Jerusalem

            I’ve been trying to find the words to express what Jerusalem is like for a couple weeks now.  That entails summing up a city that contains thousands of years of history, a lot of hard feelings between several parties and honestly, great beauty. 

            Some Israelis have complained to me that Jerusalem shuts down on the weekends for Shabbat.  Others embrace it. 

            Since I work during the week, the majority of my travel opportunities fall on the weekend and so I found myself in Jerusalem on a Friday night and Saturday. 

            I arrived just in time for Shabbat to begin (and like I said, it’s Jerusalem, so unlike Tel Aviv, everything actually closes).  I had tea with Tami just in time to hear the siren sound for the start of Shabbat (it’s a single tone alarm that rings across the entire city at sunset).  It's the only city in the country to do that.  Then, I took a taxi to my accommodation. 

            Abraham Hostel, where I stayed, held a Shabbat dinner, so I joined several other travellers for dinner.  I was completely mind blown when a girl from the United Kingdom I befriended, who had just arrived to Jerusalem to study for four months, mentioned that she spent last semester living with a host family in the West Bank (Nablus) studying Arabic. 

            There were also a ton of Americans, many from MIT, who were teaching entrepreneurship and doing internships around Israel.

            I was exhausted from all the excitement earlier in the day, and crashed out early, because I had yet another eventful day ahead of me. 

            On Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed, headed down to breakfast at the hostel, and then took a taxi to the Inbal Hotel where I met up with my guide for a bicycle tour of the city.  

My guide at The First Station, Jerusalem

            My guide fitted me with a helmet and bike, and as it turns out, I was the only one who had signed up that week so I got a private tour.  We wove through the streets of Jerusalem, taking tight corners, and I very quickly discovered how ridiculously hilly the city of Jerusalem actually is.
            It wasn't a bike ride for the faint of heart.  You have to like biking, hills, and be ready to take tight corners.  And bring lots of water (but that's a recurring theme in Israel)!  Luckily, my mother instilled a love for cycling at a young age, so it was a perfect way to see the city.  First, we arrived in the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside of the Old City.  Even though the houses were bigger and nicer than in the overcrowded Old City, people were nervous about moving in at first since it was beyond the protection of the walls of the Old City.  But, they were paid a stipend to do so, and eventually people obliged.  Looking out from that neighborhood, you can see the walls of the Old City.  

Looking out at the wall to the Old City, Jerusalem

Mahane Yehuda Market

We passed by a Greek Orthodox Monastery located in the Valley of the Cross, named such because the tree used to build the cross Jesus was crucified on, came from there.  

Greek Orthodox Monastery

The First Station, Jerusalem

Next, we approached Jaffa Gate, at the entrance to the Old City, and then doubled back into the newer part of the city.  One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was the picture you see below.  That's the main Shuk in Jerusalem on Shabbat when it's closed.  When we first rode in, there was a cat, just chilling out, nestled into one of the tables.  As we cranked through on our bicycles, I was startled by the striking disparity between Mahane Yehuda market on Shabbat versus the Tuesday morning when Tami took me there when I first arrived.  It's a good metaphor for the whole city, emphasizing the importance of taking the seventh day of the week off, and the sheer reality of how strictly that is observed.  Also I forgot to ask the guide about the graffiti on the walls (or at least that's what I assume it is), but feel free to comment if you know anything about it.  

Leaving the Shuk, we headed for Parliament and snacked in the park, discussing Israel's culture and religion and the guide's background on growing up in Jerusalem.  

We passed by the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book, where I was bound after my tour, and then rode to The First Station, an old train station that has been revitalized as a cultural center of Jerusalem.

Finally, we rode up into the hills, where we stopped to look out on a great view of Jerusalem.  

At the end, we weaved through switchbacks in a park, which was an eye opening experience as I heard prayers echoing up from the Arab villages below.  We capped the experience off with a visit to the Memorial of Yonatan Netanyahu, the only Israeli soldier killed in a hostage rescue mission in Uganda, Operation Entebbe in the 1970s, the first operation of its sort successfully carried out by Israel.  Yonatan Netanyahu was also the older brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Overall, I was impressed by Jerusalem's beauty, was happy with the opportunity to get a good work out and spend some time outside, and recommend the bike tour to anyone who's tired of sitting in a tour bus.