Jerusalem 1
The view of the old city from our hostel roof top!
Hi! I know I've been a bit behind in posting. I've got three to upload and in the interest of time I'm doing them sans photos for now and adding the photos hopefully tomorrow. I thought we were going to have more time at the airport today but after missing the first bus, waiting an hour for the second one, being dropped off at the wrong terminal, and then being selected for an extensive random extra security check, we didn't have quite as much time at the airport as I would've hoped. So here quickly is Jerusalem 1, followed hopefully soon by Jerusalem 2, and in maybe 9 hours, The Dead Sea. And hopefully photos 24 hours after that. We're heading to Rome right now and I've been so behind because we ended every day in Jerusalem so exhausted but it was an amazing time!
Travel Day
I left Munich at around 10am and headed to the airport by train. It was about a 40 minute train and then I just hung out at the airport for a few hours until my flight at 1pm. I had a layover in Istanbul for a few hours which made for a rather more interesting than usual travel day (snoring man day notwithstanding). I however greatly overestimated how interesting Istanbul was and was greeted by a fully English translated airport which was both beautifully designed but full of normal shops even sporting a Starbucks and McDonalds which we did eat at and who’s burgers were better than those in the US due to the beef quality.
The super nice thing about my flight was that it was virtually empty so I not only had a seat section to myself I had the entire row to myself and could see out both windows without issue. Looking over Istanbul as we approached was really eye opening. I think we are given such a negative view of anything that sounds even remotely like it could be in “the middle east” that I wasn’t prepared to approach over the ocean filled with huge ships (couldn’t tell if cargo or military or a mix) and then smaller ships as we approached the land. I also wasn’t ready for the sheer size of the city with tons of tall buildings, apartment buildings, office towers, and an expanse bordering on how I feel about California all reaching to the sea and back further than I could see. Many tall spires marked the location of tons of churches but the most shocking thing to me (almost embarrassing to admit) was how green it was. I am fully guilty of seeing “the middle east” as a desert but Istanbul was green and had more trees than I thought was possible.
After exiting the plane I had about an hour to wait before Grant showed up. The thing about international flights with layovers is that the BIG sign says “passport control” and the little sign says “connecting flights” so I was just kind of hoping that Grant would figure that out. I had no service whatsoever so I couldn’t warn him either. I waited at the closest seat to where the flight would come in eventually and just waited and hoped. Once I figured it was a safe bet that his flight would’ve arrived I started playing the “are they British” game in my head to see if they were off his flight. Any woman holding two purses was a positive, any couple with a weird amount of black or tattoos, anyone who’s luggage looked like it matched a little too well and there was too much of it, and finally anyone who got close enough within earshot that I could tell that they were British all went on my list. 40 minutes later and I had just about given up hope and simply went with the notion that hopefully American’s needed a visa or something to get into Turkey so they wouldn’t let him past passport control and he’d find his way back.
Maybe an hour later he made it and we had a happy reunion before our flight to Tel Aviv.
At Tel Aviv we took an hour bus into Jerusalem and from there a cab to the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. I love old cities because we don’t really have them in the US and they always represent more culture, loudness, more food, and no cars to me. We walked through a dark and silent Jerusalem Old City around 2am, found our Hostel, and immediately passed out.
The great thing about Jerusalem’s old city is that it is literally so old and so many people have walked its roads that the stones that makeup the streets have been essentially polished to a glossy finish and are slick like glass. We have had a few fun times simply sliding our feet instead of walking it is that slick (especially on a downhill). There are also a lot of cats around which is a phenomena that never gets old to me in warm european cities and they have been fun as well. We named one near out hostel Sulivan and he is a really fine cat.
The "happy, finally made it" selfie
Day 1
Day two started with a lot of hope and Grant being absolutely starving. HIs jet lagged self decided to wake up at the crack of dawn and harassed me for several hours until I woke up too because he was hungry. Having had no luck at 2am the night before to find any food he hadn’t eaten since dinner and I couldn’t tell you why he was so hungry, something about travel and jet lag. We made it barely down the street to the entrance of Jaffa Gate (the main gate) and stopped by a small place for Falafel and Kebab. For those who don’t know Kebab is a HUGE rotating spit of meat and spices that they cook as it spins in an up and down fashion (google it) and is delicious. Felafel is some deep fried amazing combination of not meat and I honestly don’t know what is in it but either way we shouldn’t have ordered food at the main entrance of a Major tourist attraction, rookie move. I knew better but went along anyway and we were easily overcharged by at least 1/3 the cost if not more. It was delicious though so like I don’t know, you win some you lose some.
Our first (and only!) overpriced meal
We walked through the city as well which was really fun and very eye opening. I don’t want to sound like a snob but once you’ve seen a market or two they all do start becoming similar. Filled with stalls selling food, some sort of footwear, small trinkets and large items that are sent home by the more wealthy travelers, and a lot in between. They even had Thailand pants and shorts here which was interesting and eye opening about the way goods move. They are 100% Thai originated though due to their popularity in Thailand and also the fact that they’re covered in elephants which is a high point of Thai pride. The difference here is that this market had more singular streets that are covered overhead (I’m guessing buildings above?) which makes it seem like they are long cobble stoned tunnels rather than streets. Beautiful though, the city really is, I’m just going on a bit of a market rant. The other thing is that I always say “Oh I’m not going to buy anything” because I am, I’m really good at not buying souvenirs and things, I have literally no souvenirs from my entire Thailand trip that weren’t functional (clothing) except 2 bills that I bought for their interest value. (North Korea and a Zimbabwe inflation time bill - I couldn’t help it, I collect money). Speaking of money the money here is about 3.5 to the US dollar and are called Shekel which sounds like Sheckle to anyone who’s a bit more phonetic like I am. It’s not bad but it’s kind of a pain to try to divide anything by 3.5 so we’ve just been dividing by 3 and reducing a bit from there.
Some photos of the market both indoor sections and outdoor and then a really cool spice store in the market
After our jaunt through the market we were stopped at the end of a street from progressing because we were not Muslim and we were not aware that we were approaching the Dome of the Rock (aka one of the the most holy (if not the most holy) site in both Muslim and Jewish religion). We headed home and took a nice nap because Grant was jet lagged (Yeah he woke up at 5:30am…) and I was tired (Because he then woke me up). It was a good move though because it was just peaking at the heat of the day and really this place can get quite hot.
The rest of the day was spent again in pursuit of food, we found a different kebab place that was much cheaper than the first, better, and gave more food and then stopped at a supermarket for some basic foods to keep us throughout the day and some wine for Grant. It was a nice and relaxed pace for our first day which I think we both greatly appreciated.
Dinner from our favorite kebab place. Way more food for way cheaper