Jerusalem

Well, I could barely stay awake at 7.30pm, but would you believe I hardly slept at all? I coughed all night- the more I tried to stop coughing, the more I coughed. I thought distracting myself with some TV episodes might send me to sleep- it worked well round Europe, but not tonight.  I eventually dozed between 4.30 and 6am, but wasn’t tired until I got on the bus! I was sound asleep before we had left Tel Aviv, but not before I’d heard some history from our tour guide, a woman at least 67 years old, possible older, but bloody fit! She was in and out of that bus like a teenager.

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 on the outskirts of the old Jewish port city of Jaffa (Yafo in Hebrew). Tel Aviv and Yafo were merged into a single city in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel.

Our first stop was Mt Scopus, to take a look over the city of Jerusalem. No colour here. All the buildings must be built out of the local granite, which makes the cityscape look very drab. Even the Jewish cemetery on the side of the Mount of Olives looks dull and boring. We made the obligatory stop at a shop that sold olive wood carvings, pottery, rosary beads, silver, jewellery made of eilat stone, which comes in varying colours of blue and green, and anything else you can name.

We were given a free cup of coffee (disgusting stuff) so I walked round with mine for a while before depositing it in the toilet. There were only 5 others on my tour- but I think everyone spent up big, so I didn’t feel bad. I think everything is really overpriced here. There are 3 Israeli women, a mother, her daughter, and step-daughter, a guy from Venezuela, and a Brazilian girl who lives and works in Dublin.

Our next stop was the Holocaust Museum where we were allowed almost 2 hours. It was extremely well done, even though it was very crowded since it closes at lunch on Fridays. I thought I knew a lot about the holocaust, but in fact, I know very little. The Hebrew word, Shoah, is also used to describe the genocide carried out by the Nazis. I think it has made the Jewish people the way they are today. Israel is a completely open country and if you are Jewish, there are no immigration restrictions. 

I was really surprised how complicit other countries were in allowing the holocaust to occur. Denmark was the only country that offered refuge for Jews and stood up to Hitler and didn’t allow their Jews to be persecuted as they were in other European countries. Even Australia refused entry to Jewish refugees. The whole world basically turned a blind eye to what was happening all over Europe, and particularly in Poland. The demographic figures tell the tale. I saw many men openly crying as they walked through the displays, audios and videos, which were more than sad- actually shocking to witness man’s inhumanity to man.

Next stop, lunch. I actually didn’t feel hungry after that Holocaust Museum experience; but thought I’d better eat something as we have the Old City walk to do this afternoon. Lunch was at a restaurant in an old monastery, and was buffet style, but not very enticing, not cheap. I had a piece of chicken and some veggies, which were swimming in oil. I ate the chicken, but only tasted the veggies. The bread was flat bread, but it was dry and stale. I’ve been spoiled in Portugal!

On the way in, I’d seen three boys holding a baby goat, asking for money. I didn’t see anyone give them any so on the way out, I gave my last 3 coins to them and took a photo. For some unknown reason, they didn’t want to take my money! I don’t know if it was too much, too little, or if they wanted American dollars! I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

After a short drive, the bus dropped us to the top of the hill, where the church of the Holy Sepulchre stands, and we visited several of the six chapels inside- Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Assyrian, Coptic, and I can’t remember the other one. It had a very strange smell, which was making me cough so I was very pleased when we came outside to find it had started raining.

Because so many branches of Christianity share the same church, nothing is allowed to be changed without the agreement of all the others. This Status Quo came into effect in 1757, I think. There’s an old wooden ladder leaning up against one of the high windows. No one knows why it’s there, but no one’s allowed to move it because it was there before 1757!

From here, we walked down through the Armenian Quarter to the Jewish Quarter, and then finally the Muslim Quarter, stopping at the stations of the Cross in the reverse order. The rain was coming down hard now, and the narrow paved streets soon became rivulets. Our guide took us into several shops, trying to get us to buy scarves for 180 shekels. I explained I have a wardrobe full of scarves at home that I never wear because it’s too hot, so then they started looking for  a summer one! I managed to extricate myself from that shop and walk further down the street, trying to find the higher stones to keep my feet dry. Yes, I had my sandals and socks on- the day had started out fine! I remarked to one of the Israeli girls that the peasant blouses we were passing would be something I would more likely use in Brisbane rather than scarves. Out of nowhere jumps the scarf man from at least several shops back, and tells me this is his shop too! I tell him they are pretty, but too small for me. He manages to find a 3XL, and has me try it on. It was so tight I thought I was going to burst the stitching, but he exclaims it fits perfectly! To make matters worse, out guide backs him up in his opinion. It is MILES too small! And 100 shekels (about $25- not cheap!) Further down the street, I see identical scarves to the 180 shekel ones for 20 shekels and I probably could have bargained him down to 10, but I do not need any more scarves.

Finally we arrive at the Western Wall and walk on through to the Wailing Wall. I was just about wailing by now! My feet were saturated and were getting icy cold. I just wanted to get back to the bus and change into dry socks and shoes. (I had taken the precaution of taking my boots in case it rained!)

Back to Tel Aviv in the pouring rain, and my dry little room- I can’t say warm, because it’s freezing again without my body in it to heat it up. And oh God! I have to pack if I’m going on this Dead Sea tour tomorrow, which leaves at 7.15am again. I’m going to have to carry wet togs onto the plane with me, which is why I wanted to do it today. Best laid plans!