Gloriadventure

          Jerash is an ancient city with a history that goes back more than 6500 years and is one of the largest and most well preserved Roman site in the world.           Jerash is also known as “Pompeii of Middle East”. It is close to Amman, the capital of Jordan, so if you stay there it’s definetely worth visiting. The archeological site is pretty big; within its walls reaches a size of around 80 ha.           The entrance to the site is through a massive well-preserved gate, called the Arch of Hadrian. From the fist moment you see this construction you will know what to expect of your journey here. It was constructed to honor the visit of the Roman Emperor Hadrian; that’s where it also got its name. Arch of Hadrian           The Southern Theater is the largest and oldest of the three theaters of ancient Gerasa and could hold up to 3000 spectators. It was buil...

          Montana Negra - Chinyero - is a moderate hike which I personally rate 11/10. It gives you a unique experience to walk so close to a volcano  🌋  and the best part is that you get to walk right on the cooled lava.           Volcano Chinyero is to blame for the disaster it created in 1909 by its erruption but also for the beautiful relief it created later. All the trees have their trunks black due to carbonization as effect of burning  🔥 , giving a very dramatic look of the forest.           In the sea of petrified lava you can see here to there how the beautiful living nature will eventually win over any destruction. It is overwhelming how a disaster can create such beauty. While this 12,5km walk, I found myself meditating and feeling so full of hope for this wonderful world  😌 . I was so grateful to live on this Planet  🙏 and for everything it offers us and f...

        Los Gigantes           We stopped at Miraduro de Los Gigantes to take some pictures but personally, I did not find it so astonishing as described. We wanted to take a boat and go whale and dolphin watching but after reading the reviews we changed our minds. It seems that most people get sea sick and for 2 hours they are stuck on the boat vomiting and even if they don’t, it is disturbing for the other people. 😖           Maybe the great stone formations would have looked nicer if we would travel closer to them but we decided to go the opposite dirrection. There is a free parking 🚙 between Playa de Santiago and Playa Neptuno. We left the car there and spent some time on the rocks from the right side of the parking lot. They looked like lava waves that cooled once they reached the ocean. There were great waves here and we took our time to enjoy their beauty. 🌊         Ch...

          Icod de los Vinos is a beautiful little town located in the northwestern part of the island. We parked the car at  “Parking del drago” which costs 1,8€/h.           This place is known for hosting what has become the symbol of Tenerife island – the dragon tree 🐉 . What is so special about this dragon tree (species Dracaena draco) is that its age is estimated to be around 700-800 years. That’s where it got its name of Drago Milenario. It was declared a National Monument being the largest and longest known in the world of its kind.           The prices to see this dragon tree up close inside Drago park are: adult 5€, child 2.5€, seniors 3€. But you can also admire it from outside of the garden for free 😊.  There is a beautiful view of the whole garden from the Plaza Andres de Lorenzo Caceres.           Another unique experience that can be lived h...

          Benijo - El Draguillo - Benijo - is a hike of medium difficulty that starts at the bottom of the mountains, in the village of Benijo, crosses the mountain on the other side, and then descends to El Draguillo hamlet, continuing along the coast until reaches back to Benijo. The hike lasted 2h 40m including our stops to catch our breath and take pictures.           It is very important to remember that the route should be done in a counter-clockwise direction (start from the right side by climbing the mountain, not from the left side along the coast). In this way, you will walk uphill only in the beginning, for the first hour. Admittedly, it is a very difficult and tiring climb and we even had moments when we wanted to give up after the first 20-30 minutes. We were asking ourselves why did we listen to the advices found on the internet and why we didn’t start the route from the left instead of the right 😂 . But later ...

          Around this rocky monolith called Roque de Taborno a group of people established and consolidated for many years. Here they found caves and shelters, access to different areas of Anaga, security thanks to the magnificent views of the entire northern coast and fertile spots for herding among other resources.           This is a moderate hike which is in the proximity of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It starts in the Taborno village, to the right side of the church. Do not take the left path because this trail is forbidden because of the risk of slipping and falling. We were planning to do it circular according to the initial trail, but at returning we noticed the signs that forbid crossing that way.          The full circuit goes like this:  Barranco de la Fajana – Era de los Cardos – Roque Taborno.  We couldn’t go all the way to circle the Taborno rock because it was extremely hot in the...

          We had big big plans for today. We decided to get up early in the morning at 6:30 and skip breakfast so we can arrive in time for the “Foggy Forest”. We didn’t really knew the name of “that misty forest that is always covered in fog”, but we guided ourselves from pictures we’ve seen on Google Maps. Never do this! You'll see why.           After an hour of driving we arrived in the parking lot. The temperature dropped from 20 degrees to 5 degrees. I was wearing just my white dress which I bought especially for this scenery: forest, old trees, fog, misty stuff, you know. I took my hoody and jacket over my fancy dress and got out of the car. We entered the path which seemed to go somewhere up on the mountain. But there were no sign of trees. There was nobody around. Only some hunters which I decided better not to go at them dressed up in a dress at 5 degrees on a mountain and ask them where the hell is the entrance to “t...

 (the title is not a clickbait, really)           5th of November, 8 in the morning, the plane takes off from Lisbon Airport and lands one hour and a half later on the magical lands of Madeira. At the airport exit our new rented car was waiting for us. We hopped in it, went to Auto Rent a Car to sign the papers for the rental and finally arrived at our accomodation in Funchal, the capital of the island. Because it was to early to check in, we decided to take a peak of the surroundings and eat something. After lunch, we took our room, left all our baggages and packed for today’s tour.           Being the first day and with half of the day already gone, we decided to take it easy today, see the surroundings. Of course I had a very big list of things I wanna do and see in Madeira, but 6 days weren’t enough, so I already started to tick things off my list.           First thing you notice when yo...

          *****Travel conditions*****           Given the actual situation with Covid restrictions, the entrance in Madeira is conditioned by the completion of the epidemiological questionnaire which must be filled 12 up to 48 hours before boarding in the plane.           The other documents regarding Portugal entrance, can be found here (IC / passport, Covid vaccination certificate / Covid test), or by visiting your local Ministry of Foreign Affairs site, searching Madeira.           *****Transport*****           Being an island, it’s very hard to get vehicles. Therefore, you can either reserve a car rental, or you can use the local bus.            We opted to rent a car from Auto Rent a Car just to have that flexibility that it is offering you and to have it available at our own disposal anytime we w...