Tower Jerusalem

... Old City and despite our schedule, I managed to even bargain 100 sheckels (about $20) for a beautiful cotton scarf of red, browns and yellows that you will see Sandra wearing in many photos for the duration of the trip. One of our best buys!<br><br>3. A massive, blank wall built of huge stone blocks, the Western Wall is Judaism&#8217;s holiest site, and the plaza in front of it is a permanent place of worship and wonder. The wall is part of the retaining wall of ...

... de juiste bus vraagt, hier wordt je gewoon door een boze, geen-engels-sprekende chauffeur uit de bus gesnauwd..<br><br>Maar goed, het huis van onze hosts was snel gevonden, maar ze waren druk bezig met hospiteren (als kandidaat een 48-jarige vrouwelijke Rabbi met rare kosher-regels, een bijbaan als massagetherapiste en een 19-jarige kat die nog uit de States moest worden overgevlogen..). Dus eigenlijk alleen even de backpack gedumpt, en toen de ...

... having people wish us a Shana Tova rather that being subjected to a stream of abuse for eating a bagel during Ramadan. The shwarma on Agrippa Street was excellent as always, though Fred regretted swallowing a hot pepper whole at the outset was a mistake (it felt a little like downing a grenade). As always Ezra wolfed down a hefty part of his shwarma, and Adin ate a half a plain pita under protest. <br><br><br>

... after this checkpoint, the bus got a little lost and we found ourselves on a road passing by a settlement. We stopped the bus and Daoud asked the guard for directions to the main road. The guard, in English (as the &#8216;mutual&#8217; language), told him to wait and took his ID card. We waited for a while, watching cars come and go through the settlement barrier until an army truck arrived. A group of soldiers, all fresh out of school on their military service, passed the card ...

... by physical evidence. Again I heard it said how important it was for the Jews to uncover physical evidence to substantiate the Torah and Bible. That this was very unlike the rash of imaginary fables of many religions. Once arriving at the City of David, Shalom got tickets and scoped out timing. He suggested a quick tour of the ruins and then directly to Hezikiah&#8217;s Tunnel so we could miss the massive tour groups entry into the ...

... but I'm not sure how successful he was.<br>There's a film, Walk on Water, that we had both seen. I stole an image from that movie to use as the main picture for this blog. A German man and his undercover Mossad "guide" travel to the Dead Sea in one of the scenes, cover themselves with mud, and then shower it off. It's a nice moment in the film. (The man has a Mossad person with him because the Mossad know this man's grandfather was a Nazi and that the man may know ...

I love this guest house. It's simple, even spartan, to be sure, but it's wonderful. The staff are all very friendly, and the rooms, though small, are prefectly comfortable and adequate. And being right in the old city, with the Muslim prayers ringing through the night sky, the orthodox jewish men walking briskly by, makes this place very special. It's all well secured, too. There is a gate at the entrance to the compound, another gate up the ...

... entertainment) tonight is a twirling Dervisher in the disco lounge. We go at 9:30 to watch. He is very good as they all have been, amazing how long they can go around and around and do the same routine as the others did. Then the rec team play songs they do a line dance routine to and get all the ladies up to dance. It is quite entertaining as most know the hand and feet moves. They even do YMCA and the Macarena. We head off to bed and it is just about midnight!

... just a visitor. The court was crowded wtih all sorts of people whose only common characteristic was that they all loved to smoke. Cigarettes were sold in foyer of the court, matches were everywhere, and the unairconditioned halls of justice were choaked with thick, stale smoke.<br><br>I waited around all day, only to find that the judge wanted to have the matter continued until live witnesses could be called, a common stall by judges in America to avoid ...