Day One in the Old City

Our plane arrived in Tel Aviv at 12:30a, June 1. To say we were tired would be an understatement. I felt practically no thrills at all at the signage in Hebrew, the Israel flags, the gorgeous mosaics on the wall. On maybe two hours of sleep for the last 30, I was barely keeping it together for myself and my very very overtired children.

I did, however, take a few pictures.

We gathered luggage, navigated border control, and found the car rental place. There we had a great piece of good luck—they had a 9-passenger van available for the entire month!!! It’s a tight fit with all the luggage, but we’re thrilled to all be together.

This week, we have two lovely apartments from AirBnB: one with three bedrooms for our family, a five-minute walk to the New Gate To the Old City, and a one-bedroom for the Grandmas, in the middle of the Old City, right next to the Temple Mount.

Can you see the Dome of the Rock? The Al-Asqa mosque?

If you look north, you can see the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations, the Orson Hyde Gardens, and the BYU Jerusalem Center. In the foreground, just behind the beautiful purple flowers, is St Anne’s Cathedral and the Pool of Bethesda.

However, we were in ZERO condition to navigate the Old City at three in the morning, so we found our apartment and everyone crashed on couches and beds. I think I fell asleep by 4:30.

Bradley and Eva and LaDonna and I woke up at around 7:30—because we had parked in the wrong stop and someone needed us to move. (Car horns are very useful in this situation, by the way.) Once we got that sorted, we were awake.

The children slept on.

We (the adults) walked to a money changer, bought a SIM card for Em’s phone (so we have a local number), and got a few groceries at the corner market.

The children slept on.

The children slept on.

We packed up Eva and LaDonna and walked for 30 minutes, pulling the luggage behind us, to get to their place, just ten minutes from the Herod Gate. It was hot and amazing.

We walked along the city walls–just as magical and imposing and marvelous as I hoped.

Look at the dissolution in the limestone bedrock!

Finally–in the Old City.

The children slept on.

We got the moms settled and bought them some fruit, cheese, and bread from various merchants in the streets around their apartment.

These little convenience stores are so small and packed full of shelves and coolers and piles of food, perfume, cigarettes, and candy. Almost every one of them have giant ice cream bar freezers outside, filled with delicious and tempting frozen treats.

And the children slept on.

We dropped the groceries off with the moms, left them to their naps, and started to wander back to our apartment. We went by way of the Via Dolorosa, and although we ran into a few large tour groups, it was not terribly crowded. I really loved some alone time with my sweetheart.

(We also met two very eager merchants, one of antiquities and one of gemstones and Roman glass. I’m so super tempted by the glass…pretty sure I need some for the department collection, right?)

And the children slept on…WAIT. At 1:15, Zee texted and let us know he was awake.  By then we were almost back to the apartment.

I crashed for about 3.5 hours, while Zee and Bradley went to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb, just ~20 minute walk from our place. Hebs eventually woke next, then Yummy at 5, Gee at 5:30, and Em at 6:15. In the evening. Oh, dear.

We found a hummus shop and grabbed takeout for everyone, then walked into the Old City–my children’s first experience! 

(My egg-salad-chicken-onion-hummus pita was SO amazing.)

The sun was setting as we got to the Grandmas with dinner, so we are on the rooftop garden while the city around us starts to light up. It is magical!

Here are some pictures from our walk home at night from the grandmas’ place. Hebs loves donkeys. (Hahahaha)