voy

This morning we said goodbye to our friends, the island, Istanbul and Turkey. The clouds over the Mediterranean were breathtaking as we flew to Israel. I got more and more excited as we approached, unsure what the next leg of our journey would hold…the plane ride itself felt like a different world. Has anyone ever been served hummus on a plane before? It was my first time.

A communal taxi-bus took us into the city, perched on a hill and approached from all sides with chaotic traffic. Jerusalem is a pale colored city, but many inhabitants wear black. The contrast is eye-catching. We were dropped off at the Damascus Gate that leads into the Old City,  and loaded with backpacks and anticipation, we crossed into a different world.

We are staying on Via Dolorosa, where pilgrims come from across the globe to follow in the alleged footsteps of Jesus on his journey with the cross. Our hotel is the Austrian Hospice, and my Grandma Kaiser would love the decorations on every free space of wall: Pope pictures! There is even a cathedral in the hospice, our own little church should we care to use it…and in general the accommodations are very nice, clean and safe.

But right outside the front door(s), there is a completely different atmosphere. The hundreds of little shops remind me of the Bazaar in Istanbul and the markets in Morocco or southern Spain…they are supposed to be reminiscent of the ancient markets where people haggled for goods…but today each shop sells the same wares as the next, and the goods are actually not-so-good Dolce and Gabbana knock offs. Or gummy worms (entire shops with pounds and pounds of various gummy candies!). Or fake Converse shoes. Or mini Jesus statues and other religious symbols printed on keychains. My favorite shops are the spice sellers…mounds of golden saffron and the rich aromas of cinnamon and cardamom are intoxicating. One shop owner had constructed a mountain of carefully sculpted spices, a three-foot-tall replica of an Mayan temple!

We walked around the narrow dripping stone streets and finally found some dinner. It’s amazing how tired I can get just from sitting on a plane and in a car all day, doing nothing! But tomorrow we will see the city much more extensively, and I will be back to tell the tales!

Love to everyone, family and friends, at home!