gallery with a gorgeous lil café; the nearby Al Kalha Stairs are also absolutely worth a visit!), and the Wild Jordan Center (who also had lovely café with a gorgeous view).

These impressions I took home with me. I hope this helps you a bit, and I wish you best of luck for your studies!

As a little bonus, please have a picture of the view from Amman Citadel. The two guys from the Tourism Police really add some postcard vibes that to me make the pic perfect.

Sounds like fun, so here we go:

Hurricane Party by Dessa

Take Me to Church in a cover version by Unwoman (original is by Hozier, of course)

Inferno by Mrs. Green Apple

Daten (i. e., Fallen Heavens) by Creepy Nuts

Thank you for reaching out to me so kindly! 😃 But most importantly, thanks for sharing your painting! "Still Life with Tomato Plant and Sword" is one of my absolute favorite Within the Wires moments. The way Roimata Mangakāhia interacts with her audience is just so spot-on and marvellous.

Within the Wires season 2 taught me some new fascination for museum audio guides. But maybe that just correlates with my love for podcasts / audio mediums in general, which also started with WtW. 😅

Yeah, feel free do to, it looks awesome!

Btw, my spouse saw the necklace and felt reminded of a thin red choker she wore as a teen. Like, very thin, just a hint of a red line all across the neck.

She described it in a way that made me think of one of those swordfighting scenes where the final strike leaves such a clean cut that the victim doesn't even notice they're dead in the first moments.

For example here, in Equilibrium (just that I of course am thinking of a horizontal cut, not a vertical one):

Hilarious.