I have left Jerusalem and arrived in Eilat. Jerusalem was pretty amazing. I didn't intentionally save it for this late in the trip (it just made sense geographically), but I'm glad I did.
I do want to quickly address all the news though. I'm not sure what people have and have not heard. There have been a few attacks in the city, which is very unfortunate. I spoke to a few people leading up to my visit and the sentiment was pretty consistent. Go, but be safe. So that's what I did. I'm obviously not going to intentionally get in the way of any violence, and it is a large city. But you never know. My first night I was walking down Jaffa Road and heard a bunch of sirens. After living in NYC for over 10 years, at first it didn't register. Then I realized I wasn't in NYC and there seemed to be a lot of police cars going by. There was another incident at the Central Bus Station. Fortunately I don't think anything else happened since then. I saw a pretty high presence of armed police around the city regardless. I'm pretty sure it's more than normal, but of course I have no comparison. On the flip side, I also saw a lot of young Jewish people trying to bring some joy to the city. They have just been around trying to have a good time, play music, and be together. Which is nice to see. They were doing this so not everyone is afraid to be outside.
Ok, so now to the fun stuff. One of the first things I did was go to the Mahane Yahuda Market (or Shuk) and buy wine, snacks, baklava and I'm sure there was something else. I also got a mini lesson on how havlah, a dessert) is prepared. The guy took me behind the display tables and assured me it was ok. So we broke apart a partial havlah, and then placed crumbs into a new container, and pounded away. And then we had a new one to put out. I only tried the samples, and I think it may be an acquired taste for sure. I still prefer ice cream.
I spent the following morning going through Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was pretty intense, but I do recommend visiting it if you find yourself in Jerusalem. I actually haven't been to any other holocaust museum, so I'm not sure what it's like compared to others, but I thought it was pretty in depth and powerful. There were also a lot of nice memorials on the grounds, so I took my time exploring outside too.
After that I headed to the Old City. I wandered around the different quarters, and saw different religious buildings for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and of course visited the Western Wall. It's actually very fascinating that they are all in such close proximity. There's a reason they say Jerusalem is the holiest city. I even had a couple who wanted to pray for me on a rooftop observation point. They were from the US and on their honeymoon. I decided to go along with it. So there I was on a rooftop with the Western Wall and all the spires and domes in sight, and having a prayer spoken for safe travels. When in Rome.
After a good but intense day, I had some Israeli rose at the King David Hotel, a pretty historical building. I sat on the terrace and enjoyed the nice weather and my book. I had to make it an early night though since I was meeting a group at 4am for a day trip out of the city.
It was time to hike Masada, see Ein Gedi, and go into the Dead Sea. I thought about taking public buses, but it seemed a bit complicated and I didn't want to chance any absent buses making me miss something. I also looked into renting a car, but that was a little out of my price range, and also a bit complicated to deal with. So I decided to go with a reasonably priced private bus tour. And it actually worked out very well. It was a small group, so I actually got to meet a bunch of new people, and getting around was pretty easy. Although it was a bit longer of a tour, I wouldn't have complained.
Our first stop was Masada, an ancient fortification on a plateau. Like I mentioned, we met at 4am and the reason why, is so we can hike up it in order to see the sunrise over Jordan and the Dead Sea. Which was pretty spectacular. After the sun came up, I explored the ruins of the palaces that used to be there. I also met a really nice family from the Toronto area. The daughters are close in age to me and who knows, I may see one of them in Peru next year.
Our next stop was Ein Gedi, an oasis in the middle of the desert. The falls were very pretty and I splashed around in one of them, and then hiked around a bit with a Belgium guy who also runs marathons. I wish we had another hour there though. It went by too fast and I definitely could have hiked or go in one of the other waterfalls.
Our last stop was the Dead Sea, which was pretty great. We were 400 meters below Sea Level. We actually went below Sea Level shortly after we left Jerusalem. So not only that, but the Dead Sea is so filled with salt, that you are completely buoyant. It's the opposite of treading water. So strange feeling. After floating around a while, a girl from California and I gave ourselves a complete body mud mask. We eventually washed ourselves off and our skin felt great. And since we were at the beach and it was hot, we had to get a beer at one of the beach huts. Again, this was a little too short, but we still got to enjoy ourselves.
We made it back to the city and of course it was Friday and Sabbath was starting at sundown. But businesses close down even earlier. So I made sure to get whatever food and drink I needed since I most likely wouldn't be able to find much open later in the day and on Saturday.
Typically Saturday (Sabbath) is a day of rest. So I tried to emulate the Jews and also rest. As much as I can of course. So I ran 13 miles on this amazing converted train track path. And then rehydrated with brunch, and then napped. And then continued to rehydrate with some late afternoon wine. See I rested. Fortunately there were a few establishments open to cater to visitors and non-Jews. It was actually kind of nice since the city was so quiet. And on my run, there was barely any cars out, which was very peaceful. Things started to open back up after sundown and I decided to try dinner at the Shuk. During the day (except Sabbath), the market is bustling with all the various stalls. Mixed throughout, there are a few restaurants. And in the evening, all the stalls close, but the restaurants stay open, which makes for a different atmosphere all together. It was kind of cool. And I ran into one of the guys from the day trip, another Canadian, who gave me the lowdown on how to spot regular Orthodox and ultra Orthodox Jews. I learned a lot.
Before heading out of Jerusalem, I did one last run in Gacher Park and had some shakshuka at a cute cafe/bookstore. I'm now in Eilat. This wasn't on my list to be honest, but I figured a day at the beach would be good (this time the Red Sea) and I have next week pretty much planned out for Jordan (which I'm getting pretty excited about).
I do want to quickly address all the news though. I'm not sure what people have and have not heard. There have been a few attacks in the city, which is very unfortunate. I spoke to a few people leading up to my visit and the sentiment was pretty consistent. Go, but be safe. So that's what I did. I'm obviously not going to intentionally get in the way of any violence, and it is a large city. But you never know. My first night I was walking down Jaffa Road and heard a bunch of sirens. After living in NYC for over 10 years, at first it didn't register. Then I realized I wasn't in NYC and there seemed to be a lot of police cars going by. There was another incident at the Central Bus Station. Fortunately I don't think anything else happened since then. I saw a pretty high presence of armed police around the city regardless. I'm pretty sure it's more than normal, but of course I have no comparison. On the flip side, I also saw a lot of young Jewish people trying to bring some joy to the city. They have just been around trying to have a good time, play music, and be together. Which is nice to see. They were doing this so not everyone is afraid to be outside.
Ok, so now to the fun stuff. One of the first things I did was go to the Mahane Yahuda Market (or Shuk) and buy wine, snacks, baklava and I'm sure there was something else. I also got a mini lesson on how havlah, a dessert) is prepared. The guy took me behind the display tables and assured me it was ok. So we broke apart a partial havlah, and then placed crumbs into a new container, and pounded away. And then we had a new one to put out. I only tried the samples, and I think it may be an acquired taste for sure. I still prefer ice cream.
 |
| Havlah preparation. |
I spent the following morning going through Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was pretty intense, but I do recommend visiting it if you find yourself in Jerusalem. I actually haven't been to any other holocaust museum, so I'm not sure what it's like compared to others, but I thought it was pretty in depth and powerful. There were also a lot of nice memorials on the grounds, so I took my time exploring outside too.
After that I headed to the Old City. I wandered around the different quarters, and saw different religious buildings for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and of course visited the Western Wall. It's actually very fascinating that they are all in such close proximity. There's a reason they say Jerusalem is the holiest city. I even had a couple who wanted to pray for me on a rooftop observation point. They were from the US and on their honeymoon. I decided to go along with it. So there I was on a rooftop with the Western Wall and all the spires and domes in sight, and having a prayer spoken for safe travels. When in Rome.
 |
| The Western Wall. |
After a good but intense day, I had some Israeli rose at the King David Hotel, a pretty historical building. I sat on the terrace and enjoyed the nice weather and my book. I had to make it an early night though since I was meeting a group at 4am for a day trip out of the city.
It was time to hike Masada, see Ein Gedi, and go into the Dead Sea. I thought about taking public buses, but it seemed a bit complicated and I didn't want to chance any absent buses making me miss something. I also looked into renting a car, but that was a little out of my price range, and also a bit complicated to deal with. So I decided to go with a reasonably priced private bus tour. And it actually worked out very well. It was a small group, so I actually got to meet a bunch of new people, and getting around was pretty easy. Although it was a bit longer of a tour, I wouldn't have complained.
Our first stop was Masada, an ancient fortification on a plateau. Like I mentioned, we met at 4am and the reason why, is so we can hike up it in order to see the sunrise over Jordan and the Dead Sea. Which was pretty spectacular. After the sun came up, I explored the ruins of the palaces that used to be there. I also met a really nice family from the Toronto area. The daughters are close in age to me and who knows, I may see one of them in Peru next year.
 |
| Masada. |
Our next stop was Ein Gedi, an oasis in the middle of the desert. The falls were very pretty and I splashed around in one of them, and then hiked around a bit with a Belgium guy who also runs marathons. I wish we had another hour there though. It went by too fast and I definitely could have hiked or go in one of the other waterfalls.
 |
| Ein Gedi. |
Our last stop was the Dead Sea, which was pretty great. We were 400 meters below Sea Level. We actually went below Sea Level shortly after we left Jerusalem. So not only that, but the Dead Sea is so filled with salt, that you are completely buoyant. It's the opposite of treading water. So strange feeling. After floating around a while, a girl from California and I gave ourselves a complete body mud mask. We eventually washed ourselves off and our skin felt great. And since we were at the beach and it was hot, we had to get a beer at one of the beach huts. Again, this was a little too short, but we still got to enjoy ourselves.
 |
| Floating in the Dead Sea. |
We made it back to the city and of course it was Friday and Sabbath was starting at sundown. But businesses close down even earlier. So I made sure to get whatever food and drink I needed since I most likely wouldn't be able to find much open later in the day and on Saturday.
Typically Saturday (Sabbath) is a day of rest. So I tried to emulate the Jews and also rest. As much as I can of course. So I ran 13 miles on this amazing converted train track path. And then rehydrated with brunch, and then napped. And then continued to rehydrate with some late afternoon wine. See I rested. Fortunately there were a few establishments open to cater to visitors and non-Jews. It was actually kind of nice since the city was so quiet. And on my run, there was barely any cars out, which was very peaceful. Things started to open back up after sundown and I decided to try dinner at the Shuk. During the day (except Sabbath), the market is bustling with all the various stalls. Mixed throughout, there are a few restaurants. And in the evening, all the stalls close, but the restaurants stay open, which makes for a different atmosphere all together. It was kind of cool. And I ran into one of the guys from the day trip, another Canadian, who gave me the lowdown on how to spot regular Orthodox and ultra Orthodox Jews. I learned a lot.
Before heading out of Jerusalem, I did one last run in Gacher Park and had some shakshuka at a cute cafe/bookstore. I'm now in Eilat. This wasn't on my list to be honest, but I figured a day at the beach would be good (this time the Red Sea) and I have next week pretty much planned out for Jordan (which I'm getting pretty excited about).
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