May 17 - Old City, Jerusalem

Saturday
We woke up at 6:30 very refreshed. We decided to spend the morning in the Old City and around its walls, while it was still cool out.
We had another pita bread sandwich -- this one with a kind of hamburger and vegetables. Again it was very good and inexpensive. While we were eating, there were a lot of police and Arabs and a black lustily dressed women nearby involved in some sort of disturbance. It was interesting to watch and all the Arabs were watching, but we wondered if we should have moved away! We saw some school girls in their uniforms - cute!



We went in the Damascus Gate and through a myriad of shops. It appeared that the local Arabs shop there, much like in all the shops outside our Hostel window. Many of the shops sell snacks and all kinds of nuts. We had a very interesting experience as we walked along the Via Dolorosa. A shop owner invited us into his shop to show us a piece of the wall of the original Antonio Fortress. It appeared authentic. Then he invited us for tea.



We told him we weren't buying, which he said was fine. He has a very nice shop that sells mostly to American tourists. When he found out that I was curious about the carpets, he began to roll out many of them for me. I thought of Virginia's carpets of this type and was truly curious about the cost and how they were made and were they came from. These are from Iran and Turkey and are pure silk and handmade, which takes many hours. They are truly beautiful.



He asked my favorite colors and guessed that I wouldn't be willing to buy anything but a small one. I picked a favorite and he began to supposedly decrease his price, starting at $480. He finally came down to $400. I was considering buying it for the wall if he came down to $300, but he didn't, and we thanked him and left. He was very polite and a real gentleman.

We followed the Via Dolorosa and saw some pilgrims carrying a cross up the long street. We had skipped this stop with Schmulik, because most of us were more interested in other things that the churchified stops along this street. We continued along the street and saw a sign, "Birth place of the Virgin Mary." How stupid -- she was from Nazareth!

We followed a path to the ramparts above the Old City (built by Turks about 1500 A.D.) through a trashy Arab quarter. They just throw trash anywhere and their quarters are scummy.



The ramparts were interesting up close. They afford quite a bit of protection to those shooting out. Boys with junk on a little metal cart were trying to bump it down to the steps below, but the contents fell out and they had to stop to reload them.
I had worn my long sleeves, thinking we might go up on the Dome of the Rock again or back near the Wailing Wall and I wanted to avoid the "shawl police." However, these places were closed today. We went out through the Lion's Gate and walked around the outside of the Old City Walls. We had a closeup view of he Mount of Olives, the Kidron Valley,



and the cemetery up the hills above it that our bus had been driving by many times. Everywhere we walk, taxi drivers and guides offer to take us around the area. The places they suggest are places the Pilgrim tours already took us. We bought some locally produced date candy and munched on it as we walked.
We went into the Old City again through the Zion Gate and walked through the Jewish and Armenian quarters. They are very neat and a great contrast to the Arab quarters. A Chrisian Palestinian women (with a group of other women) walked us through the Armenian quarters and showed us the way to the Jaffa Gate.



We might still be winding our way through there without their help. The women were on their way to shop in the shops near the Jaffa Gate. She told us that the Jewish government used to pick up trash at each of their homes, but now they only pick it up at the dumpsters. She was pretty defensive about my criticism of the Arabs, but we still feel that it's not necessary to litter every square inch of the area where you live. The Arab shops outside our window are constantly trying to clean up, but the Arabs sit on a park bench, eat, and leave all their scraps spread out on the bench or throw them into the street or anywhere they feel like.
We had some fresh-squeezed orange juice near the Jaffa Gate -- it was delicious.

We visited some more with Jacob from South Africa.



We chatted with him for a long time as we drank our tea in the front room of the hostel. He is returning for a visit to his Switzerland homeland. He left because he hated scooping manure on their dairy farm as a child! Listen up, Stahr kids!!!
Visiting with people here at the hostel has been fun. Moanair is especially friendly and helpful.
We spent the afternoon resting and doing computer work. This is an easy and fun and interesting way to travel when we can make it work!!!

Tomorrow morning we leave Jerusalem and bus to Eilat, where we will stay for a week in a time share.