My mom and Daniel headed home on Saturday and Courtney and I spent our last two days in Israel going into Jerusalem to see as much of that incredible city as possible. We signed up for several walking tours so we could get a history lesson along with secret passageways and rooftop views.
The other tourists on one of our tours were much more colorful (annoying) than the other tours--I'd say I was equally entertained by the other members of our group as I was by the tour itself. My favorite were probably the middle-aged balding Asian Computer Science professor and his beautiful mail-order Ukranian fiance that kept holding the group up to take pictures and buy fresh-squeezed orange juice. I'm not sure if they were both coming down with colds, but 3 glasses in four hours seemed to me a bit much. Probably the best moment of the tour was when we entered the room of the last supper and the tour guide acknowledged the bad smell, we all agreed, then went on with the tour. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Italian lady said: "I know what that smell is: cat pee." Thank you for that. All of us were laughing so hard it took several minutes to compose ourselves and continue learning about the Holy City.
We took the bus to and from Jerusalem. I always feel so capable and proud of myself whenever I successfully navigate the public transport system of other countries. However, one morning while waiting for the bus a man came over and asked if we were headed to Jerusalem and told us to follow him. We were hesitant so he said "taxi" and we shook our heads, thinking we couldn't afford one, and he quoted a price equal to the bus fare. We still weren't sure about following a strange man to his van, but there were two other women who went with him so we decided to give it a try and hope for the best. The next bus didn't come for an hour, and we wanted to have as much time in Jerusalem as possible. There is a fine line between being safe and allowing adventure to happen. We arrived safely, but became less enthusiastic about our short cut to Jerusalem when the driver pulled out a cigarette.
It's hard to pick a favorite thing in Jerusalem, but just wandering the streets is so much fun. There are many churches and other monuments built for important Biblibal events. Even if those things didn't actually take place in the spot marked, seeing how touched people are by visiting those places makes them meaningful. Another highlight was Hezekiah's tunnels. We walked through a narrow, dark, wet passageway for a quarter of a mile--so much fun but definitely not for the clausterphobic.
Jerusalem is an amazing city with so much meaning. I have to come back some day for a longer visit. Now we are on to Istanbul for a few more days of adventure.
*Note: apparently I have been mispelling, and thus mispronouncing, Istanbul. I had thought there was an extra "n" in there. I discovered this mistake when I went to make hotel reservations. I really hate mistakes that make me seem illiterate.
The other tourists on one of our tours were much more colorful (annoying) than the other tours--I'd say I was equally entertained by the other members of our group as I was by the tour itself. My favorite were probably the middle-aged balding Asian Computer Science professor and his beautiful mail-order Ukranian fiance that kept holding the group up to take pictures and buy fresh-squeezed orange juice. I'm not sure if they were both coming down with colds, but 3 glasses in four hours seemed to me a bit much. Probably the best moment of the tour was when we entered the room of the last supper and the tour guide acknowledged the bad smell, we all agreed, then went on with the tour. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Italian lady said: "I know what that smell is: cat pee." Thank you for that. All of us were laughing so hard it took several minutes to compose ourselves and continue learning about the Holy City.
We took the bus to and from Jerusalem. I always feel so capable and proud of myself whenever I successfully navigate the public transport system of other countries. However, one morning while waiting for the bus a man came over and asked if we were headed to Jerusalem and told us to follow him. We were hesitant so he said "taxi" and we shook our heads, thinking we couldn't afford one, and he quoted a price equal to the bus fare. We still weren't sure about following a strange man to his van, but there were two other women who went with him so we decided to give it a try and hope for the best. The next bus didn't come for an hour, and we wanted to have as much time in Jerusalem as possible. There is a fine line between being safe and allowing adventure to happen. We arrived safely, but became less enthusiastic about our short cut to Jerusalem when the driver pulled out a cigarette.
It's hard to pick a favorite thing in Jerusalem, but just wandering the streets is so much fun. There are many churches and other monuments built for important Biblibal events. Even if those things didn't actually take place in the spot marked, seeing how touched people are by visiting those places makes them meaningful. Another highlight was Hezekiah's tunnels. We walked through a narrow, dark, wet passageway for a quarter of a mile--so much fun but definitely not for the clausterphobic.
Jerusalem is an amazing city with so much meaning. I have to come back some day for a longer visit. Now we are on to Istanbul for a few more days of adventure.
*Note: apparently I have been mispelling, and thus mispronouncing, Istanbul. I had thought there was an extra "n" in there. I discovered this mistake when I went to make hotel reservations. I really hate mistakes that make me seem illiterate.
2 comments:
Please help me too, for the love of God.
I'll gladly help you Jon, but probably not the other guy because I have no idea who he is.
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