israel: the end in jerusalem

soon after arriving in jerusalem at the beginning of my trip i decided i wanted to end the trip there as well, even though tel aviv is closer to the airport from which i would be leaving...i wanted to see a few more sights, and do some last minute shopping...i don't buy presents when i travel, as some people do, for several reasons: if i did buy presents, i'd be broke, because i travel fairly regularly...and if i did buy presents, some people would have homes full of crap
i began my last full day in jerusalem with breakfast at my hotel...a large spread, i had my choice of fruit, veggies, and hot dishes...when those sorts of breakfasts are available to me, i end up walking out with more than a little belly...

since my hotel was in easy walking distance of the old city, and there were a few places there i hadn't yet seen, that's where i headed...i wanted to see the church where the virgin mary was laid to eternal rest...
i ended up stumbling into a greek orthodox cemetary first, which was small and quiet...
from there i tried to find the church where the virgin mary was buried...after a few wrong turns, i found it, but it looked like the outer gates were closed, and i didn't want to push my way in...so i didn't, i kept walking, to see if there was another entry...there wasn't...

instead, i found a statue of king david...i looked around a little more, and found king david's tomb...or, at least, it is said to be the tomb of king david...it didn't seem very fancy at all for the man who was one of the most important men in the history of this area...the tomb is split into areas for men and women, following the custom of orthodox jews...as i stood there, i could hear a man wailing on the other side, and another giving a tour...(interesting contrast, to say the least)...
i saw stairs, and saw people going up, so i followed, though i didn't know where i was going...(me and stairs, i love them)...the stairs led me to the room where the last supper allegedly took place...it was later changed into a muslim prayer space, and a niche carved into the wall to hold something holy...um, yeah, wow, important history...

i also got to see a small room called the presidents room...i have no idea what it was supposed to raise awareness for, but there were heaps of old photos and knickknacks in there...it was full...
up those original stairs i got to look out over a bit of the old city...the view wasn't anything special, but it was still nice to be able to look out...
i walked back toward the church i'd originally wanted to see, and found the gate open...its called the church of the dormition...i followed a tour group through the gates, but didn't stay with them inside the church...inside the church are small little alcoves, most are decorated with mosaics...absolutely beautiful...downstairs in the crypt is where the virgin mary 'sleeps eternally'...

after leaving the church, i walked to a bus stop where i could catch a bus to mahane yehuda market...the main market i visited two weeks ago...during that first visit i knew i wanted to come back just before leaving the country to buy a few things...and buy i did...two fairly large containers of tahini, and two bottles of olive oil...YUM...i also bought pastries for snacks...YUM
that night i had dinner with noa, the lady who had hosted me during my first few days in the country...great to catch up with her, and talk about what i'd seen and done over the past two weeks... plus, the food was good:)

the next morning breakfast was again quite large, of course i took advantage...the shuttle i'd booked picked me up as scheduled, woo hoo...we all got to their airport, and the fun began...
not only do you get grilled with security oriented questions when you enter the country, you get grilled with those questions again when you leave...and they search your baggage...all of your baggage...it's annoying, but the israeli government sees these actions as necessary security precautions...when flying out of ben gurion airport, the suggestion is for travelers to get to the airport three hours before your flight is scheduled to take off...depending on queues and how detailed your security checks are, you might actually need the full three hours!!