Syria was a late addition to my itinerary, and cost me $130 to get in, so I had high expectations for this city, but I wasn't disappointed. This place is incredibly friendly - and shockingly cheap (my meals here have probably averaged about $1.50 each, and I bought a copy of Photoshop CS5 for only $1.00 - ironically, the same price that I paid for a bar of Aleppo soap). Among the highlights:
- Traversing endless souqs with Andrew and Ben in pursuit of a place for dinner the first night I arrived
- Rolling dough for fatta per invitation by the chef of the restaurant we found
- Painting our faces for the US and Germany games, and then watching them in the streets with a group of die-hard football fans
- Eating homemade ice cream rolled in pistachios - a popular dessert in Damascus
- Being invited for tea with a Syrian family, who kept a pet pigeon
- The guy who generously volunteered to jump in a cab with me to show the lost cabbie how to get to my hostel, even though he had to return back to his shop by foot
- Bilal and Hamaza, two of the nicest, most generous guys I've ever met
- Touring the city with Bilal, whose father was a big shot in Damascus and who simply dropped his name to get us entry to the citadel (currently under construction and closed to the public) and to a working Syrian movie set
- The night I came down with a fever, which was only memorable because all the boys skipped the Argentina game to stay in with me
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