Monday morning was our first full day on the tour and we were checking out Old Jerusalem. The hotel puts on a massive (good quality) buffet breakfast so we gorged ourselves and were ready and waiting in the lobby by 9:30 for our walking tour of the old city. The day was split between Jewish history in the morning and Christian history in the afternoon (roughly).
David’s Legacy
We had a beautiful sunny day, not too hot, but with all the walking around and being in the sun, it was a strenuous day. We started off with the Tower of David (not actually David’s) to get an overview of the old town, seeing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque etc.
It was here that we heard about the different valleys of Jerusalem, one of which is called the Valley of the Cheesemakers. I couldn’t help but remember the line from Monty Python’s Life of Brian about ‘blessed are the cheesemakers’. This goes to show my level of religious reverence.
From the Tower we went for a walk through the gates, around the city and along narrow roads and smoothed cobblestones, down to David’s palace and into the tunnels beneath it to look at Warren’s (???) shaft (a well-spring for those with dirty minds) and through Hezekiah’s tunnels.
We didn’t go down to the lower tunnel where you walk through 70 cm of water. Instead, we took the dry route (mind out of the gutter, please). I’m glad we did because I found this way claustrophobic; taking the lower, deeper and longer path would have probably ended in disaster.
After a lot of walking downhill, we then of course had to go up. Some of the group took a shuttle back up to Dung Gate while the rest of us went along the Herodian Road. While there was a road, it was mostly a tunnel, its walls lined with lime-green mould (probably going to die) that seemed to go on forever.
We got to a point that said there was only 200 m to go…but we went much farther. This is because the group in the tunnel got split at some point because another tour guide opened a door that shouldn’t have been opened and so we got split up. I was second from the end so had no idea about this. All I was concerned with was not freaking out thinking we’d never get out, and also getting an even sorer back because we were crouching down at points to get through.
We eventually emerged in an archeological site at a different part of the Western Wall…to find that we’d lost half our group and the tour guide as well. So we were sitting in what was like a quarry. Someone called the tour guide and he came to find us and we emerged out near Dung Gate to go to the Wailing Wall.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjmx5gxgguh/?taken-by=tygerflaem
I expected the wall to be busier than it was, to be overrun with tourists and making it difficult to get close to. Not so. We got down to the wall, those without hats putting on the yamakas available at the ‘entrance’, and then into the shady bit for a very quick visit. Touched the wall, watched Jews reciting at the wall, and saw all the pieces of paper stuffed into the cracks around the stones. This was also the closest we got to the Dome of the Rock.
Christianity on Steroids
We cut through the Muslim Quarter, going through narrow streets lined with market stalls, and then out to the Christian Quarter for lunch of falafel or schwarma and a drink. After lunch we were diverted into a religious knick-knack store selling ‘authentic’ ‘relics’ and other bits of paraphernalia for the faithful. This was in preparation for the visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The church was overrun and we didn’t have long but I enjoyed the mosaics on the roof in the Orthodox section and the rotunda over the tomb. I was staggered by the people praying over the anointing stone (from 1811) and the people finding moments of religious reflection in what looked a bit like a theme park. Some of the boys have been for a mass and found the experience different, a bit more reverential, and perhaps that would have been something different. It didn’t help that we made a joke about Marys at the tomb.
More walking from here, back through the Muslim Quarter and out another gate, the name I forget but which showed the remnants of (I think) the Six Day War, the holes left by mortar shells or bullets. Out of the gate, up a hill to the Dormition Church (walked past it) then into the Church of the Last Supper. It’s an empty room with medieval arches and Arabic stained glass (which was stunning). Tick.
We walked through there and then downstairs to the Tomb of King David and crammed into a small room where the guide talked about the tomb and the relevance of the last supper being held in the room above David’s tomb. Amazing that the Jews praying there didn’t seem to mind that this loud and numerous tour group was taking over a place that I would have thought be for quite (optimal word being quiet) reflection. Fascinating.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjmxRavAGta/?taken-by=tygerflaem
Tour ended, the bulk of us returned to the hotel for a lie down. I went to the gym (despite my back being in absolute pain) and then got ready for the evening’s festivities. We were returning, as a group, to the Tower of David for a light and sound show inside the grounds of the ruins. The story of Jerusalem was projected onto the walls, accompanied with music. It only went for 30 minutes but I was already wiped out so rested on Julian’s shoulder until it finished. Probably could have given that a miss.
Dinner was at a restaurant called Mona, chosen from a recommendation from friends in Toronto. It was in an architectural/design school and we never would have found it if we hadn’t been told about it. Julian had booked ahead. We chose an Israeli wine called a Marawi which was delicious. Food was great; I had a calamari and roasted cauliflower for an entree, and a seafood linguine. Dessert was a loquat sorbet. The waitress was excellent; fun, helpful, a bit cheeky. She made the whole experience even better.
A very full day over we staggered back to the hotel and went to bed around 11:30. Despite the peak religion of the day, I didn’t feel any residual pangs of the faithful, or that I was missing out on not sharing a belief. I also failed to connect with the sheer history of it all at the time, of thousands of years of civilisation (and destruction), but, after talking to Dion, it is quite something to be a part of ritual (no matter how small), whether followed or not. Interesting times.
[And as an aside, I’ve been singing ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing’ (from The Holy City) the whole time we’ve been here. I was expecting to sing ‘And did those feet’ more.]
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?