Back in Jerusalem after over 40 years, the smells of the market instantly brought back memories of that earlier visit. Lots more tourists this time, but organized into parties with guides. We spent the day meeting up or avoiding the same few groups - mostly Americans!!
In the heat of the day we looked at many of the major tourist sites. For me the highlights were the Dome of the Rock - absolutely fantastic tiles, mainly deep blue and contrasting brilliantly with the gold of the dome; the archaeological museum which showed some excellent videos of what the area must have looked like in Roman times and I really enjoyed just wandering through the old city and along the Via Dolorosa.
I noticed stray (feral?) cats everywhere in the market - not fat, not scrawny, but rather unkempt and definitely afraid of people - makes you wonder what happens to them!!
Drank lots of coffee in the markets. It comes as Turkish coffee, made with cardamom and a thick sludge at the bottom. Very nice much better than Timmy's.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher was packed with tourist parties, so many that it was difficult to move around. I felt sorry for the many people I'd spoken to for whom this was expected to be one of the highlights of their visit to the Holy Land - there was no atmosphere. I don't think anyone could have a religious experience under circumstances like that! We made a quick circuit of the place then out fast!
Signing off now to hit town for the evening. Don't know what tomorrow will be like to Bush in town!!
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