It’s a Small World

Temple Mount had no queue this morning, so we were able to go right on up! The sun was blinding as it bounced off the stones, but it was peaceful and beautiful. Our legs passed the modesty police check without triggering any alarm, so no extra skirts had to be worn over our existing ones.

We called it our Herrodian day after that as we were off to discover some of King Herrods lesser excavated palaces. The first one was on the mountain overlooking Jericho and the Jordan River Valley. The road up to Herrod’s Cypros Fort had Sharon and I clawing at our doors a little. It was obviously not a well visited sight, but we scrambled around for a while, looking at the ruins and the beautiful panorama below us. More ruins were down in the town of Jericho, and after a hairy water crossing we explored them a little. They’re just kind of in the middle of fields and greenhouses and messy farm yards so it stunk like goat poo. The chickens cackled and scratched, flies buzzed around a dead baby goat, dates were thick on the ground and little kids scampered around asking for “one shekel”. This was the palace with the large pool complex where Herrod caused his brother in law to be drowned.

Lunch was at our favorite pizza joint in Jericho, where they cook the pizza in a large stone oven heated with melamine scraps. They made us cheese and vegetable pizzas and cheese and zatar pockets. We ate just fierce much! It was as ripping good as always!

We were glad for every bite we ate later! The second palace, Alexandrium, we went to find was also on a high mountain, and the road we selected didn’t go near as far as we had hoped. It was our own two legs or nothing for getting up there. Since we were all determined, we started up. It was a long and tedious trail, but the views and wildflowers were like Heaven. It took at least 1.5 hours to reach the summit, and frankly, there wasn’t a lot up there. But it was fun to imagine Mariame, King Herrods beautiful wife trapped up there when he left the country one time. He wouldn’t let her leave in case she’d start a rebellion. It would be quite the feeling, stuck on top of a mountain where you could see for miles in every direction, but you couldn’t leave.

Daylight was starting to fade as we hastened down. An IDF plane flew below us, a shepherd sat on the hillside surrounded by sheep while his vigilant dog barked his head off, and the Evening Scented Stock filled the air with its spicy scent. Nealda and I linked arms and skidded and slipped over the rocks, laughing and chatting. Good times! She thought maybe she should just stay on the mountain and get rescued by the shepherd, but we told her he’d probably make her walk further than we were.

We tried to swing back through Jericho on the way home, but there was a security check set up and they said we probably shouldn’t. There was a terrorist attack nearby, so it seemed they were being extra vigilant. And yes, we can attest to the attack because we drove by after it happened. Lots of police and miles of backed up traffic. So we stocked up on fruit in Israel and went back to the apartment to make juice. Liters of juice! Perhaps we over bot. We also cooked up some gourmet macaroni and wieners and laughed, because who in their right mind imagines hanging out in Old City Jerusalem eating wieners and mac? I can assure you it’s fun. And delicious.