Unplanned and Perfect: Our First Day in Jerusalem

Today is our first full day in Jerusalem.  We left CA Thursday at 10:30 am and landed (an hour late) at 2pm in Tel Aviv, Israel.  After clearing immigration, gathering baggage, passing through customs, and picking up our rental car, it was already 3:30. The drive to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv was surprisingly pretty, through green rolling hills dotted with homes, and we were even graced with a rainbow during a break in the light rain. Thank goodness for GPS; the road signs are mostly in Hebrew, but we found our hotel fairly easily, and by 4:30 we were parked, checked-in, and settled into our room.


Barely able to keep our eyes open, we were passed out by 5, awake again at 7:30 and ordered room service from the Shabbat (Sabbath) menu, which is all cold foods like salads, smoked salmon, cold cuts, etc. A Unisom each and we were out by 11.


Morning dawned clear and bright, and we woke refreshed and ready to get our Holy Land on.  Breakfast is provided as part of the room rate, and was quite good; several choices of cold cereals, smoked and pickled fish, fruits, yogurt, cold salads, and cheese, along with juices, coffee, tea, and assorted pastries. Our meal was healthy and delicious and a great way to refuel after airplane and airport food.

Old City walls, including Mount Zion (to the right)

Following a very rough idea of where we were going, we headed towards the Old City planning on visiting Mount Zion outside the Old City walls before venturing inside.

After only minor confusion, we stumbled upon the gravesite of Oskar Schindler made famous by Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. It was quiet, and except for a small tour group, the graveyard was empty.

Oskar Schindler's grave. (Left: side view of grave with stones. Right: top of gravestone with inscription)

View of Jerusalem from Mount Zion cemetery.

We also visited the site of King David's tomb which is as unimpressive as all the websites and guidebooks say it was going to be.  Within the same complex is the Coenaculum (Latin for "dining room"), the hall that is the supposed place of the actual Last Supper.  The first time we walked through, it was thronged with tour groups, one of which was holding a loud prayer service in half of the smallish room.  The next time we passed through, two groups were leaving and another was on it's way in and we happened to get this shot between them.

The hall of the Last Supper

Adjacent to this site is the Church of the Dormition, the site where Mary, mother of Jesus, lived the rest of her life after Jesus' crucifixion and fell into a deep sleep (the "dormition") and died.


We entered the Old City through the Zion Gate on the south side and strolled through the Armenian Quarter to the Jaffa gate.  Just passed the gate is the entrance to the southern ramparts.  For 16 shekles ($4.26) each we gained admittance to the walls and some of the best views of both the old and new Jerusalem.

The ramparts dropped us just outside the security entrance for the Western Wall, the holiest spot in Judaism. Pictures of the Wall and the surrounding plaza are forbidden during Shabbat. There are separate sections for men and women at the Wall, so we split, had our private moments each, and met back in the center of the plaza.  As is tradition, I left a prayer on a slip of paper in the Wall itself.


From there we briefly entered the Muslim Quarter, were turned away by the nicest, politest, heavily-armed Israeli police officer at the entrance to Temple Mount, which is closed to non-Muslims during Shabbat. Feeling munchily, we opted for street-food as is our custom in foreign countries, and were delighted with the yummy chicken shawarma we shared.

Chicken shawarma & Pepsi, 25 shekles ($6.65)

The quieter streets of the Armenian Quarter

Without a map and no real inclination to visit any sites in particular, we happily wandered the ancient streets and inadvertently found ourselves on the Via Dolorosa, the path that Christ took from death sentence to crucifixion. Thronged with pilgrims, tourists, and locals alike, it was difficult to distinguish the stations that we passed or find much reverence in the experience since the streets are so different from the time of Jesus and are now lined with every kind of tourist shop imaginable.

"Hey, I think this is kind of important..."

Realizing that we had been on our feet non-stop for the last 6 hours and over 8 miles, we decided to take our aching feet back to the hotel, digest what we saw today, and maybe actually have a game plan for tomorrow and the rest of our time here in Israel.

For two jetlagged travelers just out for a leisurely stroll, we sure did find ourselves at several major tourist destinations and accomplished many things on our Israeli "to-do" list. Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (one of the alleged burial and resurrection sites), the Dome of the Rock, and the Mount of Olives, perhaps a drive back to Tel Aviv if the weather is nice.

I want a teapot that big.