Once In Royal David's City

---

Dear Blog Readers,



The Sun is setting and the evening prayers are being blasted from the speakers nearby. The evening leaves a dusty haze as the Sun sets which makes a change from the haze of Heathrow induced pollution back home. Another action packed day as I write this post nap before heading out into the city centre for some dinner.



The plan of waking at 7am fell through predictably but we were sat down for breakfast at the hotel by 8am somehow. The breakfast buffet here is something to behold. We think it has catered for pretty much every nationality. Just some of the things on the menu include noodles, smoked herring, pickled onions, and my personal favourite, tuna pasta salad. As is White family tradition, we attacked the buffet with gusto but didn't find the strength to stomach the tuna.



Our first port of call for the day was the Mount of Olives - Laura initially got excited at the prospect of a hearty lunch of a mountain of olives. Having been advised by the hotel receptionist to get a taxi for 50NIS, she recoiled in horror at us wanting to get an "Arab bus" as they are uncomfortable and never run on time. About 20 minutes later, after a couple of asks of the locals, we were soon sat on a reasonably empty National Express like coach for 4NIS each (#275 from the bus station on Sultan Suleiman street just outside Damascus Gate). Bargain.



It dropped us just outside the Church of the Pater Noster. A beautiful little olive grove adorned with the Lords Prayer written in over 160 languages on the walls as this was the place Jesus taught it to his disciples. Laura was chinwagging away in French to some people running the place and apparently the land is owned and run by the French. Around the corner was the Church of the Ascension which we nearly got in for free by gatecrashing one of the many coach loads of tourist groups descending on it. Why stop at ascending from one place when you can have two...the Russian Chapel of the Ascension around the corner looked in much better nick than its Ottoman counterpart. The views from here of the Old City were impressive, albeit, hard to get a good photo due to the fences, shrubbery, high walls and I'm a terrible photographer.



As we began our descent back towards the Old City, we stopped for a drink and our travelling days smelled a scam by a cunning taxi driver promising to complete our itinerary for the day for a measly 450NIS. We passed and headed to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested. The garden itself looked great, full of olive trees and next to the basilica which was doing a mass when we entered which was timely.



We decided to walk to the City of David in the oldest section of Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley. The route from the garden of Gethsemane takes you up the slopes with many burial sites for affluent families historically. This include a couple of tombs and the grotto of St James who hid there after Jesus was arrested nearby. The walk was great but difficult in the midday sun. We arrived at the City of David which begins with a massive excavation site and some great views of where we had just come from. We then headed underground which was a cooling relief. Warren's Shaft under the city shows how water was being transported and used during the sieges mentioned in the Bible. The highlight was Hezekiah's Tunnel - not one for the faint hearted and requires a torch and waist deep water through a 500m long underground passage allowing water to flow between the Gihon Spring and Shiloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind. The rest of the journey through the city involves an ascent up the recently discovered Temple Road.



We nipped back into the old city and ended up getting a ridicoulsly overpriced lunch. We trekked back out Dung Gate and headed up to Mount Zion where Jesus had the Last Supper and King David is buried. The latter was in an impressive little chapel with orthodox Jews chanting and reading the Torah. After seeing the fairly underwhelming room of the Last Supper we went to the Church nearby where the Virgin Mary died.



We came back to the hotel afterwards for a dip in the pool and have a nap to recuperate from all the walking (30,500 steps for the fans). We took the tram into the city centre and had a really nice meal (costing the same as the lunch!) before walking back to the hotel via a shopping centre which popped us out near Jaffa Gate. It's weird when you're getting yourself lost in a city and finally spot a place that gets your bearings.



Tink and Laura x

---