Shushan Purim in Jerusalem

On Monday we had our last breakfast at the Little House in Rechavia, checked out and left our suit cases for the day. We easily found our way back to the Jaffa Gate and found the entrance for the Ramparts Walk. This is a self-guided tour along the walls of the Old City where we can take lots more picturesque photos of Jerusalem. It was really interesting the things you can see from above.

We then headed to the Western Wall where we encountered a Bar Mitzvah parade. You have to enter the Western Wall plaza via metal detectors segregated by sex. Being a Monday (and Purim) the Wall was crowded with Bar Mitzvah celebrations. On the Women’s side there was a group reading Megillah which was REALLY cool.  It was a little bit of a struggle to actually get near the Wall. I delivered the notes written by my students and thought about how much history has gone on in the spot I was standing, as well as all the people who have worked so hard so I could stand at that spot.

After we left the Western Wall Plaza we wondered a bit around the Old City looking doing a little shopping in the Arab Quarter before finding a place to eat in the Jewish Quarter. We spent a lot of time sitting in the main square of the Jewish Quarter watching the Purim merriment. I highly recommend visiting Jerusalem on Purim. We then attempted to leave the Old City which was quite easy on Friday with our guide, but not as easy on our own, we were eventually successful getting out of the walls, but not anywhere near where we wanted be. We then find our way back to Ben Yehuda St where a fantastic street party was taking place complete with music, street performers, and Megillah readings. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel, get our suitcases take one last taxi ride to the Jerusalem Bus Station and off to Tel Aviv we went. 

Purim in Jerusalem

Pictures from the Old City

We were fortunate enough to stay with close family friends/relatives (the line is kind of blurry) in Tel Aviv, Lois and Yeshai Argov. Without knowing it we picked the better bus to take to Tel Aviv that stopped close to the Argov’s house so they were able to get us from the train station. After dropping our stuff off we went to dinner at a nice pasta place that makes their own pasta and sauce. It was very good. We then walked along Rothschild Blvd which has a very nice pedestrian/bike path in the center of the street. We walked down to an ice cream place which was a great way to end the day.

Masada, the Dead Sea, and Purim

Sunday we woke up reasonably early. After breakfast, Shira used her NYC-skills and hailed us a cab to the bus station and it was off to Masada. We got to experience some “Israeli Hospitality” when I asked the guy who sold me my bus tickets, what platform the bus left from he answered “I’m not information.” Luckily after only a little wandering we found the Masada bus (it was pretty obvious once we looked for the other really-touristy looking people).  Additionally I was surprised by the fact that while this ride was about half as long as the Tiberias-Jerusalem haul, it cost more. It was a pretty scenic ride, we didn’t realize how big the Dead Sea was and that desert could be so interesting looking. We arrived at the Masada bus stop and headed up the hill to the Visitors Center. Ayal, our guide from Jerusalem recommended the museum before we headed up to the top of Masada. That was a great recommendation as the museum was well done and very interesting. It gave a great overview of the Masada story, so we were ready to ascend the mountain. We decided to take the cable cars and smashed on with a number of tour groups. The cable cars can hold eighty people, but not comfortably. When we reached the top it was a pretty amazing site. Not only were the views incredible, but you could walk freely through most of the ruins. After a lot of walking around and taking numerous pictures we headed back down the cable car and did some shopping. The gift shop at Masada is sponsored by Ahava. While I didn’t buy any Ahava products, my purchase qualified me for a ton of free Ahava products.

It was then off to Ein Gedi Public Beach for a dip in the Dead Sea. We got to experience some more “wonderful” Israeli bus driver hospitality. As the bus driver has a bus with a bunch of tourists on it and drives by the beach stop without an announcement and then seems surprise when everyone wants to go to the beach. He did agree to turn around. We had a HUGE lunch at the beach restaurant. It was overpriced, but the food was good (and the large meal actually came in handy later).

Here are the pictures from Masada and Dead Sea: Masada and Dead Sea Pictures

After some souvenir shopping it was time to take a quick trip into the Dead Sea. We didn’t have time for a long swim so we just went in for a wade and some pictures. The water actually felt pretty good nice and warm.

While waiting for the bus we met a guy from Torino, Italy (which of course led to some good Olympic stories). We amazingly found the right bus back to Jerusalem Central Bus Station. While there we picked up some Purim costumes (on sale). We headed over to the Conservative Synagogue in Jerusalem for a really great Megillah reading. We got to hear the Hatzi Kaddish  sung to Lady Gaga. After the services we went off to find something to eat and stumbled across the Waffle Bar. It is exactly as it name implies it is a countertop restaurant that serves waffles. We were able to fulfill the commandment to have a festive meal on Purim. (Photos from Purim will be in a later post).