It’s a Small World

Say what?! There we sat at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Jericho and these chic girls with Uzi’s were telling us there was no way we could leave the West Bank. “I’m sorry, Israel doesn’t want any more tourists”. We explained patiently that we had only stayed in the countryside and visited Herodium but they said no can do. Their English was pretty limited and they felt bad but orders were orders. I realized then how much at their mercy we were. You just can’t argue with someone who’s holding your passports, phone, and is carrying a machine gun. The girls thought they knew of a place we could possibly cross back into Israel, so they used my phone, switched the keyboard to Hebrew and tried to enter it into our navigation. About then a male soldier came over and after asking us if we all felt healthy he told her to let us go. Thank you Lord! I really didn’t feel like spending my quarantine right there.

You can imagine how the Hebrew Keyboard has complicated my Navigation. Of course i can switch away from it but it always pops up when I’m in a flying hurry. I need to buckle down and remove it.

So you already know we visited Herodium, the sight of one of Herod the Greats many fortresses, as well as the likely spot the wisemen visited after the birth of Christ. It has some nifty water tunnels you can walk through. Also there was a snake.

We eventually got to Jerusalem in spite of our small inconvenience, parked the car in a garage and headed into the Old City on foot. This place is empty. Like there is zero wrestling your way down the narrow streets. It was rather nice, if a little eerie. We met a few tour groups, some small groups but otherwise a lot of locals. Even the shop keepers seemed a bit subdued, like they wanted to sell you stuff but weren’t sure if they dared approach you in case you had the dreaded C word. They still shouted funny things so that was perfect! It’s a little annoying how suspicious everyone is, me included. Anyone that wheezes, coughs or sneezes merits a second glance. We studiously wash our hands and avoid touching things. I tried to buy hand sanitizer at a pharmacy and there was only 2 bottles and 3 of us wanted them! It could have been a fight so I let the others have it. Pat,pat🤪. I still had some left.

We went and watched the Jews at the Western Wall, thought about touring the Dome of the Rock but in that exact place there were lines, and then walked around 2/3rds of the Old City on the Ramparts. I love it up there. You get a birds eye view into the backyards and daily lives of the people and its fascinating! Some Arab kids swore at us and yelled “Corona, Corona” but that was the only blot.

We descended at the Lion Gate and found a small shop selling fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. Yum! Then we ambled along the Via Dolorous till we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. That was pretty interesting, the folks there didn’t let a little virus stop them from kissing the sacred spots. While we were there the Franciscan Friars did a procession all over the building singing and chanting and wafting incense and carrying candles. A large group of pilgrims followed them and I was extremely amazed that no one caught on fire what with all the candles in the tightly packed group.

Our brains were on overload by 5pm so we headed back to Rosh Ha’ayin and a delightful schwarma restaurant. Its Purim here, which is a bit of a Mardi Gras deal. We see a lot of costumes and the occasional firework.

And yes, we got our new flights home, arranged after about 3 hours of phone time. It wasn’t a big deal, just a lot of hold time because of “higher than normal call volumes”. Our new flights are a fair bit better than the old so that’s reason to rejoice!

Tomorrow we plan to check out the Golan Heights… note the “plan”. We’re always open to plan B or C.