Israel 2000
Spurred on by the internet discovery of a $250 roundtrip London to Tel Aviv airfare on British Airways, we planned our trip to Israel. Our first flights took us San Antonio- Houston-London where we had a 24 hour layover, just enough time to see the mummys at the British Museum that we missed seeing last year because of construction. Stops at Trafalgar Square (to feed the pigeons, of course) and the typical London pub (to get our fix of chicken curry), and rides on the double deckers and tube completed our brief stay in this friendly city. Then it was on to Y'rushalaiyim.
After a 5 hour flight to Tel Aviv and a slow (traffic jam) cab ride to Jerusalem we settled into our hotel and then ran to the Old City. Little did we know that this was "Jerusalem Day." Thousands of bright-eyed Israeli youth were singing songs and waving flags shoulder-to-shoulder at the Western Wall.
Jerusalem Day, 2000
Satisfying the chicken curry fix.
Overlooking Jerusalem from the top of the Mt. of Olives.
NO NEED TO WORRY! The next day was business as usual at the Kotel (Western Wall) and there were plenty of photos to take.
One great way to see the Old City is the walk around the ramparts.
A lone Israeli soldier guards a section of the Arab Quarter.
The never ending walkways of the Old City
Our favorite Armenian Quarter restaurant (even open on Yom Shabbat)
View of the Mt. of Olives, Gardens of Getsemane and Russian Orthodox Monestary from atop the Eastern Wall.
Looking in the opposite direction from the top of the Mt. of Olives to the Eastern Wall across the Kidron Valley.
What a discovery--all at once these giant tombs appeared as we walked across the Kidron Valley! No bus tours either, just us and these 2000 year old tombs!
Coptic Monastery above the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Ice cream in the Christian sector
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, most holy site in the Christian world.
We took a walking tour of the rooftops and tunnels of the Old City.
Our guide
Indented pattern on the unearthed stones of the Second Temple of Herod found in the tunnel paralleling the Western Wall.
Dinner of turkey sharma in the Jewish Quarter--the fellows at the next table ate with their Uzis on their laps.
More turkey sharmas on Ben Yehuda Street in modern downtown Jerusalem. No, we wern't always eating!
