JERUSALEM 3
We got up early and walked to the bus station to buy tickets for the bus to Tel Aviv. We decided that would be the best way to go. Although the new high speed train has started to run it only goes from the airport to Tel Aviv. On the way to the bus station we passed by the Bridge of Strings.
Mea Sherim
We decided to spend the afternoon just walking through Jerusalem. We headed back to the old city by way of Mea Sherim, a very orthodox section of the city. The streets were pretty empty.
At one point we were stopped by an older woman who said that we had to leave because the Queen was not dressed appropriately. She was totally covered but she was wearing pants and not a skirt. She removed her scarf and wrapped it around her legs and this became acceptable to the old woman.
Old City
There is always something new that has been uncovered in the old city.
This is the plaza outside the Hurva Synagogue. Lots of families were out. The Hurva Synagogue site was occupied by many synagogues as it was destroyed many times over the years. Although it had other names it was always referred to as hurva or `ruins'. It was rebuilt in 1864 but was destroyed by the Jordanians in the 1948 war. It was not rebuilt after the 1967 war since there was a disagreement about what should be built. Finally, in 2000 they decided to rebuild it in the old style it was and it was opened in 2010.
The king went up on the roof where these views were taken. The Queen stayed down as she does not do heights.
The King stops as we wander through the Jewish Quarter of the old city.
Western Wall
We thought about going to the western wall but it was very crowded.
… and the lines to get in were very long.
Along the old city walls at one point there was a group of people rappelling down the wall. This was not on the Western Wall.
Jaffa Road and Ben Yehuda Street
We spent the afternoon just waking around the area of Ben Yehuda and Jaffa. This is a very crowded area most days and with the Passover holiday it was even more crowded with families and teenagers. The is the Queen standing in the middle of Jaffa Road between trams.
There was a group of young kids in sailor outfits that sung songs to entertain the crowds. They were very good.
The orthodox young women all had very fancy and colorful head coverings on.
All of the souvenir stores that had kippas (yamulkas) had Make America Great Again versions. The red one says TRUMP in Hebrew.
A couple of weeks before going to Israel I attended the AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) annual meeting in DC. At that meeting I was introduced to Lou, a friend of my friend Toby. I spotted him walking down Ben Yehuda Street and we took this photo so I could send it to Toby. He was here chaperoning his daughter's class trip to Israel.
Eucalyptus Restaurant
At night we really wanted to go to Ben Sira our favorite hummus/falafel restaurant but it was closed for the Passover holiday. Instead we wound up at The Eucalyptus restaurant. It is located in a small artist colony across just outside the Old City. This is an unusual place that serves biblical ingredients and uses wild plants and roots foraged from nearby hillsides. We had grilled cauliflower in a sauce, matzo with some interesting dips and some fish falafel.
We also had some fried eggplant with other vegetables.
For desert we had pears in a wine sauce with some tahini ice cream. This was fantastic.
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