Playing by the Citadel
Aleppo, Syria
October 21, 2008
Aleppo, Syria
October 21, 2008
I was thrilled to finally arrive in Aleppo, my first stop in Syria, and a city I thoroughly enjoyed on my last visit. After some budget-conscious hesitation, I elected to stay at the Baron Hotel purely for the novelty of drinking in the bar which once hosted the likes of Agatha Christie, T.E. Lawrence and Charles Lindbergh. Sadly there’s little memorabilia besides Lawrence of Arabia’s faded bar bill and the place is poorly maintained by it’s lackluster management. However the bar turned out to be a good place to meet fellow travelers and the location put me just around the corner from the Citadel (above) and the Souk.
There’s a tangible charm to Aleppo that makes it easy to look past the noisy, polluted modern city and enjoy the place for it’s incredible history and friendly atmosphere. While there are a few “sites” to pursue the best approach is to wander the streets of the old city and spend as much time as possible in the fantastic covered bazaars of the ancient souq.
