Day 10. David. Hezekiah. Lazarus.

Ana and Elaine squeezing through the narrow passageway in Hezekiah's tunnel. I should have avoided that bonus bowl of cottage cheese at breakfast. 

Today we toured some of the sights surrounding the old city. We had lunch on Mt Scopus, home of Hebrew University, and once an Israeli enclave from 1948 to 1967. We started the day at the City of David, the original Jerusalem, which is now immediately south of the Old City. We walked through Hezekiah’s tunnel, the tunnel built to keep the water source away from invading armies.  Over lunch we stopped and sorted through old rocks. We saw the tomb of Lazarus, which took us to Zone A.

When we exited Hezekiah's tunnel, we saw the oldest of Jerusalem's city walls. The walls fro the Canaanite period, some 2500 years ago. These are much further south than the present day Old City Walls. These were the walls that existed when David was king. 

There's a windmill in Jerusalem. I assumed it was the Dutch Embassy. I was wrong. It's the Montefiore windmill. Google will tell you more. 

My favorite visit of the day was the tomb of Lazarus. There's both a church and a mosque at the site. The tomb is down down down into the ground. The steps are steep and the entryway into the actual tomb is very small. I made a video of our decent. I would like to post it, but Jerusalem hasn't evented broadband internet speed yet. Still running at 28.8. 

A map is in order….

  

The red marker on this map is where the City of David site is located. You can see that it’s directly south of the current day old city. There’s a set of dotted lines starting at the northwest corner of the old city and running north. That was the Armistice line that separated Jordan from Israeli from 1948 to 1967. You didn’t cross the line unless you were a diplomat. Think: Berlin. Hebrew University is in the top right of the map. That’s Mt Scopus. This was the enclave from 1948 to 1967 – it was part of Israel but entirely surrounded by Jordan.

In present day, everything to the east of those dotted lines is “East Jerusalem.” You’ll notice the Old City is east of the dotted lines. Hence, when you hear debate about East Jerusalem in the context of the Israel / Palestine (non-existent) peace talks, now you know why.

Sam and I working on his chess skills. We had to stop last night half way through a game. He was worried I wasn't going to remember who's turn it was. 

Day 9. Ramparts Walk. Shopping at the Damascus Gate. Walking. Falafel.

A view from the Rampart's walk, looking into the City from the Jaffa Gate. We aren't sure why Sam is holding up 3 fingers. Ben is holding his wallet. The one without any money in it. He's also carrying a camera without any batteries. And yes, the white hat on Ben and Sunglasses on Ana are recent purchases. Sam is holding a stick. He liberated the stick from Tel Dan National park. It's a combo walking stick/bow and arrow/golf club/wizard's wand. You can't get those just anywhere. 

We made it to the Old City yesterday. It’s unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. We stopped yesterday at the Western Wall before checking in to our hotel.

At our hotel, we had a big Shabbat dinner. It’s loud during Shabbat. Lots of singing.

This morning we started our day in the Old City at the Jaffa Gate and then made our way to the Damascus Gate via the Ramparts Walk. What’s the ramparts? That’s the top of the wall. You can walk around the city on top of the ancient walls. It’s a great way to get some great views of the city.

Once we arrived at the Damascus Gate, we bought necessities at the shuk.  Elaine bought 2 kilos of grape leaves. As I write this, she’s sitting on the hotel bed and vacuum sealing the grape leaves. Don’t tell customs. We also stopped and saw our favorite bread guy. 

We then made our way to Abu Shukri for hummus and falafel. I felt bad cheating on my favorite falafel guy, but I’ve read great things about Abu Shukri. And I still have time to visit my favorite guy. 

Elaine can't believe I managed to get her to sit down in a restaurant in the Old City. I didn't actually, her father did. :) And Ana wasn’t impressed with the décor or the food in Abu Shukri. She says she like living in America. 

This door made me laugh. Look closely and see if you can figure out why. 

Day 8. Buying Drugs in East Jerusalem

Friday Night. My mother in law, Vicky, realized she forgot her medicine at home. She takes a pill to reduce swelling in her ankles. She calls it a "water pill." Without the water pill, she's not sure if she'll be able to walk tomorrow. Well, this is a problem. No prescription, we don't really know what the medicine is called, and it's Friday night in Jerusalem. Everything is closed. Off we go... 

Since I had the pleasure of running a similar errand last year, Elaine and Reda (my father in law) decide to make a go of it this year. We use The Google to figure out what we think the drug is, save a picture on our phone and Elaine and Reda head off.  

There's a pharmacy down the street from our hotel that is run by an arab family. They might be open, given that most Arabs don't also celebrate Shabbat. Elaine and Reda arrive at 4:45. They close at 5:00. The nice people let them know that they decided to close early. But good news! There's another place close by that might be able to help them. 

The directions they give Elaine, in Arabic, go something like this: go down the street, 500 meters, keep to the right, make sure not to take the street that goes right, look for the store that has Orange on it, but if you see the orange store you've gone too far. Easy to find. 10 minute walk. 

They walk for 10 minutes and then ask for directions again. Ah yes! Just down the street, keep to the left, 50 meters, past the bus station, but not all the way to the orange store. They usually close between 3 and 6, depending on what the owner has going on at night. No problem. 

And they find it! Or at least they find a pharmacy, go inside and give it a shot. 

Elaine shows them a picture of the drug they need.  They look at Elaine and say something in Arabic. Reda jumps in, says 3 words, and instantly they reply "MUSRI!!!" (The Egyptian). No problem. We'll get you the pills. 

The Pharmacist leaves for a few minutes, comes back with 30 pills. Says it will cost 12 Shekels (that's about 3 dollars). Reda doesn't have any Shekels. Hands her 20 dollars. She looks at it strangely, stays she'll be right back. Goes and talks to the owner, who turns out to be her father. She doesn't know what to do with the 20 bucks. He doesn't have any Shekel's. The owner comes over and talks to Reda. 

He tells Reda, Egyptian my friend!! No problem. Come back tomorrow. We open at 7.  or 8. God willing. 

TL;DR: Prescription = picture from the internet. Payment = IOU. Come back tomorrow. No problem. 

Day 8. Buying Drugs in East Jerusalem

Friday Night. My mother in law, Vicky, realized she forgot her medicine at home. She takes a pill to reduce swelling in her ankles. She calls it a "water pill." Without the water pill, she's not sure if she'll be able to walk tomorrow. Well, this is a problem. No prescription, we don't really know what the medicine is called, and it's Friday night in Jerusalem. Everything is closed. Off we go... 

Since I had the pleasure of running a similar errand last year, Elaine and Reda (my father in law) decide to make a go of it this year. We use The Google to figure out what we think the drug is, save a picture on our phone and Elaine and Reda head off.  

There's a pharmacy down the street from our hotel that is run by an arab family. They might be open, given that most Arabs don't also celebrate Shabbat. Elaine and Reda arrive at 4:45. They close at 5:00. The nice people let them know that they decided to close early. But good news! There's another place close by that might be able to help them. 

The directions they give Elaine, in Arabic, go something like this: go down the street, 500 meters, keep to the right, make sure not to take the street that goes right, look for the store that has Orange on it, but if you see the orange store you've gone too far. Easy to find. 10 minute walk. 

They walk for 10 minutes and then ask for directions again. Ah yes! Just down the street, keep to the left, 50 meters, past the bus station, but not all the way to the orange store. They usually close between 3 and 6, depending on what the owner has going on at night. No problem. 

And they find it! Or at least they find a pharmacy, go inside and give it a shot. 

Elaine shows them a picture of the drug they need.  They look at Elaine and say something in Arabic. Reda jumps in, says 3 words, and instantly they reply "MUSRI!!!" (The Egyptian). No problem. We'll get you the pills. 

The Pharmacist leaves for a few minutes, comes back with 30 pills. Says it will cost 12 Shekels (that's about 3 dollars). Reda doesn't have any Shekels. Hands her 20 dollars. She looks at it strangely, stays she'll be right back. Goes and talks to the owner, who turns out to be her father. She doesn't know what to do with the 20 bucks. He doesn't have any Shekel's. The owner comes over and talks to Reda. 

He tells Reda, Egyptian my friend!! No problem. Come back tomorrow. We open at 7.  or 8. God willing. 

TL;DR: Prescription = picture from the internet. Payment = IOU. Come back tomorrow. No problem. 

Day 6. Dan. Pan. Fish. Boat.

Morning in Tiberias, looking over the Sea of Galilee

The 2015 edition of the Old Rocks Tour has begun. I’ll spare you most of the photographs, but we saw a boatload of old rocks today. Old Synagogues, old temples, old gates, old temples, old cities…old old old. And this stuff is OLD. Thousands of years. Here's a picture of what Elaine and I look like while admiring old rocks: 

Our journey today started in Tiberias. We drove north to the sliver of land where Israel meets Lebanon meets Syria. We took a hike though Tel Dan national park, headwaters of the Jordan and site of the ancient city of Dan (old rocks). We were also lucky enough to see something quite cool and VERY old: the Canaanite gate and city of three arches. Think about this - it's possible that Abraham walked through these some 3500 years ago. http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/DanCanaaniteCity.html

While we were on our walk through Tel Dan, we explored the remnant of a military bunker, evidence of one of the many conflicts fought in this plot of land. With Damascus just 50 km from where I was standing, ISIS closing in on Damascus, meanwhile Hezbollah close enough to see...standing in a military bunker is surreal. Too much war. I stood here and felt that borders are quite arbitrary.   

We left Tel Dan and saw some more fascinating old rocks, the ancient city of Banias, the main attraction being the Cave of Pan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banias . You probably recall the recent story of Bronze mask being discovered.  

Then we headed back to Tiberias, and stopped on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee from some fresh fish. 

I think the fish was delicious. But I wouldn't know because the boys were busy eating all of mine. Ana stuck to the salad and reminded her brothers they were eating one of God’s creatures. Sam and Ben reminder her that it was delicious.

Elaine and the kids picked sea shells out of the Sea of Galilee.

We stopped at Capernaum as well. They changed the sign (reference last year’s page on Capernaum). 

Edit: last week's post from Capernaum did not include the picture I was thinking about. Here it is. The picture from last year: 

We finished our day with a peaceful boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

Day 5. Caesarea. Mt Carmel. Jethro.

We traveled from Tel Aviv to Tiberias today. But I have a secret. We stopped somewhere on the way out of Tel Aviv that wasn't actually on the way to Tiberias. I went back to see The Solution. That's right. I needed to say goodbye to my good friend Abu Hassan. I was there first thing in the morning. 

The hummus was still warm. I sat and enjoyed it while saying goodbye to my other good friend from the first four days: the calming waters of the Mediterranean. The kids enjoy Abu's fresh made bread. Thumbs up. 

Our first stop in our day long trip to Tiberias was at Caesarea. The boys walked past the 2000 years of history, unimpressed. There was a big boat out at sea. And it needed to be photographed. 

After the hunt for Red October, we saw the old roman colosseum.  We also saw an old rock that is inscribed with a bunch of Latin. Two of the words are "Pontius Pilate." This is the only known artifact outside of the Gospel accounts that refer Pontius Pilate. I'd show you a picture of it, but you can google "Pontius Pilate." 

Our next step was at monastery near mount Carmel. It's know for it's views of the area. The picture at the top of this update is one such example. I enjoyed the monastery grounds. 

Ana taught me that the step one in making friends with a stray cat is to make eye contact with it for 5 minutes. There's a statue of Elijah in the background. 

 There's a little town called Nazareth along the way to Tiberias. It's famous for a few reasons, these days it's most famous for it's great restaurants. Next trip. Kanna - that's the place Jesus made wine out of water: 

Before we called it a day and settled into our new hotel here in Tiberias, we stopped at saw the location of Jethro's tomb, a sacred spot for the Druze.