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I'd been wavering on whether or not to go to Jerusalem. (Poll of my Israeli coworkers: 50% said, "Yes, of course you need to go to Jerusalem!", while the other 50% looked at me in horror like I'd proposed a beach vacation in Syria. Because things, they are tense right now.) I finally committed and booked a tour. Had some serious second thoughts when 5 people were killed yesterday, including 2 in Tel Aviv.
I decided to go ahead anyway. Still not sure if it was foolish, but I'm really glad I went. Jerusalem is amazing. Just...amazing. Beautiful, and very strange. It's also so much tighter than I expected. I think I was expecting something more like Rome. Instead, everything is literally crammed on top of each other, with mosques built on top of churches on top of temples. The Last Supper Room is literally on top of the tomb of David. All the streets seem to be mostly covered alleys completely lined with shops and restaurants, the church bells and the muzzeins and chanting Orthodox Jews all layered on top of each other in the air. Which smells like hyssop and dust and pomegranates and frankincense. It's just...stunning.
I'd decided to rely on my phone camera instead of packing the real camera for only one day. Battery died before lunch. Fortunately, a nice couple offered to share their pictures with me. D'oh.
ARR is getting a little toy camel that's very sparkly. It's the only shopping I had time to do. It's been a crammed trip. I'm really, really glad I was able to go, though.
I decided to go ahead anyway. Still not sure if it was foolish, but I'm really glad I went. Jerusalem is amazing. Just...amazing. Beautiful, and very strange. It's also so much tighter than I expected. I think I was expecting something more like Rome. Instead, everything is literally crammed on top of each other, with mosques built on top of churches on top of temples. The Last Supper Room is literally on top of the tomb of David. All the streets seem to be mostly covered alleys completely lined with shops and restaurants, the church bells and the muzzeins and chanting Orthodox Jews all layered on top of each other in the air. Which smells like hyssop and dust and pomegranates and frankincense. It's just...stunning.
I'd decided to rely on my phone camera instead of packing the real camera for only one day. Battery died before lunch. Fortunately, a nice couple offered to share their pictures with me. D'oh.
ARR is getting a little toy camel that's very sparkly. It's the only shopping I had time to do. It's been a crammed trip. I'm really, really glad I was able to go, though.
