Wednesday 8/15 -- Our Last Full Day in Israel

We met in the dining room for another hearty Israeli breakfast & discussed our plans for the day. BJ & Turk had left very early for Tel Aviv to visit friends, so I was part of the Israel family for the day. Later I became "cousin Leni" at a point when it was important that we be a family unit. We wanted to see Ben Yehuda Street which is famous for it's shopping. This is outside the old city and we decided to walk the 40 minutes; we were told that we would see how an average Israeli lived in these streets and neighborhoods.

The walk was largely uphill - I came to believe that all Israel is uphill. We passed through some interesting neighborhoods with apartments and shops; we saw schoolgirls in their uniforms and people on their way to work. I loved this sign advising modest dress -- long sleeves and skirts. I don't know how the Hasidim -- both men and women tolerate the heat in their black coats, and long dresses. Click on the image to see all the restrictions.

W e passed some beautiful architecture. Like many European cities, people walk more than drive and city life is very livable, full of friends and conveniences. Ben Yehuda Street area is pedestrian, with many little alleyways with more shops. I felt pretty shopped out and I had done enough packing to realize I wasn't going to get much more stuff in the suitcase, so I mostly people-watched. I did buy a Book of Psalms, which was covered in wood and medieval-styled paper and lacquered. It's more an art object than a book.


This is part of Ben Yehuda Street, where I sat on a bench in the shade.






------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Bethlehem Adventure

At the dig we were strongly advised not to go to Bethlehem, which is in Palestinian territory. Apparently restrictions in recent months have increased and it's costly and difficult to go. Still, people in Jerusalem thought it was quite safe and possible to go, so Bob arranged through the hotel for a taxi/guide to take us. It cost $60, which I thought was quite a lot for the couple of hours we stayed and the short distance involved.

A Jewish cabdriver with Israeli license plates picked us up at the hotel promptly and drove us the 20 minutes or so to the border.
He warned us not to say that we are Jews. Then a young woman met us and walked us through this DMZ border where we had to show passports; she took us to another taxi on the Palestinian side. It really seemed to matter to them that we were a family, so I became a cousin. After crossing, another man drove us to the Church of the Nativity (the birthplace of Jesus) where another guide, with the Biblical name Esau, took us all through the church. It was really interesting -- the church is shared by Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenians.
I'd really hoped to be free to walk around Bethlehem, walk around freely, maybe have a falafel in the town square. Apparently this is no longer possible.

Returning to Jerusalem was done the same convoluted way. We got caught in a roadblock before crossing back and they took our passports for about 15 minutes. I really wasn't worried because I'd had the same thing happen at the Bosnian/Serbian border once and we arrived back safe & sound. We had dinner in the lovely garden of the American Colony Hotel. This is the place where western journalists hang out, especially in times of trouble in Israel.

Tuesday August 14 -- Jerusalem on my own

Tuesday I needed some time to recuperate so let Yehuda, Bob, Merilyn and the boys go on to Hebron without me. Turk & BJ went to museums early, and not feeling well, I had a slower start. About 11 AM I took a taxi to the Jaffa Gate; my plan was to wander the old city -- shop and take in the sights of the Armenian, Muslim and Jewish Quarters my own leisurely pace.

It was lovely just to wander, with no agenda and take in all the sights, sounds and smells of this city so unchanged by time. The profusion of colors -- merchandise of all descriptions hanging everywhere, the sounds of shoppers and shopkeepers, the smells of restaurants and spice shops -- it's overwhelming and somewhat disorienting. While I didn't take this picture of the old city - August morning - it perfectly captures the ambiance of that day.

I stopped at one shop in particular near this Mosaic Doorway which sold everything from jewelry, to inlaid boxes, to oriental rugs. The young shopkeeper plied me with bottled orange juice and Bedouin mint tea, while we talked about politics, places we'd been, our families. Of course I bought a few things from him, and from his "cousin" while I sat on a hassock and relaxed. This was the experience that I'd come for: just to soak up the sense of old Jerusalem while shopping and chatting. Of course I do know that this is part of his sales pitch, I really didn't care.

By the time I returned to our hotel about 4 PM my fellow travellers were returning from their own adventures. I enjoyed a swim in the hotel's roof-top pool, and then we regrouped and all went out to dinner together at a nearby Lebanese restaurant. Flatbread grilled in herbs was served in a lovely garden, where, for a nominal fee, you could also smoke a hookah. Another splendid day!

Pictures 8/13 -- Masada Ein Gedi & the Dead Sea

Masada





Bedouin camel




Ein Gedi
David's Waterfall




Dead Sea looking towards Jordan

Monday 8/13 -- Masada, Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea

I am continuing this narrative after the disruption of jet lag and a persistent gastrointestinal microbial invasion. Monday our guide, Yehuda Rubin, picked us "the Sinai Seven" up at our Jerusalem hotel for a day which turned out to be one of the most physically grueling, but rewarding days of the trip. We headed through the Judean desert towards Masada. But first we stopped at the side of the road where a Bedouin man had a camel and sold handicrafts.
When we arrived at Masada it was just a short time till the deadline for walking up; the lady at the gate sized us up and strongly suggested the cable car. Masada is a high plateau where an abandoned Herodian fortress was the site of the last siege and defeat of the Jews by the Romans about the year 73 CE. Herod had set up this garrison, supplied it with ample food and water supplies; it was empty for years until the Jews retreated there after the destruction of the second temple in the year 70. After a long siege and surrounded by thousands of Roman troops, the 967 men, women and children chose death over the atrocities awaiting them at the hands of the Romans. We hiked all over the site, and climbed down a huge water cistern where in 1943 a Zionist youth group wrote, on the walls, their saga of hiking through the Judean desert. This day was the hottest I've ever been. When we got back into the comfort of the air-conditioned van, Yehuda told us it was 43 or 44 degrees Celsius - at least 114.

From there we doubled back to Ein Gedi National Park. On this site Herod had his precious balsam crop, and it is the place where David spared Saul's life. We hiked and climbed to David's waterfall, an amazing site in the desert. Just when I thought I couldn't walk another step in that heat Yehudi found us a little swimming hole to cool off. We saw little ibex goats and the trees which produce the "manna" described in Exodus. At the edge of Ein Gedi there is an old 4th century CE Byzantine synagogue with fascinating patterns of mosaic floors - signs of the zodiac & names of the patriarchs.

The Dead Sea was our next stop, and I hoped that even the salty water would be cool and refreshing so was really disappointed: it is very warm. But you really do float to such an extent it's nearly impossible to swim. The beach also had a sulphur pool (also very hot) and a cool water pool. I tried everything except the mud, which didn't appeal to me. On the way back to Jerusalem we made a scenic stop overlooking the Dead Sea all the way to Jordan. What a way to end such an adventurous day!

Sunday the 12th in the City of David & old Jerusalem

The dig-sponsored tour was cancelled, but BJ arranged for Marian to be tour guide for us -- the Sinai Seven. We started our day early at the City of David, conceived over two thousand years ago to be a capital to unite all Jews. Excavation still goes on continually, but it is home to many people of various faiths. At that time it was on the border of the lands of Judah and Benjamin, divided by parallel hills and the Kidron Valley. To be a city, some-times at war, water was imperative and it had to be safe to obtain. Here I am in the conduit below the city of David. We made our way through ancient water tunnels and peered down steep shafts searching for the necessary water. The rainwater-fed pool (discovered accidentally in 1995) was inside the original city walls and the narrow passageways were used by women to fetch buckets of fresh water. At this spring Solomon - son of David & Bathsheba was anointed king.

From atop the City of David one can see Mt Moriah- the scene of Abraham's intended sacrifice and the Arab town across the valley. You can see the modern city of Jerusalem, of which the City of David is a part. It seems everyone knows Marian, our guide, and we stopped at an excavation area where Ismail, the assistant director of the project showed us many ancient coins from the Iron Age to the Byzantines.

From there we wandered into the old part of Jerusalem, through the Jewish, Muslim and Armenian quarters. The narrow streets with shops and merchandise everywhere is a visual montage of color -- plumbing supplies next to silks and spices. We stopped to eat at a Falafel restaurant in the Jewish quarter. After lunch we visited a Byzantine processional road, which is now one level below the current street, the shopping area of the Cardo, the Muslim market. We finished our day with a view of the Western Wall.

Saturday August 11 - Tour to Acre, Haifa & Caesarea.

A bus-full of dig participants took this optional day-long tour along the Israeli coastal plain, where most of Israelis live. Driving to the northernmost city - Acre (also called Acca or Acco) we began our tour at this Crusader site. After the earliest days of the crusades, most crusaders came by sea and entered the middle east at Acre; they conquered the city from the Muslims in 1104. As many places in Israel, they built their palaces, hospitals and homes on top of older Iron age sites. The ruins of the Muslim city beneath were extensive. Acre is right on the Mediterranean and was an easily defensible fortress. We toured tunnels, the dining hall at right, churches with our our now familiar guide, Marian.

Acco served more as a commercial center than a religious site and provided easier passage of goods and people to and from Europe. Much of what remains was built by the Knights Templar, who became very wealthy through trade, before becoming a monastic community. We saw their jail, huge dining hall with original columns, the crypt and tunnels throughout the area. The tunnels enabled the knights to travel throughout the city without encountering rival crusader factions.

Acre is built on a peninsula where Arabs, Christians and Jews now live together amicably. It has some narrow and ancient streets and a beautiful view. From this northernmost point of this tour we traveled 45 minutes south.

Haifa,the industrial seaport, is our next stop. Our main point of interest is the Baha'i Gardens. They were intended to replicate or rival the gardens of Eden and Babylon. The Baha'i broke off from Islam around 1900, whose faith is based upon total equality and peace. The gardens are truly spectacular -- built with money secretly appropriated from a oil deal by an overzealous follower who was later beheaded. Thomas, our fellow digger from India, got us all saying "sa baba" meaning "very good" until we all got pretty silly.

Our last stop this day was Caesarea -- a Mediterranean resort dedicated to Caesar Augustus-- especially associated with Herod, King of Judea under the Romans. Herod accomplished a lot of building projects here: a palace, gymnasium with colonnades, baths, amphitheatre, fortified seaport, swimming pool and gladiator arena. Caesarea was later overtaken by Crusaders, and in the early 20th century Bosnians emigrated and built a small town on the beach to escape persecution in their own country. Much is still here and some reconstruction has taken place in recent years.

We arrived back at Ramat Rahel tired, but with lots of photos, shared conversations and memories. We have to pack because the next day our group of seven from Temple Sinai moved into Jerusalem at the Grand Court Hotel, but BJ convinced Marian to take us on another tour the following day.

After -- Wall is gone!