Feb 4th – City of Gold

We were in pretty good shape as far as jet lag i thought because of a decent night sleep and the good nap the afternoon before. We were prepared to really hit the ground running on what felt like the first real full day. The plan was to get things going with a bang and go to Jerusalem to the old city and the Kotel (Western Wall). After breakfast at the hotel which consisted of fresh dairy products, breads and salad, we boarded the bus for a lookout over the city which would help us get our bearings.
Its not as golden as the famous tune “Jerusalem of Gold,” but the view of the old and new city highlighted by the golden Muslim holy shrine The Dome of The Rock sitting upon the temple mount was impressive and I, for the first time, took stock in where I was and what I was doing. We took some time to soak in the view and get a history lesson slash orientation about what all we were looking at. From there it was clear to see the old city, the old West and East Jerusalem and the drab gray wall blocking off the West Bank in the distance. The depth and breadth of the political and historical implications of the view was mind blowing.

Finally it was time to head to the old city for a taste of the area. The guide, Sara, was clear that we would only scratch the surface on our trip, only the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall. This is definitely not my style, but i didn't stress because I knew I would return after the group trip. We entered the old city after a visit to the supposed tomb of King David. The old facade of the physical gate was a amazing juxtaposition of Turkish era arrow slots and more modern bullet holes. We made our way slowly towards the heart of the city hearing about the history along the way. Before we arrived we had our first falafel of the trip and though pricey(5 bucks US) it was pretty amazing. After the lunch stop we made our final push to the Western Wall. I separated from my sister at this point as men and women do not visit the wall together, a barrier separates the smaller womens area from the mens.

I must say that the I didn't feel as much connection to the temple and the shared history of the spot as I expected, but it was an extremely powerful vehicle for me to feel an emotional connection to the almighty or what have you and I prayed for things that are important to me and gave thanksgiving. It was a very personal experience and in addition to my prayers and thanksgiving I added my written prayers to the cracks of the wall as is the tradition.

The group finished up at the wall and met to head to our next stop. Reactions of the group varied wildly from indifferent to moved and the overall complexion of the group was contemplative mixed with quickly onsetting exhaustion due to jet lag. We moved quickly from there out of the old city to the waiting bus which took us to a place called the “Time Elevator.” It is basically a history of Israel version of the old Disney ride Body Wars. There was also a speaker who discussed dilemmas for the region, but it was largely not interesting and we were too tired to handle her presentation and the following movie/ride. We were happy to get out of there and onto the bus where we celebrated the several hour drive to our hotel on the Dead Sea. We slept like rocks.

We arrived to the hotel, checked in and had dinner. It seemed like a lovely place and we found that it was directly on the water and had a beach attached. We needed to sleep early because we'd be awaking to climb Masada before sunrise. Before sleep however, I couldn't resist breaking trip protocol and taking a dip in the Dead Sea before everyone else. I stripped to my essentials and took a dip, I got my punishment though because I didnt see a problem with getting my head wet. The burning in my nose and ears sent me quickly towards the showers and then to bed.