Aleppo Citadel, Syria, Sep 2024

The city of Aleppo is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. It is known that settlers already used Citadel Hill in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE. Most of the constructions on it were done later, in the Middle Ages. The Citadel protected Aleppo from the Crusaders who besieged it unsuccessfully in 1124–25. The Citadel was significantly damaged during the war in the 2010s. it suffered more destruction from the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake.

Aleppo was the first place in Syria where we met foreign tourists and there were only few of them. Our group obviously was visitors. Locals stopped us and asked where we were from.

The visit to the Citadel was only the start of our day. After a short break at the nearby café, we went to the market, or a souk. Aleppo has 32 of them, all very colorful and tempting. While others were buying candy, nuts, and souvenirs, I fancied something what I took for a scarf. Later, it turned out to be a square tablecloth. The seller however did not object when I wrapped it around my shoulders and gestured that I looked fantastic with a tablecloth on me.

We were at the souk with the mother of our guide, Alyssa, who spoke good English. Since the seller and I did not have a common language to communicate, I asked her to do the bargaining for me. Bargaining in the Orient is a serious business. Both, the vendor and the buyer, enjoy the process. Buyers are expected to bargain hard and if someone does not do it,  then this person does not deserve much respect.

A hurricane of words in Arabic descended on my ears. That’s how rapid and intense was the exchange between the seller and Alyssa’s mother. Both spoke simultaneously, they did not seem to listen to each other, with their faces dead serious as if the object of trade had been a house or at least a cow. Yet somehow, they heard what the other party had to say and came to a mutual agreement within a couple of minutes of this madness. Then all tension was gone, both smiled happily – I was to pay a half of the originally asked price.

Next on the agenda was a hammam, a traditional Turkish bath. We all had to strip off our clothes. The men wore a towel around their hips, the women an additional towel around the chest. We sat in a steam room and a wash room, some had massage. The actual washing was hardly possible when most of my body was covered with towels. Then we rested and listened to music; the hammam staff danced to it. The music had a good beat that made me get up and join the dancers. Dancing in towels tightly wrapped around me was rather awkward. It felt like being in a cocoon and I could barely move my arms and legs. Anyway, it ended well and seemed to provide entertainment for the others.

We changed back into our clothes and had lunch at the hammam. Then, two whirling dervishes performed for us. They span for about 15 minutes. Just watching them made me dizzy, but the dervishes were all right.

Apparently, we had another pianist among us – Erica also plays exceptionally well.

The day was far from being over. The next stop was an Armenian club where the local Armenian community prepared a concert. After more music, we went to the restaurant upstairs for dinner. Armenian food is great but we already ate a lot and I could not do justice to the meal.

Another surprise of the day was a celebration of Harry’s parents’ anniversary. Erica, 81, and Tracey, 89, were married on that very day 56 years ago. One can only admire this couple. Always positive and smiling, they endured long hours on the bus with the rest of the group without complaint. They explored the country with genuine interest in everything that we saw. I assumed that at 68, I did not have much active time left. Erica and Tracey made me change what I thought about the golden years. Life does not stop if you do not stop living it!