Day 17: The Old City and the Mount of Olives (June 28)
Despite the 2 am bedtime after our long travel from the Jordanian desert, I was still up at 7. Julia and I walked to get some breakfast treats before she left for work and I brought them back to Rachel. It is starting to feel like our time here is coming to an end and we really haven't seen much of Jerusalem, purposely leaving it for our time with Jim, but we still needed to get started. In looking at what to do, I discovered a great walking tour app of Jerusalem with 21 different guided walks (each 3-5 hours!) in the Old City alone. We chose a ramparts walk and headed toward its start at the Jaffa Gate. First order of business though was to find relief for the 91 (NINETY-ONE!) bug bites that Rachel got during our overnight stay in the Bedouin camp. I guess keeping the door ajar wasn't such a good idea! We asked for some cream, but the when he looked at her, the pharmacist gave us oral benadryl as well (at least that is what we think it is).
We started the ramparts walk midday, missing the note that it is something better done either early in the morning or late in the afternoon as it is completely exposed, but with a new perspective on heat from being in Eilat and Wadi Rum, we were fine. Rachel at one point even called it "lovely" here. Just as we were got to the top of the rampart overlooking the Jaffa Gate, there was quite a rucus below and a caravan of cars. People gathered to wave and take pictures and we realized that Prince William just drove by us on his historic tour of the Middle East!
We followed the tour around the rampart (on which the stones are a little difficult to walk and pretty slippery in spots). We went as far as we could and exited into the Muslim Quarter. We believe the advice we have received from those much more knowledgeable than us had been to avoid the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, but (I'm sure in my own ignorance) we felt very safe and in fact I had a lot of trouble even knowing if I was in the Muslim or Christian Quarter. It all runs together pretty seamlessly to the untrained eye. I'm not sure I could avoid it if I tried.
We past a shop selling old 1938 "Visit Palestine" posters. When the vendor, who was Muslim, came to talk to us I decided to lay my confusion on the table and asked him to explain to me what Palestine is. I embraced my ignorance and curiosity the rest of the day and had some pretty great conversations from a variety of perspectives. Even if I think I know or have heard certain parts of the history, I don't know it from the perspectives of the people I am asking. This vendor started off with "it's a long story" which didn't turn me away; his English was great, he was clearly educated, and he provided me with a Muslim perspective of the land. I don't feel any more clear on the issue but we did buy a view Palenstine postcards to thank him for his extended history lesson, and because they are cool looking.
While I had been looking for places to visit this morning, Rachel had scoped out a couple of places to eat. We had directions to a difficult-to-find place called Zalatimo that doesn't advertise but has been making the same sweet treat (the only thing on the menu) for the past 200 years. To find it we had to start at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which I am sure will end up being very important historically but for now it was the starting point of finding the treat - so we didn't even look in. We ordered the fried dough stuffed with cheese treat and took a seat and near a young family from DC. We overheard a family who entered later that they were from Oakland, so I interjected that we were from Mountain View. I'm so glad I did! We had such an amazing time talking to them. The daughter (Kate) just graduated from high school starting in Princeton after a gap year in China next year and a summer in Jerusalem this summer with a peace-focused NGO and the son (Nick), spending his summer working in Haifa on an archaeological project, just transferred and will be starting as a junior at Brown University in the fall! The mom (Sandra) doesn't just allow gap years between high school and college, she insists on them, so it was interesting for me to hear her perspective on that. This chance meeting was more than fun, it was really inspiring for Rachel to hear their stories. She has been talking about a gap year for a while now, and while Jim is all for it, I've been a little hesitant. I now can see one in her future, but all agree, only after she gets into college. The idea of a gap year makes her very happy. We clicked really well with this family -- but the person they really needed to meet was Julia. Julia and Kate will both be in Jerusalem for the summer (and I predict will have great adventures together) and Julia and Nick will both be juniors at Brown in the fall, where he so far doesn't know anyone. (The treats we had were amazing by the way - will return with Jim!)
They went off to see important things like the Western Wall while Rachel and I walked around the corner and plopped ourselves back down for pita and a bowl of hummus at what is said to be the second best in the Old City, saving number one for Jim.
From there we thought maybe we should go see this Mount of Olives we'd heard about (but shamefully knew nothing about). We had read it was best to take a bus up to the top and walk the route down (very good advice!). We caught an Arab bus outside the gates and when it got to the top we got off, sooner than we should have. The traffic was so bad, so even though we had to walk a little further we were faster than the bus would have been. Turns out that the mount was the base of operations for Jesus and his disciples during their Jerusalem ministry, so it is full of important Christian sites.
We wandered into the grounds of The Mount of Olives Convent of the Ascension of Our Lord, where nearly 50 nuns still work and live. We walked into the Church and they handed Rachel a scarf, which she started to put on around her shoulders but they said that wanted her to wrap it around her legs. She was the one wearing long pants! I guess they really wanted her in a skirt. Nuns were working inside the church so I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures but it was beautiful. One of the nuns walked us to the side of the church and showed us what we think is a footprint. With no shared language, we have no idea what this very important place actually is. Mary? Jesus?
It cost money to go into the Chapel of the Ascension, so I paid for Rachel and stayed outside. It wasn't more than a couple of dollars but I didn't have the change. She saw Jesus' footprint there - his last step on Earth.
We walked across the street into a Russian Orthodox monastery which we couldn't tell if it was open. When the female nuns asked where we were from, it was definitely closed to us. I think if we had been Russian we might have been allowed to stay.
Church of the Pater Noster is built on the site where Jesus is thought to have taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. It was closing for the day but the guard let us look inside at the beautiful ceramic plaques of the Lord's Prayer in around 140 languages Lord's Prayer. He also told us the path we need to take to see the rest of the Mount of Olives.
Next stop was the viewpoint which provided an amazing view of the city, centered on the Dome of the Rock. Just below us spread the world's largest and oldest Jewish cemetery with over 150,000 graves.
We started the descent past the Tomb of Prophets which was closed. I asked an Orthodox boy sitting just outside it reading his Talmud a question about it, to which he made it very clear without saying a word that he could not speak to me. I knew that - my mistake.
We continued our walk down the hill alongside two funny English women just out for a holiday who were looking for the Garden of Gethsemane. When we got to a fence that had a garden beyond, one of them starting telling us the story of Jesus' last night of praying and his betrayal. We told some other people who were just walking right by not to miss the Garden of Gethsemane and they said they had just been there and it was down and around the corner to the left. We all got a good chuckle out of that and went down and saw the real Garden (much more impressive) and went into the Basilica of the Agony next to it.
Leaving there, cab driver asked if we needed a ride and we took him up on it. We were meeting Julia at First Station (which is not the first station of the cross, but related to the railway stations). The cab driver turned out to be a great tour guide. I think I stared off with some opening comment that made Rachel cringe like "So, this is where it all happened" and he gave us the full run down of what we were seeing as we sat in bad traffic for a long time. He is Jordanian with a Jordanian passport because when he was born pre-1967 when the land we were driving on right then was in Jordan. How wacky it must be to have not moved but to be in a different country.
Julia was waiting for us by the time we arrived at the First Station, which is a very updated hip area, jarringly different from the older parts of Jerusalem. We couldn't resist that smell of an Italian restaurant. Afterwards we walked down the beautifully re-imagined train tracks park area and into the German Colony. The jogging path was active as the weather had really cooled. We came across an old bus stop that had been converted into a free library. We scouted great restaurants for when Jim arrives and took the bus back to the market. The girls stayed out for some sister time I went back to the apartment to tend to the laundry and catch up on blog.
We started the ramparts walk midday, missing the note that it is something better done either early in the morning or late in the afternoon as it is completely exposed, but with a new perspective on heat from being in Eilat and Wadi Rum, we were fine. Rachel at one point even called it "lovely" here. Just as we were got to the top of the rampart overlooking the Jaffa Gate, there was quite a rucus below and a caravan of cars. People gathered to wave and take pictures and we realized that Prince William just drove by us on his historic tour of the Middle East!
We followed the tour around the rampart (on which the stones are a little difficult to walk and pretty slippery in spots). We went as far as we could and exited into the Muslim Quarter. We believe the advice we have received from those much more knowledgeable than us had been to avoid the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, but (I'm sure in my own ignorance) we felt very safe and in fact I had a lot of trouble even knowing if I was in the Muslim or Christian Quarter. It all runs together pretty seamlessly to the untrained eye. I'm not sure I could avoid it if I tried.We past a shop selling old 1938 "Visit Palestine" posters. When the vendor, who was Muslim, came to talk to us I decided to lay my confusion on the table and asked him to explain to me what Palestine is. I embraced my ignorance and curiosity the rest of the day and had some pretty great conversations from a variety of perspectives. Even if I think I know or have heard certain parts of the history, I don't know it from the perspectives of the people I am asking. This vendor started off with "it's a long story" which didn't turn me away; his English was great, he was clearly educated, and he provided me with a Muslim perspective of the land. I don't feel any more clear on the issue but we did buy a view Palenstine postcards to thank him for his extended history lesson, and because they are cool looking.
While I had been looking for places to visit this morning, Rachel had scoped out a couple of places to eat. We had directions to a difficult-to-find place called Zalatimo that doesn't advertise but has been making the same sweet treat (the only thing on the menu) for the past 200 years. To find it we had to start at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which I am sure will end up being very important historically but for now it was the starting point of finding the treat - so we didn't even look in. We ordered the fried dough stuffed with cheese treat and took a seat and near a young family from DC. We overheard a family who entered later that they were from Oakland, so I interjected that we were from Mountain View. I'm so glad I did! We had such an amazing time talking to them. The daughter (Kate) just graduated from high school starting in Princeton after a gap year in China next year and a summer in Jerusalem this summer with a peace-focused NGO and the son (Nick), spending his summer working in Haifa on an archaeological project, just transferred and will be starting as a junior at Brown University in the fall! The mom (Sandra) doesn't just allow gap years between high school and college, she insists on them, so it was interesting for me to hear her perspective on that. This chance meeting was more than fun, it was really inspiring for Rachel to hear their stories. She has been talking about a gap year for a while now, and while Jim is all for it, I've been a little hesitant. I now can see one in her future, but all agree, only after she gets into college. The idea of a gap year makes her very happy. We clicked really well with this family -- but the person they really needed to meet was Julia. Julia and Kate will both be in Jerusalem for the summer (and I predict will have great adventures together) and Julia and Nick will both be juniors at Brown in the fall, where he so far doesn't know anyone. (The treats we had were amazing by the way - will return with Jim!)
They went off to see important things like the Western Wall while Rachel and I walked around the corner and plopped ourselves back down for pita and a bowl of hummus at what is said to be the second best in the Old City, saving number one for Jim.
From there we thought maybe we should go see this Mount of Olives we'd heard about (but shamefully knew nothing about). We had read it was best to take a bus up to the top and walk the route down (very good advice!). We caught an Arab bus outside the gates and when it got to the top we got off, sooner than we should have. The traffic was so bad, so even though we had to walk a little further we were faster than the bus would have been. Turns out that the mount was the base of operations for Jesus and his disciples during their Jerusalem ministry, so it is full of important Christian sites.
We wandered into the grounds of The Mount of Olives Convent of the Ascension of Our Lord, where nearly 50 nuns still work and live. We walked into the Church and they handed Rachel a scarf, which she started to put on around her shoulders but they said that wanted her to wrap it around her legs. She was the one wearing long pants! I guess they really wanted her in a skirt. Nuns were working inside the church so I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures but it was beautiful. One of the nuns walked us to the side of the church and showed us what we think is a footprint. With no shared language, we have no idea what this very important place actually is. Mary? Jesus?It cost money to go into the Chapel of the Ascension, so I paid for Rachel and stayed outside. It wasn't more than a couple of dollars but I didn't have the change. She saw Jesus' footprint there - his last step on Earth.
We walked across the street into a Russian Orthodox monastery which we couldn't tell if it was open. When the female nuns asked where we were from, it was definitely closed to us. I think if we had been Russian we might have been allowed to stay.
Church of the Pater Noster is built on the site where Jesus is thought to have taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. It was closing for the day but the guard let us look inside at the beautiful ceramic plaques of the Lord's Prayer in around 140 languages Lord's Prayer. He also told us the path we need to take to see the rest of the Mount of Olives.
Next stop was the viewpoint which provided an amazing view of the city, centered on the Dome of the Rock. Just below us spread the world's largest and oldest Jewish cemetery with over 150,000 graves.We started the descent past the Tomb of Prophets which was closed. I asked an Orthodox boy sitting just outside it reading his Talmud a question about it, to which he made it very clear without saying a word that he could not speak to me. I knew that - my mistake.
We continued our walk down the hill alongside two funny English women just out for a holiday who were looking for the Garden of Gethsemane. When we got to a fence that had a garden beyond, one of them starting telling us the story of Jesus' last night of praying and his betrayal. We told some other people who were just walking right by not to miss the Garden of Gethsemane and they said they had just been there and it was down and around the corner to the left. We all got a good chuckle out of that and went down and saw the real Garden (much more impressive) and went into the Basilica of the Agony next to it.
Leaving there, cab driver asked if we needed a ride and we took him up on it. We were meeting Julia at First Station (which is not the first station of the cross, but related to the railway stations). The cab driver turned out to be a great tour guide. I think I stared off with some opening comment that made Rachel cringe like "So, this is where it all happened" and he gave us the full run down of what we were seeing as we sat in bad traffic for a long time. He is Jordanian with a Jordanian passport because when he was born pre-1967 when the land we were driving on right then was in Jordan. How wacky it must be to have not moved but to be in a different country.
Julia was waiting for us by the time we arrived at the First Station, which is a very updated hip area, jarringly different from the older parts of Jerusalem. We couldn't resist that smell of an Italian restaurant. Afterwards we walked down the beautifully re-imagined train tracks park area and into the German Colony. The jogging path was active as the weather had really cooled. We came across an old bus stop that had been converted into a free library. We scouted great restaurants for when Jim arrives and took the bus back to the market. The girls stayed out for some sister time I went back to the apartment to tend to the laundry and catch up on blog.
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