Day 7: A Night Ride through the Old City

Today we arrived in Jerusalem. Even the most secular Israeli’s we have spoken to refer to Jerusalem with pride and enthusiasm. I have carefully mapped out the route to our rental apartment, but we miss one critical turn. In Jerusalem, missing one turn is not simply a matter of going around the block. When you sin in Jerusalem, you pay for it. My carefully mapped out route dissolves in a series of one-way streets, dead ends, reversals of direction, until finally with the greatest of relief we arrive at 27 Jabotinsky St.  The ONLY thing we wish to do in Jerusalem is to return the car to the rental agency.  Also, not as simple a task as we had hoped, but that is a story for another time.  Jerusalem is indeed a beautiful city. The British were the first to require that all buildings built in the city be faced with a pale rough limestone known as Jerusalem stone and it really lends a special atmosphere to the city. Most of the Israeli cities we have been in are quite ugly with ungainly buildings made of an unattractive concrete and in commercial areas, covered with really ugly signage. Jerusalem is the polar opposite and at least the neighborhoods we have seen are quite lovely.

                                         A house of Jerusalem stone in our neighborhood

We arrive in Jerusalem at noon on Friday just as the city begins its preparations for Shabbat. We buy a few groceries at the store in our building and head up to the famous Mehane Yehuda Market - not to be confused with the more touristy Ben Yehuda Market (also supposed to be quite entertaining). No falafel places or coffee shops at Mehane Yehuda, just a rabbit’s warren of stalls selling fish, flatbreads, spices of every description, olives, dates, halvah, etc.  The fresh fruit vendors in stalls opposite one another shout out the quality of their goods in an effort to drown out the competition. On a Friday afternoon the narrow passageway between the stalls is jammed with humanity of every aspect. Fair-haired Scandinavian tourists are pushed into Hassids with their black coats and hats, a jumble of languages surround one, vendors offer tastes of Halvah and the whole experience becomes total sensory overload.

That evening we are picked up by Danny, a cousin of Roz’s cousin Ethel (who we had lunch with on our first day in country) who, along with Ethel, takes us back to his house in the Ramot neighborhood (across the valley from the Old City) for dinner. Danny is a confirmed Jerusalemite – proud of his city and eager to show it off to us. We are grateful (no, we are VERY grateful) it is Friday evening and there are almost no cars on the road for Danny loves to suddenly stop whenever he sees a particularly wonderful view.  He also convinces a guard to let us park in the middle of the road so we can get a close look at the Palombo gates at the Knesset. These iron gates were created by the sculpture David Palombo who was killed at age 46 when his motorcycle hit a chain stretched across the road by the ultra-orthodox Jews to prevent others from driving on the Sabbath.

We have a wonderful evening with Danny, his wife Nachoma, his brother and sister-in-law and Ethel. At the end of the evening Danny drives us home, once again stopping wherever the spirit moves him to point out the beautiful sights. Finally, he decides we really should get a quick tour of the Old City and to our amazement drives his car through the Jaffe Gate and down the narrow street past the Armenian Quarter. We navigate tiny back streets, through narrow arches and around tight corners. If you have been in the Old City and are familiar with the crowds of teeming humanity the fill every corner, what you will find most amazing is that while we do this (it is 11 PM) there is not a single human being to be seen. We explore a number of narrow passageways, stopping only so to avoid entering the Jewish Quarter since that is forbidden on Shabbat. It is a truly unique introduction to the Old City, which we intend to visit on foot tomorrow.