Jerusalem

Yesterday we attempted to visit the Old City again. Last time we just wandered through the city (and the chaos), this time we had a plan of specific sites we wanted to see. We left the house at 5:30am to get a head start. Since it is Shabbat most places will close by 2pm so and with a 2 hour drive ahead of us our time was limited. Our first goal was to find parking. Last time we drove around the parking structure for at least an hour looking for a spot, since we were so early this time we had our choice of spots. On into the Old city, we entered the Jaffa gate and briefly looked for the tourism office for a better map of the city. We never did find the tourism office so we headed in the direction which we thought was the Dung Gate.

Our goal was to spend most of the day outside the city walls exploring the Mt of Olives and surrounding area. We exited the city and looked ahead to our destination. The hillside was dotted with tombs and there were a few churches along the way. It was about 9am and we were starting to feel the heat (hoping it wouldn't get too hot today). On our way down the Kidron Valley we cut through a side path to see the Tombs of Jehosaphat, B'nei Hezir and Zechariah, & Absalom's Pillar, and an olive grove. All of which were impressive. On our way up the hillside we found ourselves in the middle of the cemetery (apparently there was a tourists walk path that we missed). Our only way up at this point was weaving in and out of the plots. We did our best to stick to the side of each section instead of walking through everyone. The tombs were huge boxes and not necessarily in a neat row. Lots of graves had pebbles on top (I can't remember now what the significance of the pebbles were). We were both amazed how many plots are actually left on that hillside, from a distance it looks completely full! Anyway, it was a big hike that kept going and going and going. Finally we came to a street and walked the rest of the way on the road. We ended up at the very top of the hill which had a breathtaking view of the city. We stayed for a while to catch our breath.

On the way down we briefly visited the Tomb of the Prophets (Malachai and Haggai) and continued to the Garden of Gethsemane were Jesus spent his last night on earth in prayer and where he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. There was singing coming from inside the church so we went inside and looked around briefly. Outside we spent sometime looking at the Olive trees in the garden and the rock where Jesus sweat blood. After this spot we headed back to the Old City. We wanted to catch the 11am English tour of the Tower of David. We made it just in time and enjoyed an ariel tour of the Old city and then toured the museum. The tour lasted longer than expected so we were unable to go to Hezekiah's Tunnel which is outside the city as well (we will have to catch it next time we come to Jerusalem).

Everything was starting to close down since it was about 1:30pm and we quickly walked through the streets to find some Shwarma (pita pocket with lamb meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, hummus, whatever you want to put in it). Ken found a great place just inside the Mulsem quarter for 14 shekels and we also got some fresh squeezed OJ. It hit the spot! Our final quest was to go out the Damascus gate to the find the Garden Tomb where Jesus was buried after the crucifixion. Everyone appeared to be leaving the city through the Damascus gate and we got stuck in a human traffic jam. Before we realized what was happening there was no way to alter our course. Picture being in a crowded elevator where there are at least 3 too many people in it or the Max ride after a Rose Festival event. Okay now everyone is trying to move forward but apparently they can't... so the people in the back just start gently pressing forward. (In the end we realized there was a man with a large cart full of merchandise was trying to get into the city that was causing a the traffic jam.) I felt sandwiched between everyone and Ken and I tried to hold on to each other. Ken said there were quite a few kids pickpocketing while this was all taking place. He felt people hitting his pockets to see if he had his wallet in there. Thankfully he was wearing his pants that had side pockets with buttons and he was able to keep his hand over his wallet at all times. Although he did have to stare down a kid at one point who was being a little too persistent. This human traffic jam lasted maybe 10 minutes (for us) but I'm sure continued for the next hour or so as people flooded out of the city and into the streets of Jerusalem. After checking our pockets and backpacks to ensure we had everything, we made our way across the street and into an open market. Yikes! This place is sheer chaos!

Down the road a half mile we came to the Garden Tomb which was pleasantly peaceful and quiet. We listened to a guide tell about the garden and the facts known about where Jesus was buried. We looked at the tomb cut into the rock and the trough outside that would have held the stone to seal the tomb. It was a beautiful place, my favorite so far. Since it was after 3pm our day in Jerusalem was over and we headed back to our car which was thankfully not too far away. We walked a lot today in the heat and were exhausted! I did have one other thing on my list but that was for the way home... a stop in "mini Israel" which when we got there was closed (even though it said it was open S-F till 11pm). I guess my brochure is in Hebrew so I'll have to go back and read it again with some assistance :-) No problem. We can go next time... We were tired anyway and needing showers.

When we got home I stopped by the neighbors to return the flashlight we borrowed and they invited us over for Shabbat dinner again. We accepted their invitation and had a wonderful time again. This time we stayed and played a few games after dinner with them. The 13 yr old boy challenged Ken to a game of Checkers and Ken had no idea what he was getting into. Gil appeared to be making up "Israeli rules" through the whole game and there was no way for Ken to win. He was going all across the board, skipping extra spaces and capturing Ken left and right any time Ken would say hey wait a minute Gil would say that's how we play in Israel. I told Ken he should start making up his own rules too. Why not play the game his way? Anyway, it was fun. They did look up the official rules online and found a website to back up Gil's actions. After the first two games, Ken was able to adapt to the house rules and be a bit more competitive. It was a fun filled day, but at midnight we were totally exhausted and decided to head for home. What a day.