Touring Again, Finally! Scenes from a recent Old City Tour

How wonderful. After nearly 20 months, I have actually toured the Old City with friends and international tourists. On November 1st Israel opened up its gates to vaccinated tourists. What a joy to see familiar faces and sites in the glorious November. weather. This is a great time to visit. Sites are pretty quiet and accessible and locals are happy to see tourists. I want to share some of the places we saw on our walk from the Jaffa Gate along the Ramparts to Damascus Gate - one of my favourite routes. The colours, the sights and even the smells are tangible through the wonderful pictures taken by my friend, Viva Press, who visited from Tel Aviv. Apart from the Ramparts, we wandered through the Muslim Quarter savouring the sights, tastes and smells. We toured the Haram eSharif - The Holy Sanctuary housing the beautiful 7th-century Dome of the Rock - a Muslim shrine marking the site of Mohammed's ascent to heaven, and in the Jewish tradition site of the First and Second Temples, the place of the Foundation Stone and the Binding of Isaac by Abraham. Below are views from the ramparts: the bustling market streets, fresh sesame breads and delicious foods, and views to the Western Wall and the Mount of Olives from the Haram. We ended up in the iconic Mahane Yehuda Market at Rachmo where we ate Kurdish kubeh soup. Yum! We hope to see you here soon!

Winter Wonderland Jerusalem, December 2013

Even though snow is not a rare occurence in this city, this morning Jerusalem experienced its heaviest December snowfall since 1953. Schools have closed and public transport is at a standstill as Jerusalem's residents stay at home and keep warm.

Coming fast on the tail of an unusually warm November, Jerusalemites have been suprised by the sudden freezing temperatures which are affecting much of the Middle East. Snow is always a cause for great celebration especially among the children who look forward to building snowmen and generally having fun.

The snow storm was the fiercest in over 100 years cutting off roads to the city and electricity to many households. The sun is finally coming out and melting the snow but a huge amount of damage has been caused to infrastructure which will take some time to repair.

Jerusalem of white and gold





View to the Knesset

   

 



Old City Walls

 

Just received: Pictures from the Jerusalem Bird Observatory taken earlier today

 

 



Scenes from above - rooftop views of Jerusalem

There are many ways to visit Jerusalem. However, the best way to get a sense of the city is to see it from above.  There are a number of excellent options including the Mount Olives - probably the number one viewpoint best seen early in the day, the rampart walk around the Old City, the rooftop of the Austrian Hospice in the Muslim Quarter and the YMCA tower on King David Street. I was recently interviewed for Israel21cdotcom showing me guiding some of these sites. You can watch it here -Rooftop Tour with Madeleine

Follow me around Jerusalem!

Take a virtual tour with me around Jerusalem. My thanks to Harvey and Margie Wilensky for their report.