OK, so a lot has happened in the last few days and we've been so busy that I haven't had much time to include many things.
On Sunday, we took a tour of Jerusalem and the City of David with a tourguide named Judy. While Jaime was on line to get tickets, something small-worldish happened. Someone asked Jaime about tour times (or something along those lines-I don't know because I was in my own world). Next thing I know -- and I'm not clear how this all went down -- but we find out that one of the two women and I went to University of Maryland and lived in the same dorm at the same time! After some narrowing things down, we realized we remembered each other. 
Jaime had invited Allison and Shelly along with us as we took a tour of Hezekiah's Tunnel, which was the spring fed water source for the City of David. The tour took us through excavations of the City and where it is theorized that David's "Palace" could have been. The tunnel, was carved out using only stone age tools. It was barely wide enough to walk through and often if you squared your body with the walls you would scrape both sides of you. In the beginning, the water went about mid-thigh and then went down to just above ankle for most of the path. The amazing engineering thing about the tunnel is that in 1750 feet the elevation drop is only 2 feet! Here is a link to a webpage I got some information about it.
Poor Noah, for he freaked out upon the approach to the tunnel and Jaime took one for the team and walked him back to the start. He wouldn't even go in the dry path. Shelly and I took a few pictures and we promised each other that we would email them to each other. It was a nice surprise to run into them. Kinda cool!
After that, we went to the Kotel to go to the Wall. It was amazing to walk right up to it and touch it and see all of the little slips of paper prayers stuck into the crevices. A man walked up to me and asked me a few questions and wanted a donation and gave me a candle.
From there we slipped away into the various markets (ie, Jewish, Arab, Armenian). We meandered from vendor to vendor and bargained and haggled for various items, but in all, we didn't get anything. Eventually we ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepucher and then back through the markets and to our car. I have to admit I was a bit uncomfortable in the Arab section, especially when a group of guys with guns came hurtling down the path and through an alley way as if they were on a serious mission. A Jewish gentleman originally from Manhatten we were talking to outside a Christian tourist shop said they were probably running after a pick-pocketer. We left quite quickly after that.
And thank goodness, it is just a sprained knee. Ace bandage, ibuprofen (and rest). When I asked the doctor if that meant I couldn't hike up Massada, he just shrugged his shoulders and gave me a funny look that said, "Who am I to say?"
2 comments:
ok... so sweetie, our tourguide, her name is Janet not Judy. And I am going to come off totally vain here, but why oh why am I always shown in pictures looking like I am 7 months preggers. People are going to start asking you when's the big date. :)
(And that was cool meeting Shelly and her sister. They were very nice.)
oh, and btw, did you read what one of the main Israeli newspapers did to Obama - they printed his prayer that he stuck in the cracks. Some kid took it out (very unethical) after he left, and tried to sell it to the various news media. Thankfully, only one was disgusting enough to actually publish it, the others refused to do so. Just can't believe someone would do something like that.
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