To thank us for helping him with the website description, Sameh made us a traditional Syrian breakfast this morning.Freshly bought bread, humus, an olive oil/sesame seed/coriander dip that was hot but delightful, incredibly spicy olives, traditional cheeses all made by his mum.It was delicious and just what we'd been trying to find throughout our stay in Syria.

The morning was spent in the Souk taking pictures whilst trying not to offend the store keepers or hoards of veiled shoppers.The market traders were all extremely obliging and even straightened up their displays to make them that little bit more perfect for the photographs.They all said thank you when I showed them the results and they seemed very proud.On our way round we were encouraged, by a trader, to visit a furniture shop.We usually don't follow such instructions but, inspired by Sameh's furniture, we thought what the hell and took a look inside.Wow.He had an amazing chest of drawers inlaid with the most intricate mother-of-pearl detail imaginable.As we got chatting, the shop manager told us he'd take us to his source, so again with nothing to lose we headed off to the Street Called Straight, where we were introduced to Amin, a furniture dealer of 20+ years.After introductions he took us to his warehouse, 2 minutes' walk away.Oh, my God!What an Aladdin's Cave that turned out to be.He had the most amazing new and antique furniture and he went on to explain the difference between sea and river mother-of-pearl; Maria's now an expert.Anyway, he showed us chairs, wardrobes, mirrors, tables etc ranging in price from a lowly $500 to a whopping $45,000 for the real works of art.Great we thought, we'll have two of those!!Totally, totally beautiful furniture.We returned to his shop to drink tea and chat then left with only his business card!

The day in the city had been a magical diversion for what was planned in the evening.We'd had a call the day before from Jumana inviting us to dinner with her husband Steve and, without being able to find an excuse not go to, 1900 tonight was the night.We arrived about 1915 to find the place empty, except for Steve, who told us that, true to form, Jumana was late.Chat initially was a little strained but Jumana arrived half an hour later and things livened up.The coaches had obviously pulled up just before show start time, Whirling Dervish dancing and traditional song, as the restaurant was now heaving with people queuing up for the not insubstantial buffet dinner.Two silly 'Greek' ladies made a spectacle of themselves by dancing, badly, to Zorba's Dance before the show proper started with the Whirling Dervishes.And no, they're in no way related to the Wurzels and never came close to singing about a combine harvester.

The Dervishes consisted of a man and a young lad, each of whom took it in turns to

perform their dhikr (remembrance of god) 'dance' called the Sema.The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect" but no matter the meaning of the ritual, the physical feat is some accomplishment.Steve and I studied the technique to see if we could figure out how they could spin so much without the slightest hint of dizziness but could only surmise that they select four fixed points at right angles that help them maintain their focus and balance???They also always seem to spin in an anti-clockwise direction.Anyway, we were the last to leave the restaurant, with the musicians sat patiently waiting for us to go; the crowds had departed aeons ago.All in all it was a pretty good evening and Steve and Jumana seemed to enjoy themselves too.