Israel part 2 - Jerusalem

There was one meeting in Jerusalem, which I was very interested to see. After a meeting at Bezeq (the largest telco company in the country) I had asked if we could briefly visit the Old City and to see the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall -- both of which we have all heard so much abut growing up and in the news, but for me they both just seemed do foreign / far away.

Well - that is no longer the case as evidenced by me here in my cardboard Kippah / Yarmulkah:

Getting to the wall was a bit of a challenge - there is a bunch of security entering the Old City, then the taxi had to wind in and out of these very old small streets to get close to the entrance - where there is more security... once in there were surprisingly few people. I had not known that there was separate access (and a divider at the wall) for men and women, or that I needed headware, or that when approaching the wall I'd be surrounded by a handful of students and two rabbis, one placing his hands on my head and offering a prayer for me and my family, the other tying a red string on my left wrist (it is still there today - apparently I have to leave it on until it falls off by itself for good fortune...) - and then they all asked for money/donations (I gave some shekels to the kid that showed me where the hats were located).


Seeing the wall up close - and the dome from a distance, and all that goes on there was a fantastic experience (I do not envy the Orthodox dress in what was irregularly warm for early May temperatures at 36 C - I instantly turned pink out there).

I also had some great pastries from a local coffee shop - and on the way back we stopped off in an Arabic town known for their hummous which I unfortunately do not have any photos of (nor can I remember the name right now) - but it was also a very good and interesting experience - and again cheers to Michal for the recommendations and local knowledge because she definitely enabled me to see things that I would not have even known were there otherwise.

More images can be seen on the photo page here