A Dangerous Business

J.R.R. Tolkien: “It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and, if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might get swept off to.”

           It hasn’t even been a week since I landed in Israel, but I have already had so many wonderful experiences. This quote from Tolkien seemed to fit this post, not because it is at all dangerous here :), but because there are so many fascinating things in this world, and there is no telling what you may see or experience each day. This blog would quickly become a novel if I tried to record every fascinating thing I have seen or learned, so I decided to just one quick taste of one of my favorite things- the Old City! Here are just a few pictures to take you on a quick walk through it:

This is Damascus Gate, where we usually enter the city. 

The Old City is divided into 4 quarters: the Palestinian, Israeli, Armenian and Christian quarters. This is in the Palestinian quarter where they have really fun markets. This is one of the quieter moments. It is so fun to hear shop keepers holler to you and people barter, and see the merchandise spread all across the street. 

This is one of many beautiful doorways that we have come across. This is in the Israeli quarter. And I put myself in it so that you can see that I am really here (maybe that is really mostly for my benefit- I am still pinching myself!)

This is a view of the Western (or Wailing) Wall. We are going on Friday evening to see the Jews welcome in the Sabbath, so I will post more about it later. You can see the Dome of the Rock just beyond it. 

This is a beautiful Olive tree also in the Israeli quarter.