Jerusalem, Free time and ushering in the Sabbath

Friday, October 29, 2010
Jerusalem, Israel
Today is basically a free day until 1:30 PM. We were bussed down to Ben Yehuda and King George streets at 9 AM. This is the pedestrian mall shopping area in the downtown business district and is the area where a lot of the bombings occurred. We walked around the center of the city with Allan and Anita, the couple from Toronto. We visited the King David and Citadel Hotels (two of the nicest in the city), Across from the King David hotel is the YMCA building. We took the elevator to the top of the YMCA tower (which was just big enough for 4 and cost us each 10 NIS) to view the great paroramas of the city. We then walked through Independence Park, passed a craft market on the way to the Machaneh Yehuda produce market area. It was a nice 3 hour walking tour of the city. After we got back to the hotel we sat near the pool to eat our lunch (made at breakfast). At 1:30 we drove back to the Western Wall via Mea She'arim the Ultra Orthodox area of the city (indescribable) to witness the ushering in of the Sabbath. Personally, it wasn't much different than the visit the day before. Our guide tried to get us close to the Dome of the Rock by going through the Muslim quarter, but the Israeli soldiers wouldn't allow us to go past the end of the tunnel into the grounds around the Muslim controlled Dome. We did get a few close up pictures. On the drive back to the hotel, it was amazing to see how little traffic there is as the city begins to shut down for the Sabbath. Our Shabbat dinner at the hotel left a little to be desired since they are short staff and things are prepared ahead of time.

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