BACK IN MY REAL WORLD

Hi everyone, it's good to be back home. Sorry it took me so long to post, but I'd forgotten how much work it is to go on a trip for so long - and then to return. Not to mention the jet lag and the 12 - that's twelve - hour flight home with 4 misbehaved children.

Our last outing included the following sights - I'll give you shots from the car as we approached the city.

Jerusalem is an elevated city, and you can feel the car working harder and harder as you get closer. When you finally arrive, you see the stone wall above, and the welcome sign below. Welcome in Hebrew is Brucheem HaBa-eem, literally translated it is "blessed be those who come." This greeting used to be spelled in flowers, but I guess it was too much maintenance. I prefer the flowers.

Within the city limits, one still needs to drive a bit to arrive at the old city, and here you can see the old city wall. It is such an awesome sight. The old city is divided into four quarters - the Armenian, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish.

Once inside the old city walls, the roads are narrow and busy with people walking all around - a real challenge. I was surprised they still allow cars to drive through. We went through this tunnel to get to parking for the Kotel, or Western Wall.

We got these insider directions from friends,with whom we visited and found this terrific mosaic:

Finally, the Kotel,

where we bumped into friends from NY! The sun was so bright and it was hot, even in Jerusalem. (It's much cooler due to it's elevation.) But after three weeks in Israel, I did get used to it, somewhat. Now when everyone's complaining about the heat here in NY, a measly 90 humid degrees, I just laugh. It ain't no thang.

Then it was back to my favorite part, the city center and the midrachov, a stone paved strip only open to pedestrians, where we ate dinner and my son stole the show from these mimes with applause. Night life in Jerusalem is very kid friendly, and the shops are open late. Shopping here is just AWE-SOME! In addition to great clothes and shoes and jewelry, this is where everyone gets their best souvenirs, and there are always entertainers practicing.

While the mimes kept the kids occupied, wouldncha knowit? Another friend from NY...

And it was a good thing we met up with him, too. We'd parked our car in a lot, and being from NY, we never thought that a parking lot in the very center of a very large city would ever close. 9:50pm to be exact. So, without toothbrushes or a change of clothes we followed our friend back to his hotel where we stayed for the night. I didn't care. I was happy in my favorite part of Jerusalem - the part where I'd lived for 3 months when my oldest child was a baby. I inhale and can only remember the smells - the evergreens, the night, I don't know what it is, but I love it.

For those of you who guessed Israel, you were right, of course. The zoo was the biblical zoo in Jerusalem, and that oasis? That was Eilat, Israel' southernmost city, closely bordering Jordan and Egypt. The coral reef was in the Red Sea, and those are Jordanian mountains in the background. We drove through the Negev desert, and that crater, the Ramon. On the way back, that was the Dead Sea I showed you, and what looks like snow is of course salt. I think I covered all of the pictures I posted.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who posted, I had fun with it!