Day 17: The story about a Jerusalem Jol

Place: Abraham Hotel, Jerusalem, Relax room/ kitchen/ dining area

With every intention to start our last day in Jerusalem with a nice long jog through the streets, we sadly hit the snooze button a couple of times too many and before we knew it, our intention moved to a nice long jog the evening.

Today marks an important occasion for the people of Jerusalem and we were warned that the city becomes a stand still in memorial of the Holocaust.  They call the day the Yom HaShoah or as Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day, at 10:00 am, sirens would be sounded throughout Israel for two minutes. During this time, people cease from action and stand at attention; cars stop, even on the highways; and the whole country comes to a standstill as people pay silent tribute to the dead and that places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows, and low-key songs are played on the radio. Flags on public buildings are flown at half-mast.

So Craig and I planned our morning in advance, we woke up (a little later than anticipated), raced to breakfast, then into the shower and quickly to the market to get some goodies and make sure to be in an area where we could observe this event. We found a small bench on the main street and waited. We waited and waited and waited until about 10:15 where we gave up and headed to the ‘Old City’ for the day.

It took us about 20 minutes to get to the Jaffa Gate of the ‘Old City’ where we were welcomed by the sounds of 2 hippies playing on their bongo drums, which stirred such an excitement and we were intrigued to experience all the beautiful sights and sounds of a place with such history.

The ‘Old City’ so beautiful with its huge walls, cobblestone roads, unique doors and the fact that it is a residential area where people live. It is divided into 4 different sections for the Armenians, Christians, Jewish and Muslims. These sections are apparent as you move through the city as the flags, souvenirs, smells of incense and people change.  It is difficult not to get distracted as you walk down the alleys, there are kids running and playing (unaware to the camera happy foreigners clicking away and saying “cheese”), colorful washing hanging from balconies and windows and the smells of the different foods escaping the restaurants and stalls.

We started in the Armenian quarter, where they prefer to stay to themselves. I was yelled at by a grumpy old man to put my camera away and mumbled something about ‘those damn foreigners’ as he walked back into his souvenir store…how ironic. We went to the rooftops where we were spoiled with the perfect view of the city and the ‘Mount of Olives’ as the backdrop.

We then moved through the Jewish Quarter.  Black suits, white shirts and tie, curly sideburns and huge hats are prevalent as the there are the Haredi Jews everywhere to be seen as we head to the Western Wailing Wall. We are required to cover ourselves up more modestly and Craig and I are separated, as we get closer to the wall as woman and men have to enter the area on different sides. I give Craig the camera with strict instructions to take as many pics as possible as I observe from the gate.  Its so interesting to see the men, looking at the wall, bobbing their heads and putting papers with prayer requests into the tiniest crack in the wall. Emotions run high for some as they come out with red eyed and sniffling, others aren’t sure if they did it right because they didn’t feel any different, I just feel so privileged to know that (as Craig would say), I can speak to God directly and don’t need to go to a wall to be with Him, I am blessed to have Him with me everyday.

From there, we are ushered to the Muslim Quarter, where we are met with bustling markets with cloth, scarves, foods and the owners trying to lure us into their store. We stop for a small break on the steps of an alley to enjoy a falafel pita with all the trimmings. (the falafel has become a strong favourite of mine and will be on of the many foods that I will attempt to make when we are home).

And off we go again, to the final quarter, the Christian quarter. We are overwhelmed with the incense burning and arrive at the place where it is believed that Jesus was Crucified, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 

By the end of the Christian Quarter it was about 14:10 and we were knackered after our 3 hour walk through the City, little did we know that our walking had just begun. Because of our time restraints, and that this was our last day in Jerusalem, Craig and I were so trying to squeeze every little detail of this place into our schedule while we can. We decided to see the ‘Room of the Last Supper’ which is on Mount Zion at the Zion Gate on one side of the ‘Old City’ then we would work our way around the city to the Mount of Olives where we would go to the Garden of Gethsemane and finally this would take us around the other side of the city to the Damascus gate where we would go to the Garden tomb.

Keep in mind that Craig isn’t doing too well on the directions front at the moment and that we have been walking for hours already, my excitement factor had reached a low and I wish that I could just climb into a non-existing cable car which would take me from one end of the wall to the other and drop me off wherever I desired. However, we walked along the wall towards the Zion Gate, which was not according to scale on our map, so what we pictured to be an easy 10min walk turned out to be a 30min hike along a surrounding road with no access for pedestrians. This is when I lost my sense of humour and couldn’t wait to see what I wanted and needed to see so that I could move on to the next thing. I think it doesn’t help when you add about 100 foreign tourist groups all wanting to see the same thing. Eventually we found the room, without knowing that we had already been in it (as though the weeping and praying people putting their hands onto a pillar and praying in song wasn’t a good enough indication) and we were ready to go. Due to my ‘short fuse’ and our tiresome legs, we decided to walk straight through the city to the Damascus gate to see the Garden Tomb as it would be easier to get a taxi from there to the Mount of Olives (there was no chance that our legs would take us up or down at this point).  So we navigated our way through the alleys where no tourists tread as there wasn’t much to see along these winding pathways, just the residents of this ancient city.

At last Damascus Gate, now not only were we dehydrated, tired and ‘over it’ but the weather had turned terribly and it was incredibly windy. Sand blowing into our faces,  the chill factor increasing and by now…the Mount of Olives was NOT going to happen as far as I was concerned. We took a wrong couple of turns and eventually with the help from a sweet girl, we found the Garden Tomb where we walked around the Gardens and enjoyed the serenity of the place.

That was it, I was done for the day and we both agreed that it was time to head back to the hostel for a shower and a nice cup of tea.

It was a day filled with information and sights to see, but unfortunately no exciting stories of ‘rabbits’ to write about. However, Craig and I had a wonderful time wondering the streets and taking in as much of the history as we could even though there is no certainty of where exactly events such as the Crucifixion and burial took place, we are just happy to have been given this amazing opportunity to see as much as we have in this truly spectacular place.

P.s. Just in case you were wondering, our evening jog didn’t happen either, but we have every intention to go for a nice long job tomorrow when we land in Lanarca, Cyprus.

xxx