Having figured out the bus system, we decided to walk to the Old City. It was only 1.5 miles & the sun was out. Although the high was around 54 degrees, I layered with Under Armor & earmuffs.
We happened on the Montefiore Windmill then stopped at the King David Hotel to pick their brains on distances & sites. Even though we told them we weren't staying there, they were most gracious with help, a map, & lunch suggestions.
We took Mamilla Mall, a trendy upscale street where you'd recognize the store names. Our choice for lunch was mine to make. I'd forgotten how anxious David gets making food decisions, so I took over that job. We ate at Rimon where David had fish & chips. That sounds pedestrian, but this was a delicately battered trio of salmon, tuna, & trout. I looked at what the woman next to me was having & said, to quote "When Harry Met Sally, "I'll have what she's having." It was julienne sweet potato & halloumi cheese concoction on a bed of cucumbers, tomatoes, & spinach.
We had a bird's eye view of the mall & people watched as we ate. There is no rush in Israeli restaurants. No one will approach a table to present a check. We tried to figure out who were Muslim women & who were Orthodox Jewish women. I'd like the concession on black tights & scarves. Both items are worn by some women in both groups.
Emerging from modern Mamilla, we scaled steps to be confronted with a woman screaming about how Jesus saved her. Watching as they walked past were women in hijabs, & ultra orthodox Jewish men with big black hats, tzizit (fringes of prayer shawls), & payot (long side curls). Behind it all, was the wall of the Old City with minarets & domes barely visible.
We ran the David St. gauntlet of vendors trying to entice us into their shops with offers of "good prices." It's the main drag down to the Western Wall which is where we were headed.
We waited for what looked like a platoon of soldiers to pass before we could get in line for security at the Wall. David went to the men's side of the Wall with a note/prayer to place between the stones while I waited. That done, we went to an exit into the Jewish Quarter. As we dithered about how to get through that quarter (there's no direct route) a woman greeted us with a big "hello." It was Jen Chestnut, a Hillel regional director from Akron who was there with a Hillel Birthright group. She is married to Sam Chestnut, the director of the Lippman School (a multi-cultural school teaching Jewish values) where our grandkids go/went. It's amazing how often people run into folks from home here.
The Jewish Quarter was a challenge. The streets wend, wind, & end haphazardly. Typical Medieval maze, but older. We came upon remnants of a wall that was accidentally found while digging for another reason. It's dated at 2600 BCE, the Israelite Tower from 586 BCE, & the Ramban Synagogue founded by Nahmanides in 1267. He came all the way from Moorish Spain at a time when Jews flourished there. Not to leave out Rome, The Cardo, an old Roman road has columns in evidence & is still in use as a street.
It was time to head back, but we needed to sit & sip coffee. Aroma Cafe called our name. Coffee houses here serve food as well, but we just had cafe Americanos. Two women from New York sat next to us, & we chatted about their plans. The younger one had worked for Michael Bloomberg 17 years ago. We thought we were on the same page. Then we got into American politics, & they assured us they were Republicans. They were Kasich fans but voted for Trump. Oy! We disagreed on what was good for Israel & the Clintons with fervor but respectful dialogue. One woman mentioned that Reform Jews weren't that informed about Israel. We objected. She accused us & Reform Jews of not caring about Israel, only social issues. They were social liberals, but voted for whomever they thought would make Israel strong. Their theory was that Trump would make a deal with Putin to take over Syria, then Putin would exert pressure for a peace between Israel & the Palestinians. I told her I hoped that would end up better than when Chamberlain gave Hitler the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia. She paused & agreed. The end of friendly disagreement came when they rose to leave, & one said that Obama should not have abstained at the UN, but what can you expect from a Muslim. We should have been speechless, but managed to let her know that the conversation was over & that we wouldn't listen to her idiocy. Oy! Oy!
Still recovering from our encounter, we continued our walk back to the apt. We weren't hungry, but thought soup would hit the spot. Caffit was it. It's a pleasure to have an ice-free pitcher of water brought to the table without asking. David had an atomic level spicy tom yum, which he loved. I had an extra bland Persian lentil soup which I wouldn't order again.
At the apt. we got the joyous news that friends at home just had a baby boy. And we know where to get a new baby card here!
Toby
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| Montefiore Windmill |
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| Western Wall |
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