"The bottom fell out of our world when we left Canada, and the world fell out of our bottoms in Syria"...

Top 5 things not to say when you're in Syria:

5)Are you cheering for Turkey in the World Cup?

4)Something I ate upset my stomach

3)Remember the Rebel Uprising?

2)God Bless America

...and the number one thing not to say when you're in Syria...

1)Israel

Although we thought we were ready for Syria, the culture shock of arriving gave us an unexpected yet pleasant surprise!

On our first day, besides managing to see the major sites in Aleppo (Citadel, Souq, Christian District, Insane Asylum) what was more memorable was the striking Arab culture with most of the men in traditional Arab head-dress and garb and most of the women covered in 100% black from head to toe...Robin quickly exclaimed, 'We ain't in Kansas anymore'...

The amazing street Falafel, the soft banana ice cream, and the genuine 'Welcome' from the Syrians gave our day a great start...

Our second day, however was puncuated by a visit to the Cathedral of St Simeon and numerous visits to the toilet. And so, the audible guessing game of '#1 or #2?' began...it would be more than ten days before we felt like we had beaten the bug, but fortunately we only really had one lock-down day when we both suffered together.

Syria was a treat mostly due to its lack of Western influence (no US products or brands anywhere!) We saw shepherds, beehive houses, old castles (Krak des Chevalliers), holy mosques (Umayyad), lots of desert, and the ancient site of Palmyra which is in the same league as Ephesus or Petra, without the tourists...

Although at times it seemed a bit tense, we think in the end we will remember Syria as the most welcoming, hospitable, and memorable Middle East country on our tour.