Jerusalem, May 2

We took off from Raquel's home at about 10:00 a.m from Jerusalem. We made it without much trouble to our hotel in West Jerusalem. We quickly settled in and then took off for the Old City, which is really, really amazing. I read in my book that whatever is built in Jerusalem over a particular size must be built in Jerusalem stone, which is a particular kind of golden limestone. It makes the city quite beautiful. We walked around the old city for about four hours. We went through the market, it is all over, really, and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where there were lots and lots of Christian visitors. There were no signs at all, and so luckily I had my Fodor's guide, and Kristin managed to orient us and then guide us around. It has what is purported to be the tomb of Jesus, and many, many different corners and floors down to explore.

After our visit to the church, we then headed to the Western Wall, where we watched the people at the wall with the separation of men and women. We tried to visit the Dome of the Rock after that, but it was closed for the day. We then tried to get outside the old city in order to walk up to the Mount of Olives. Well, it turned out that Ben failed in his navigating skills, and we arrived at the opposite gate from the one that we wanted. We turned around and walked through the market again. It was no problem because it is so interesting.

We did make it out the proper gate and then went up the Mount. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane and the Christian Jewish Cemeteries. It was quite a hike up hill, but the view into the old city was just amazing. We went all the way up to the top of the Mount of Olives where there were signs showing us what we were seeing across the horizon. It was quite impressive. We also met a camel up there who seemed to be just hanging out.

We decided that a taxi home was a good idea. After some rest, we took off in center city to dinner at Mona, one of the restaurants recommended by Fodor, and it was quite good. We the walked around the area and headed for home. So far, I have not really found any shopping areas that match he quality of shopping areas in the U.S.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bengoldstein/sets/72157624006318934/