March 17, 2019
Day 12: Our 'official' tour of the Old City wasn't set to begin until 11 am so we started out our morning hoping to get a little shuk shopping done. We ended up a bit frustrated because everything was closed on Friday (stupid marathon!) and yesterday was Shabbat so we couldn't get any shopping done. Turns out all of the places where we meant to go to today were apparently Christian shops and were closed for their Sabbath. Oh well, there will always be more shuk time, I guess.
The weather was terribly cold and windy again, but at least we didn't get poured on. I'm a bit on the disappointed side that I've spent this trip primarily in the same two pairs of pants and Joanie's rain coat since I didn't plan ahead for this uncharacteristically cold wave here. After today it's supposed to get better, just in time for us to leave on Wednesday. Grrrrrr
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| Old shops outside the Temple Mount |
The Old City tour really wasn't as good as I remember it being last time I was here. Our guide was kinda meh, and had the personality of a soggy dishcloth. It felt unorganized and rushed and there were just so many people in so many lines that you would have thought we were in Disneyland. Since we would be going up onto the Temple Mount, we were warned to check our bags and make sure that we had no religious items whatsoever on us. No mention of guns, machetes or tasers. Apparently those are cool, but if you have a piece of construction paper with a rainbow and a Bible verse on it from your granddaughter you were in trouble. Unfortunately Joanie had just that, among other contraband that would get her in hot water going through security. Little did I know that Joanie is a diabolical genius and had a plan: While we waited for our tour guide she surreptitiously sneaked her illegal items into a super secret hiding place next to two goofy looking lion statues near the south entrance of the Western Wall, safe from gusty winds or sudden downpours. If anyone noticed they didn't say a word.
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| Joanie retrieving her contraband |
We waited in line for a long time, then were finally granted access to the Temple Mount. I'd been there before, of course, but this time it was extraordinarily cold and miserable, not to mention crowded. I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for the most precious of ancient sites as we rushed through as quickly as possible. The only real highlight was seeing the small Wailing Wall, but that experience was dampened by me accidentally stepping into a muddy nastiness that smelled like a mix of human waste and cat pee. I can't speak for my mom and Joanie, but it wasn't the best part of this trip for sure. We decided to break from the tour and do our own thing and the day got much better from there (stinky shoe and sock aside). We retrieved Joanie's hidden treasure and set off on our own adventure.
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| Al Aqsa Mosque |
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| Dome of the Rock |
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| Golden Gate |
Most people who visit Jerusalem have never heard of the Wohl Museum or the Burnt House. These are both ruins from 1st century mansions, which were recovered after the War for Independence. The Wohl Museum allows you to walk through some of it and shows which rooms were there and what they may have looked like before the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman Army, and the entire city of Jerusalem was sacked and set on fire. The Burnt House shows a movie, of sorts, which shows a historical fiction account of what it could have been like for the inhabitants of that house, where a spear and the remains of a young girl's arm were found among the rubble. There were ancient artifacts, such as dishes, cookware, coins and cosmetics found as well, all pointing to a wealthy first century family, probably a high priest.
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| Wohl Museum |
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| Wohl Museum |
We had one more tour scheduled for the day, one that my family missed last time but shouldn't have; the Western Wall Tunnel tour. This tour brought us below the current Western Wall and we finally got to walk on actual streets that have been there for over 2000 years. One thing that I have learned on this trip is that if you want to find anything real, you go down and not up. If the stairs are going up then it's man-made junk. If the stairs go down then it has a shot at being the real deal.
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| Underground Western Wall |
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| Underground Western Wall |
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| Wailing Wall at night - very pretty! |
It was getting late so we hoofed it back to the hostel as quickly as possible. Tomorrow is our trip to Masada, Ein Gehdi and the Dead Sea. It's calling for sunshine and I'm just praying that it's true!
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