Amman: Parking, but not for cars

AL DIYAR PARK

So think back to 2021. The pandemic is still THE global crisis. Vaccines are out, but only for adults, and so we weren't go to take any chances with little Z. So yes that meant as many precautions as possible while indoors, but one way to counter that was to be outdoors as much as possible. And for a 13 month old who was still crawling, the best and easiest place to entertain him was playgrounds and parks. And the first one our family members directed us to was Al Diyar Park, in the affluent neighborhood of Abdoun.

Real quick, before we get into sand covered slides, Abdoun is an upscale neighborhood in Amman, where you can find plenty of hip boutique style shops, and plenty of expats. So if you want to take your kids to a playground where you can meet foreigners, this is the place for you. Oh and it's right next to the outpost grocery store, and expat fovorite, Cosmo. Replenish your little ones snacks (and yours) after a few hours of jungle gym time at Simply Cosmo Abdoun 1.

The park isn't huge, but it's also big enough to not get overwhelmed (at least it never seemed to while we were there). It has all the basics that crawling and newly-walking children need. Slides, climbing spaces, see-saws, and the likes. And like I said, it's an ex-pat favorite. I kid you not that within five minute of being there, we ran into a friend I had not seen since we graduated from grad school in New York, some 11 years earlier. He was there, nearly daily, with his 4-year-old since moving to Amman a few months earlier.

DIYAR PARK

No, that's a not a typo. The park we frequented even more than Al Diyar Park, was Diyar Park. Totally different park, in the Al Diyar area of Amman. Got it? Good. Let's keep going :)

We wound up here, because another expat friend, from the same grad school, would take their little girl there almost daily as well.  And seeing as how she was just a few months older than our little Z, we wanted to get them together as much as possible during our stay.

Bigger than Al Diyar park, it also felt more secluded and shaded. Plus it had a clear delineation for the bigger kids area of the playground. And lots more kitty cats living on the grounds just watching the children play.

AL HUSSEIN PUBLIC PARKS

Big and spacious with room to run! And in a not very walkable city like Amman, this is heaven. And let's face it, calling Amman, 'not very walkable' is a huge understatement.

The Al Hussein Park is home to a few staples of sightseeing for Amman. It's got playgrounds for kids. And plenty of walking paths to get some exercise in and push a stroller around. It's also right next to the Children's Museum (more on that later), as well as the Royal Automobile Museum (which would've been perfect for our little guy if it was a year later). And there's the King Hussein Mosque. And at this time, the parking lot was a drive through COVID-19 vaccination site.