Jerusalem and Palestine

We made an attempt to be the first to arrive at a well hidden tahini shop in Old Town for 100 points and while we found it; we did not find it first. We did get a few points but the tahini man is comparable to the soup nazi.  Side note- we paid $25 for a 3 minute cab ride.  They do not have meters running so the fee for tourists is whatever they decide you should pay.  Another lesson learned.

Next up was a 10k bus ride to Bethlehem that took an hour due to the Wall.  Shannon continued to document time scavenges and was perplexed when her watch and phone were an hour off throughout the day.  It turns out that Palestine (a 10k away) is an hour earlier!  Very confusing.  We were also able to partner with another team today and we felt drawn to the two other Texans on the trip.  Donna is an honorary Texan since her husband is a Longhorn, so it really is the Texas group.

The cab drivers in Bethlehem had a lot to share about the history and the Wall, which has 2 Banksy paintings.  Our favorite wall graffiti was Make Hummus Not War.  

Banksey on the Wall

Church of the Nativity- Bethlehem

As we headed back to Jerusalem, we traded cabs at the border because the Palestinian cab drivers need visas to cross into Jerusalem!  It really brought the politics of the region home. 

We hustled all over Old Town, between the Jewish, Armenian, Muslim and Christian Quarters and noted the differences between the four.  It was sensory overload with the four distinct religions/cultures blending in one very tight space with winding cobblestone alleys.  Each had its distinct character, food, art, dress and architecture.  The history of the sites was almost too much to take in.  Also fascinating was observing the religious devotees of each faith.  We saw Christian groups, carrying heavy crosses and praying at the stations of the cross.  In the Church of the Sepulcher, which houses the place where Jesus was supposedly laid and subsequently buried after the crucifixion, we saw people laying on and kissing the marker.  Germ fest but moving.  5 minutes away were the Orthodox Jews at the Wailing Wall.  We were given a small view into their world, which has strict rules that we were naive to prior to this trip.  One surprise was the difference security entrance for men and women.  They were literally right next to each other, but we had to enter on the women’s side.

Stations of the Cross

Church of the Sepulcher

Wandering through the streets we encountered some familiar sites, and the college counselor (Shannon) found a wall of t-shirts, with the names of the colleges written in Hebrew.  Had we not been rushing to the next scavenge, she would have come home with a few. Sadly, no Emory t shirts!  As per typical, we got American pricing on Shannon’s street art.  $100 for a beautiful street scene.  Starting price was $200 (good job Shannon for bargaining!). Then to the hole in the wall, Falafel shop, for a quick lunch of hummus and falafel . . . for $48.  Hmm..

For Leah Esparza, Heidi Sloan and all the SMCA Notre Dame fans

American Tourist Pricing

Old Town Market

We had a birds eye view on a very cool walk along a narrow alley through the ramparts that go around the old city.  It was fun to think about who had walked these before and see the statues of the typical soldiers that would have occupied the city at various points in history. 

Ubiquitous candy pictures that we love to take and proof that everyone in the world loves candy!!

One scavenge was to find the bakery for late night nosh.  We wandered into a dark alley and almost turned around but then followed the smell of baking bread!  No child labor laws here.  It was clearly a family run business, and the young boys were helping Dad late into the night.

We did an early morning run (yep, we ran through the Old City before the tourists got there—Donna loved that pre-coffee!) to the Dome on the Rock. They did not approve of our attire and gave us some long, very stylish, polyester, puritanical skirts to wear.  Even the male of our group got one.

The final day in Israel, we were allowed to book a group tour.  Usually, we are not allowed to travel this way as it undermines the spirit of the trip as you are not interacting with locals.  We joined a group to Masada and then to float in the Dead Sea.  We were forced to stop at the typical tourist traps including the camel ride, the gift shop and the cafeteria style restaurant. It may have been the first time for many of us to experience giant greyhound buses, a tour guide with a flag and stickers on each group member.  Eeeks!  We broke group tour protocol to ensure that we would get the points for our scavenge, which required us to walk down the mountain, not take the cable car. We escaped and walked 1.3 miles down.  It caused quite a stir.  Next stop was the Dead Sea which was like floating in an anti-gravity chamber.  You are supposed to take the mud from the sea and rub it on your body as an exfoliant.  Donna did a mini facial.  Shannon was wiser than to do that.

Tour Flag

Barsetters at the Lowest Bar in the World

On our way back to Jerusalem, again, we broke group tour protocol by just getting off at the first of the 349 stops that they were going to make on the bus and caught a cab to the Covenant of the Cross, which is where the tree that was used in the crucifixion was grown (again, supposedly).  We then got a text from our leader that we needed to get back to the hotel early as there was going to be a huge protest near where we were.  As we left, people were pouring in with their Israeli flags.  We learned that it was the largest right-wing demonstration in 20 years.  100,000 people were there.  Glad that we didn’t get caught in that and that it remained peaceful.

Overall impression:

Interesting political and religious history but too crowded to really enjoy it.

Favorite food(s):

Mint Lemonade

Pickled carrots

Some new gummy candy flavors (don’t know what they were)

Least favorite food:

The Jerusalem bagel. Tastes like a dry sesame bagel with a smoky finish.

Now we are off to . . . Bulgaria!