Tuesday, May 1, 2018

The First of May

After a rest day yesterday, I decided I didn't want to squander any more vacation being sick.  Dam it!  I was going a touristing!  I packed a ton of Kleenex, lots of water and off we went.  Luckily  Jerusalem believes in public trashcans.  We have been in cities where they don't have them - possible bomb planting sites?  Not sure.  So I could dispose of wet Kleenex as we went. 
We took the metro to the old city, walked through the Jaffa Gate and headed for the Jewish Quarters..  Our first stop was to the Western Wall.  The girls were not impressed at all.  I seemed to be the only one who wanted to get closer to the wall.  I really wanted to touch it.  First I made the major error of trying to go down the Men's path to the wall, and quickly got called out on it.  I really wanted a picture of the men in full dress praying at the wall.  Alas - not to be.  I headed for the women's section.  A much smaller area - and very crowded.  On the men's side I could have gotten very close to the wall.  On the women's side - it was way to crowded - and women were waiting their turn.  So I gave up.  Can't leave the rest of the family in limbo. 

The walls of Jerusalem.  Pan handling takes on a new twist.  We saw several of these guys dressed completely in orthodox clothes jingling jars with coins.  When we had lunch a young man in complete orthodox dress was shaking down the tourists at the outdoor restaurant.  I was amazed at how many people fell for it.
Jaffa Gate

 The other side of Jaffa Gate
 The Citadel
 A Souk, a market place.
The Western Wall - the men's side.
 Alexis being very modest!
 Men's side
 The women's side - much smaller area and much more crowded.  I could not get close enough to touch the wall.

 A view of the wall from a distance.



Lunch time



 Street View.



the Cardo, excavated Byzantine era Jerusalem.






We had to go to at least one synagogue - we found 4 in 1.






The new cantor is a little short!

 The weary rest.




Next stop - bakery treats.
 The walk home through the Armenian quarters.





No comments:

Post a Comment