israel: jerusalem

it was easy to get from ukraine to israel...i had a direct flight, only three hours of air time...passport control in the airport asks a LOT of questions, it's a bit overwhelming...they asked where i would be staying, with whom i would be staying, how long that person had lived in israel, what does that person do in the country, etc...i didn't have answers to some of the questions, i was worried...i was hoping they would stamp my passport if i asked nicely, but the lady said they don't stamp anymore...instead, they give you a little piece of paper that looks kinda like a subway ticket...(after my trip i taped it into my passport)...

i made the mistake of arriving in the country after dark on friday evening...which means i arrived on shabat...israel is a very religious country, more than half of israeli people are jewish...in most of the country, almost everything public shuts down on shabat, including transportation...the only transport available from the airport on friday evening is a taxi...(and not even that many taxis work friday evening)...side note: my host told me that at one point, the ultra orthodox people in the country even wanted the airport to close completely on shabat...thankfully, that didn't happen...can you imagine a country essentially closing itself completely for one day every week?

i took a chance, and shared a taxi with two guys, both of whom were also going to jerusalem...they were both israeli, and spoke hebrew, definitely to my advantage...they bargained with the driver to the best price possible...
i arrived in israel only a week after a big snowstorm, so i saw some snow still on the ground...they don't get much snow in the country, it was a major event...the guys in the taxi (including the driver) kept pointing it out to me, which i found amusing...i mentioned a couple times that i live in ukraine, where snow is more than normal...

i arrived at the home of my host in the middle of the night...i felt rude, but she welcomed me...she knows my family, so we chatted and caught up for a while, then we went to sleep...
the next morning she made me a traditional israeli breakfast...salad...yahoo!! it was awesome, and i knew straightaway i was going to love the cuisine of the country:)
i finally walked out the door after 3pm, a whole lot later than i'd planned...(on the other hand, it was really nice to relax and not have to move quickly in the morning)...i walked about 20 minutes down the road to the old city, entering through the jaffa gate...

i was immediately accosted by touts wanting me to sign up for tours, argh...one guy actually acted offended when i ignored him! that kind of behaviour does NOT make me more likely to sign up with you, buddy...
while walking through the market area, i felt a lot as if i was back in the grand bazaar of istanbul...there wasn't anything that jumped out at me and shouted "buy me buy me"...one guy seemed offended that i wanted to look through his stall but had no intentions of buying anything...he actually told me he was closing, so i would leave...behaving that way is just rude!

after walking through a heap of tiny alleyways, i finally found the church of the holy sepulchre...the entrance is on one side, i completely missed the alleyway entrance to the platz in front of the church a couple times...this is said to be the place where jesus was crucified...the inside of the church is big, but there is very little open space...several different denominations of the Christian church lay claim to specific areas of the church, and don't like to share...(i'd always thought the christian church is generally unified, but now i think very differently)

not long after i walked in, a procession came through, i don't know who they were, or why they were processing...there isn't much artificial light in the church, and since i arrived late in the day, it felt really dark to me...in an upstairs area i was able to observe young men (monks?) praying and singing together...
i saw more snow on the ground walking home...my host made dinner, she is an awesome cook...(so much so that since my trip she has started her own catering company)...my host is a fan of old movies, so we chose to watch gosford park...a classic movie :)

the next morning i slept later than expected, but it wasn't as bad...i walked to the entrance area of the western wall...you have to go through security to get anywhere close to the wall (or even to see it) and i didn't have time, but at least i knew how to get there...
i walked back home, then took off with my host to the main market of jerusalem, called mehane yehuda...(i think that's the name?)...we met the daughter of my host, who is a university student in the states...they chose a place serving iraqi food for lunch...YUM...i loved that the menus were in both english, and hebrew, and that my host and her daughter are both fluent in each...

after lunch there were lot of yummy things to taste...i tried tahina, and a dry cakey sort of thing i didn't like so well even though it was good looking...i ended up buying pomegranete, pastries, and more...a yummy milky-ish drink called sahlab...i knew already i was going to gain weight during the trip :)
after returning home, my host had some friends over for tea...more YUM...
my last full day in jersusalem was a full day of walking around as a tourist...i left home at 0730 and again walked to the western wall...(i was proud of myself for getting going so early:)

since i was there so early, there was no queue for security...after going through the metal detector, i got to the wall...if i didn't know what it was, i wouldn't have thought it anything worthwhile...howeva, it's a big deal...the wall is built on the remains of the 2nd temple (i think) built way back when...jews pray here, sometimes with a lot of passion...it was called the wailing wall for a while, because people praying looked more like they were wailing instead of praying...the prayer area is split between men and women, with a fence in between...it's possible for women to see the men's side, if you go to the back of the fenced area, and peer over the shorter fence...

nearly everyone praying on the men's side is wearing a prayer shawl; this is the side where most photos are taken...i took a few photos of my own, though none as impressive as others i've seen...the men's area was heaps smaller than i expected, though i don't know why i had any expectations at all...
after watching for a while, i went through a wooden walkway through the only entrance available to tourists to the temple mount...there was another security queue to get through this area...as soon as i entered, i could see several groups of muslim men and women studying...it was quiet, a very peaceful area...

tradition says jews cannot enter this area, as it would be considered to be walking on the ruins of a jewish temple...the reason to go to the temple mount is to see the mosque...it's stunning...it's said to be the place where mohammed ascended into heaven...(i think)...only muslims can go into the mosque, darnit...the outside is so awesome, you can't help but wonder what the inside looks like...
after walking through the entire temple mount area, i exited (through a different gate) and walked around the walls of the old city, down the hill...i could see a number of fancy tombs, one of which is said to be that of zacchariah...it was a cemetary, there were several nice tombs...

across the street from this area is a church that has the tomb of the virgin mary...quite dark and dusty, and there weren't nearly as many people as i expected, considered how many people visit jerusalem...
then i started walking up the mt of olives...it was steep-ish, and i was breathing heavily when i finally got to the top...a sandwich and water made me feel better :)...near the top is the russian church of the ascension, this is where orthodox christians think jesus ascended...in order to enter i had to borrow a wrap around skirt, thank goodness they had plenty available...i already had a head scarf in my purse, i never know when i might need such a thing :)...i was the only one inside, i don't think it gets many visitors...

on my way back down the mt of olives (on a different path from how i went up) i stopped at the church of the lord's prayer...i think the name is different, but that's basically that's what it is...the lord's prayer is written in a huge number of languages, it's awesome...
further down the hill is the tomb of the prophets, i don't know which ones...the entryway was dark and scary, i didnt go far!
there was an entry fee to go in the mosque of the ascension, so i didn't enter...a tiny mosque...
i walked all the way back to the old city, to the market area...more rude people selling stuff, but this time i met some nice salespeople as well...again, i felt like i was in the grand bazaar of istanbul...

the meat market area wasn't very impressive, maybe it was because i've seen plenty of meat markets over the years...
i found the entrance to st alexander's church, which is next door to the church of the holy sepulchre...it's more of a museum now, as there are some pieces of art displayed, including a beautiful iconostasis...i liked it because i was able to walk behind the iconostasis, which is not something i normally get to do in any orthodox church...
after st alexander's, i visited the ethiopian coptic monastary...very very cool...very very old...a back entrance/exit led me to the platz in front of the church of the holy sepulchre, so another visit to the church of the holy sepulchure was in order...

since i was there during more daylight, the middle of the church seemed much more inviting...a whole lot more light made everything more colourful...
a snack on the way home was falafel...YUM...it's a good thing i like it, it's all over :)
my host and i went out to dinner that night in a neighborhood restaurant...i ended up having stuffed spleen...not something i ever imagined i would eat, but it was good...with my main dish and the side dishes, i ate waaaaay too much, but it was worth it...a great way to end my first time in jerusalem!!