Okay...We Get It....You're Religious

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Geo: 31.7738, 35.2252

The motto for the State of Israel should read, "Just Open Your Wallet." As previewed by our dinner the night before and soon to be accentuated over the next few days, prices in Israel are extreme. Outrageous, really. Even more so than Europe. While shocking at first, we finally just gave up thinking about it. It was helped, too, by the an odd exchange rate (3.6 NIS per $), which didn't facilitate easy conversions and helped delay some sticker shock.

We had prearranged a five-hour "Holy City Tour" for this first full day in Israel, to give us an overview of the Old City. We had to be at Jaffa Gate to meet our tour at 9:30, so we slept in and decided to grab a bite on the walk down to the Old City. What had been a hopping pedestrian area the night before was now deserted as we emerged from the hotel. None of the bakeries or bagel shops were open, given the Passover restrictions, so we weren't quite sure what we'd do. We'd later learn that bread and all foods were easily available in the Arab portions of the city, but we were staying in Jewish West Jerusalem, so our pickings were slim. We ended up at a Coffee Beanery of all places. When our bill for coffee and pretty meager Passover pickings exceeded $60, we determined that we'd visit a grocery store later in the day and take advantage of the kitchen in our apartment for the final two mornings of our visit.

As we approached the Old City, the throngs of orthodox Jews became more and more prevalent. With Passover, huge numbers of Hasidic and Sephardic Jews were visiting. They were clearly evident in their huge fur hats, black outfits, and side-burn curls. It was also evident that they seem to all have HUGE families. The sheer volume of strollers being pushed around by the orthodox was overwhelming. Added to these crowds were the busloads of Christian tourists and pilgrims who'd come for Holy Week, so it was a full house.

Our walking tour departed right on time, and from the first moment the effects of the holidays and crowds was evident. Our first visit was to be to the Church of Holy Sepulchre, but we couldn't get to it. If you've been to the Old City of Jerusalem, you know that it is a myriad of narrow alleyways and passages. Soldiers were set up at various crossings to stop people from entering certain areas, presumably to control the crowds. I'd like to think they know what they're doing and they have a sincere desire to maximize security, but I never did see the logic in where and how they decided to close off areas. Despite the urgent pleadings of our tour guide in Hebrew to the soldiers, we could not pass. She improvised, and we rerouted the tour.

Jerusalem is divided into four quarters -- Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. We headed to the Armenian quarter, which is the smallest. Here, too, a barrier blocked us from reaching the Church of St. James, which is the epitome of sanctity to Armenian Orthodox Christians. Here, though, our tour guide was more successful, and she talked us past the cordon. We learned that the church is only open to Armenians, except for 2:00-2:30 on three afternoons a week. Perhaps buoyed by her recent luck with the soldiers, she went inside and approached the archbishop. He agreed to let us in, but not until he came out and pointed out which people had to use scarves to cover their knees or arms. When we entered the church, there was a service going on, in Armenian, and it was full blown orthodox, with incense floating in the air. It was a fantastic thing to see; one which Anna later pronounced her favorite part of the day.

Our tour hit all four of the sectors of the city, but our access to the Christian quarter was severely limited. While we did visit the Wailing Wall in the Jewish quarter, we were unable to access the Temple Mount or famous Dome of the Rock, which sit directly above the wall. Our guide informed us, and I later read on-line, that there had been some throwing of rocks and Molotov cocktails from the Temple Mount the proceeding Sunday, and in retaliation the authorities had closed all access to the area, for everyone. As I write this travelogue, the area is still closed and I've read of the United Nations lodging a complaint with the Israeli Government about their restricting access. Part of me, however, cannot blame them.

We learned that 35,000 people physically live within the walls of the Old City, and 30,000 of them are Muslim and live in the Muslim Quarter. As such, that area, is the most crowded, but also the most vibrant. One of the anchors of our tour was a visit to the Austrian Hospice, of which I'd never heard, which sits on the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter. It was built in the late 1800's by Kaiser Franz Josef for Austrian pilgrims to the Holy Land. He wanted his people to feel at home, so the building has the complete look and feel of an Austrian hotel. It was rather shocking to walk in from the crowded street outside, with street vendors hawking wares and tourists bumbling around, to enter wide quiet corridors, with pictures of Austrian lake scenes on the walls and the smell of Julius Meinl coffee wafting in the area. We stopped here as the roof offers sweeping views over the Old City, and somewhat compensated for our not being able to access the Temple Mount.

We wrapped up the tour by walking most of the Stations of the Cross of the Via Dolorosa, and then collapsed into a small restaurant for lunch. The meal, by the way, was so good and reasonable, that we returned to the same spot the following afternoon.

From here we made our way back up the Via Dolorosa and into the Christian Quarter, and actually made it to the courtyard entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which the final three Stations of the Cross reside, including the Tomb of Jesus. Management of the church is a true mess going back centuries, with six competing denominations controlling different areas and always arguing. There is an infamous ladder propped up directly above the entrance door. It has been there since 1757 and is called the Immovable Ladder. It cannot be moved without written consent from all six denominations, and as they cannot decide about anything, there it remains. Interestingly enough, too, is the fact that the contention between faiths is so extreme that the keys to the church have been controlled by a single Muslim family for more than 1,300 years.

There was a large crowd assembled outside the door, but no one was being allowed in. We milled around with other confused tourists, until the door suddenly closed and a man climbed up a ladder to latch and lock the door. There were still and TV cameras filming away as this took place, leading me to think it was part of some Holy Week ritual. Whatever the case, we learned the church would not reopen until "at least 11:00am the next day," Good Friday.

After more than five hours walking around and dealing with the extreme crowds shoehorned into the city, we were -- again -- exhausted. The thought of walking up the hill to our hotel, regardless of the relatively short distance, was too much to bear, so we walked out of Damascus Gate and grabbed a taxi.

After a short reprieve at the hotel, we decided to visit a famous outdoor market just up from our hotel. We rode the brand-new street car which stopped up from the hotel one stop and caught the end of the market activity. While it seemed plenty busy to me, we later learned that almost half of it was closed because of Passover, and whatever they were selling was not allowed. By the time we worked our way back to the hotel, it was getting dark. As a last-ditch surrender for us all, we elected to just eat the McDonald's across from our hotel. Interestingly enough, the entire menu was in Hebrew -- no English or even Latin letters anywhere. Luckily they spoke English and we ordered. This was the first McDonald's anywhere in the world where I have eaten and the food did not taste like it does in the States. Anna's McNuggets were coated with matzo meal, and our sandwiches were made with unleavened bread. We were so tired, the quality and taste didn't bother us, but the $48 dollar bill did shock me. Welcome to Israel!

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Photos

Ethiopian Christian Pilgrims
We also saw large groups of Ethiopian Jews. We joked that Ethiopia must be empty.