What an amazing day!! I had a hard time sleeping so I got up
at 5 and went for a run around the perimeter of the kibbutz again. It was quite
chilly, but the sky was gorgeous—some dark clouds, other big, puffy white ones
and the sun’s rays shining through over the desert outside the kibbutz. When
everyone else got up, we headed for Jerusalem. On the way, we stopped at the
beautiful monastery of Latrun, and happened to arrive just in time for the
start of the Palm Sunday service. We couldn’t stay too long, because Yoram was
waiting at the car but here’s a bit of the beginning.
We arrived in Jerusalem at about 11 and headed straight for
the Old City, marked by David’s Citadel (from the Ottoman Empire) and Jaffa
Gate, the main entrance to the Old City from the Jewish part of Jerusalem.
We
entered the market, where we periodically saw pilgrims carrying palm branches
to commemorate Jesus’ descent from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem.We
entered the market, where we periodically saw pilgrims carrying palm branches
to commemorate Jesus’ descent from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. We were surprised that it wasn’t more
crowded! We walked through the narrow streets of the “Shuk”(market) towards the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is thought to be buried. Right at the
entrance, a Greek Orthodox procession was beginning. My guess is that this
particular procession was followed 5-10 minutes late by one of another
religion, as many, many religious denominations share this one very ornate
church.
We passed the Lutheran
Church and went through the Via Dolorosa (the path Jesus carried the cross)
towards the Austrian Hospice—not because of Shiri’s connection with Austria,
but because the view from the roof is excellent. Here are a few shots from the
rooftop.
Here are a few random shots from the market. I love the explosion of co;or, light and the mix of cultures!
Next was the Jewish Quarter (the Old City is divided into 4 quarters:
Jewish, Muslim Christian and Armenian), to the Western Wall, the only remaining
piece of the first temple built by King Solomon (actually not the temple, but
the outer wall of the courtyard). It is a very holy place for Jews, and many
write their prayers on small pieces of paper and place them in the cracks in
the wall in the hope that God will answer them. From the top of the staircase
leading to the wall, there’s another great view of the Mount of Olives and the
Dome of the Rock, the mosque on the Temple Mount.
We continued through the Cardo, an excavated market place
from Second Temple period, which has been renovated and turned into a modern
upscale market, in the style of the ancient one, but leaving some of the ruins
intact. The juxtaposition of old and new is awesome!
Then it was time for lunch (breaded chicken breast, fried
and chopped tomato and cucumber in a pita—delicious!!!) it was time to shop.
Shiri was the best navigator to the spots in the city to get the tings we were
looking for, and we managed to find what we needed pretty quickly.
We made a quick stop at
Yoram’s aunt’s—her claim to fame is that her late husband was Uzi Narkiss—who
can be seen I this photo along with Rabin and Moshe Dayan entering the Old City
of Jerusalem for the first time after the Six Day War in 1968.
