Unfortunately, pictures can not do justice to the city of Jerusalem. Having been in many cities, I would have to say that Jerusalem is the most beautiful and spectacular city I have ever been in. It’s not that everything is clean – because it’s not. In fact, someone at work here said that the Orthodox and the Arabs do not care for cleanliness at all and are happy to drop their garbage anywhere. Instead, it is the fact that the architecture, history and culture is overwhelming – and that is not including the fact that this is the place where our Savior walked.
On Friday last week, we headed in to the old city, with no map, no directions … nothing. (This is typical Danny style.) I mean, how hard can it be to find the Old City.
Having been here for a full week, I was used to the city and buildings in Tel Aviv and Herzliyya. Although I had been down to Jaffa (Joppa), it still did not prepare me. Everything in this area looks so … normal … American. For the first half hour driving towards Jerusalem, it was the same. Then, about 15 minutes outside, you hit the foothills and begin to climb. The whole country changes in just a few miles. From flat farmland to rugged hills. From normal buildings, to architecture that reminds you of thousands of years ago.
Driving into Jerusalem was something else. Remember I said that driving here was normal? Let me quote another site I found afterwards:
“You can rent a car, but driving in Israel is not for the faint of heart. The roads are probably the most dangerous places in Israel and the traffic, especially in and around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is terrible. “
I second that. Driving in Herzliyya is for the sane, driving in Jerusalem is not.
Coming into the city, Heidi saw her first soldiers carrying automatic machine guns. It was a novelty … for all of 5 seconds. About 1000 such people later, it didn’t even turn the head. Regardless, I think Heidi would join me in saying that we felt extremely safe all day long.
OK. So roads in Jerusalem are older than roads in America, and they follow the paths of donkeys and camels. Nothing is straight. Stay on Jaffa Road? No problem – except that you can’t tell when you might need to take a right, three lefts and a round-a-bout to stay on the same street.
We parked near the most crowded market on Jaffa street and wandered in. You should see the size of the fruits and vegetables – strawberries, carrots, oranges, grapes. It would take two people to carry a bunch. Being tourists, we walked in with the stroller. Foolish us. It was shoulder room only. Friday before Shabbat means that EVERYONE is out shopping. Escaping with our lives … we headed towards the Old City.
I really can’t describe it. And I’m almost reluctant to put pictures up because they don’t do it justice. Coming in through Jaffa gate, we walked down through the Jewish quarter to the Cardo. We headed south through a section of archeological digging (main street from the time of Christ), through Zion Gate, towards the Armenian quarter and the city walls. Looking over the walls towards the Mount of Olives was breathtaking.
Finally, we headed towards the Western Wall. This was the late afternoon, and very busy because so many Jewish people and rabbis were at the wall. It’s hard to put it in words. You really have to be here. The sadness and grandeur of the city is almost tangible.
We’ll probably go in again next weekend, but this time we will have a personal tour guide. You can see from the map (we walked the path in yellow) that we only touched at the smallest area of the old city.
Saturday brought us up to the Sea of Galilee, but more on that tomorrow. 🙂