Al Hadiqa Al `Amma Park – Aleppo Syria

Aleppo Syria is Lindsay and I’s favorite city on earth. The architecture, markets, people and overall feel mix together to create one of the most amazing cities on earth. Nestled in the heart of the city is a large and beautiful park called Al Hadiqa Al `Amma. Lindsay and I first discovered this park when were going to find the Railway Station so that we would no were to go when we needed to catch our night train to Damascus. We were waking through some beautiful neighborhoods of Aleppo when we all of the sudden stumbled upon this expansive park full of numerous trees, fountains, walkways, gardens, etc. We admired the park quickly but then continued on with the task of finding the railway station. After about an hour we realized that we were lost and were not going to be able to find the station. We sopped and asked some locals and one of them, a small somewhat crippled man, simply waived us on to follow him. For the next 30 minutes we followed him as he slowly walked us to the train station limping the entire time because of his handicap but making sure to look back every few minutes with a big smile. Eventually he led us right to the train station and when we tried to pay him (as he took a good 45 minutes out of his evening to help us) he simply smiled and politely waived his hand and said “no.” He was one of the sweetest people we have ever meet and this was one of our first experiences with “Syrian hospitality” and it really endured us to the people of Syria for the rest of our lives. Now that we had found the railway station we decided to head back to the park to relax and spend the rest of our evening. The park had numerous walking paths that all had numerous benches to sit. We wandered around for a good while and then found a bench to sit on and spent the next hour or so just sitting, reading, talking, laughing and enjoying the beautiful summer evening with the rest of the locals. There were young couples, families with kids, old men all out there with us enjoying the evening. I remember vividly listening to the water fountains in the background, the birds chirping and the locals talking and having a total “travelers high.” It really was a perfect evening and as Lindsay and I sat there we began to realize how much we really loved Aleppo and Syria. The park was not frequented by westerners so the locals were all quite amused by us but were always extremely friendly. It is not everyday you get to sit and people watch in a beautiful park in the heart of Aleppo Syria and it was an experience that Lindsay and I will never forget.