Planning our day, in the midst of packing up the apartment. Seriously, packing up the whole household is a big job–once I have all my things packed, then I have to go pack up everything else–food, gear, household items, laundry, someone’s forgotten hat, someone else’s cords, etc. Whew.
Originally, our plan was to pack up early that morning and stop at Beit Shean (Roman ruins) on our way to Galilee. But we made a last-minute change, and decided to go into the Old City and visit the famous Jimmy’s Bazaar. The four older kids decided to stay at the apartments and chill (they ended up having an epic Nintendo Switch game marathon), but Yummy came, as did both moms and Bradley.
Taking the bus to buy groovy souvvies.Look at that handsome man!Look! We found Yummy’s Corner!!And you can’t see it well in this picture, but one of the stores behind Eva says “Moda Eva”. Just down the street from Yummy Corner.
Jimmy is well known to many Latter-day Saints who visit the Holy Land. He and his family have a large shop in Jericho, and a smaller shop just outside the Old City in Jerusalem. Jimmy and his wife have visited Utah, has met more general authorities than I ever expect to, and loves to cater to the LDS crowd. He actually saw us in the Garden Tomb, pegged us as members, and talked to LaDonna and Eva and Bradley. I love this so much.
Eva, Jimmy, and LaDonna. Do you see Jimmy’s smile? That’s because he got a very good set of sales out of us. Yummy, Jimmy, Keryn, and BradleyJimmy’s Bazaar. Navitity, statue of Christ, crosses, camels, Moroni…Moroni? (Top left side)Elephants, the disciples on the boat, the Christus, Joseph Smith’s first vision, Emma Smith bust, liahonas with moving spindles…this family is GOOD. They found a niche and are going strong with it. Captain Moroni, Angel Moroni, Joseph Smith, Joseph and Hyrum…I finally got a piece of 2000 year old Roman glass, set in a pendant. It has a very nice patina and is nicely heavy. Archeologists and the antiquities department find so much glass at different sites, like City of David (in this case), that they actually sell it to jewelers and then the tourists can legitimately take some old stuff home.
We bought some really fun stuff–but I’m going to wait until later to show all the amazing things we’re bringing back. Some of it is gifts, so I don’t want to spoil it!
Just down the street from our bus stop. What even is that? It looks like a man, pointing, tipped over, with a giant bird eating his liver. Makes sense.The bus ride home wasn’t as enjoyable–super crowded. Miri got separated from us by two strollers and a parcel of small children, and Bradley couldn’t even get on the bus and so waited for the next. But we survived.
We got back to the apartments, finished packing up, piled into the car, and made it out of town with no more trouble. Yummy and I, in the front seat, played the alphabet game in English, which is pretty intense in a Hebrew-speaking country. We then moved on to playing the numbers game (find a 0, find a 1, etc, then find a 1 and 0 together, 1 and 1 together, and so on. We decided to stop at 38. But not bad!
Driving along the barrier wall separating the West Bank from the rest of Israel. It’s a serious wall.The Sea of Galilee!Our new digs until Sunday, when we head to the Mediterranean coast and Netanya. View from our 6th floor balcony. Sultry, humid, and gorgeous.
