Weekend in Jerusalem
So we just got back from a wonderful weekend in Jerusalem with a few friends and had a fabulous time. We left Thursday evening and took the 2 hour bus ride, arriving around 8pm. We went to Ben Yehuda street and we had a wonderful, inexpensive hotel a block from Zion Square with real mattresses and even a real bathtub! We ended up exhausted by 11pm but still went out and had fun. On Friday we went to the the Jewish Market, followed by the Arab Shuk. The Shuk is a real marvel and something that everyone should see. It's hundreds of little colorful boutiques selling the most wonderful things that you haggle with the owners for. I bought a tabla drum that he first wanted 450 Sheckels for, but I ended up getting it for 110 (About $25). Then we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was incredible in it's own right. We saw a few different services there (the church houses the bases of 7 different types of Christianity) which were fascinating and we went inside the tomb of Jesus which only fits 5 people at a time so there can be a very long wait sometimes, and then we went to the spot of the Crucifiction (I know I spelled that wrong) and saw a service there. Then came the real excitement, we went back to the wall for the night of Shabbat. It was an incredible celebration, all lit up with well over 20 services being done all at the same time. It was a struggle, but I wanted to make it to the wall, so I pushed and shoved (It was very friendly, but everyone wanted to touch the wall) with the rest of them and managed to get a spot. It was an incredible thing to hear and see all the different things going on. There were parts of songs i recognized, some that I had learned only the week before, and some that I remembered from childhood. People were crying and praying and laughing and it was beautiful to see. Then we went back and managed to find an open Chinese restaraunt a few blocks from Ben Yehuda where most of the restaraunt was taken up by an Australian-Indonesian tour group. Then we went back and fell quickly asleep. On Saturday we went back into the Old City in hopes of seeing the Dome of the Rock, but unfortunately it was open only to Muslims that day, so we will have to go another time. It really is incredible to stand back from the Western Wall and see the golden dome glistening in the sun behind it. It's amazing how intertwined everything is. Instead we hopped in a cab (You pay double rates on Shabbat because everything is closed and most taxis don't operate) but we wanted to go to the Israel Museum on the other side of town, next to the Knesset and Hebrew University. Upon arrival to the museum we saw a wonderful archeology exhibit, then the Dead Sea Scrolls (I still have vivid memories of that room from when my grandparents took me) and masterworks that I had no idea lived in Jerusalem by Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and wonderful modern works. After that we had dinner at a fantastic fusion restaraunt back near our hotel, checked out, and went to the bus station and back to Arad. We already can't wait to get back to Jerusalem. It really is the most amazing city I have ever been to.