Yad Vashem and street life in West Jerusalem

One of the things I considered to be a "must see" here in Jerusalem is Yad Vashem, the world holocaust memorial museum. Since Sean and I both love history, and we've both watched a lot of documentaries on WW2, we had to visit! From our hotel in the fun Nakhalat Shiva neighborhood, we jumped on the Metro and rode it to the end of the line to get to the museum. It's set high on the side of Mount Herzel, and the natural beauty of the place is great!

We noticed a bunch of Israeli Army soldiers on the train with us, and they all got off at our stop. They were VERY young! We chatted with one of them, and she told us the female soldiers serve for 2 years, the males serve for 3 years, and if you enjoy it, you can renew and stay in the Army. Evidently they were visiting the museum for the day, too. They were all very polite and quiet in the museum.

There was also an actual holocaust survivor at the museum today, and we both shook his hand. We purchased the English audio tour headsets, which were almost too informative! They went into great detail, and were actually so lengthy that we ended up having to take them off and go through the last bit on our own so we could get out before the museum closed for the day.

Photography isn't allowed inside, but their website has some good photos of the exhibits.

I can say that it was tough to see some of them, especially the exhibits about the mothers and children. There were a couple of times where I had to turn off the headset and step away so I wouldn't cry. Sure, we learned about the holocaust in high school, and in college, but this was so much more information! There was a nice display about Oskar Schindler (the movie Schindler's List was his story) that showed a copy of his list, and an enamel bowl that was made by the Jews in his factory. Here is his memorial tree in the Garden of the Righteous Among The Nation's, which is an area to thank non-Jewish people who helped the Jews during the holocaust.

I'm going to be a little political here... Please, do not EVER compare an American politician, or an
American political party, to the Nazis or to Adolf Hitler. Just don't. There is no comparison to the evil, hatred, and ruthlessness of that man. The ideals that he and his fellow sympathizers stood for, and their deliberate destruction of and disregard for human life, should never be seen again!

Anyway, we walked out of the museum to see a beautiful sunset over the valley. It was a very moving experience!

We hopped back on the Metro and returned to our fun little neighborhood. Sunday nights are great for the street activity here, and people were out and about! Many of the streets here are closed to cars, and are only accessible by pedestrians. The streets are full of shops, small restaurants, etc. It's really nice! This is Ben Yehuda Street, which quickly became our favorite!

We have seen LOTS of street cats here. We took this photo in the morning on our way to the Metro. The cats were meowing and waiting for someone to feed them! They are wary of humans, but not really feral. Still, I wouldn't touch them, especially after the cat at Petra.

Dinner tonight was a lamb burger for both of us at the Israeli fast food place Burgers Bar. It's not worth a picture, but it was tasty!

Tomorrow is our tour of the Old City. I'm already excited!

Getting into Israel

The two big dilemmas in my planning for this trip were getting to and from Petra, and getting to and from Israel. Aside from Sean's speeding ticket in the rental car, the Petra trip worked out fine.

For the Israel transport, I debated about flying to Tel Aviv, which is very expensive, you have to get there 3 hours early for security, and then we have an hour long cab ride to Jerusalem. Ultimately, I decided to hire a car company to take us to and from the borders via private drivers. Amman 2 Jerusalem This part also worked out very well! This morning, the Jordanian driver met us at our hotel in Amman, and he drove us to the King Hussein Bridge just north of the Dead Sea. He negotiated the very busy traffic in the checkpoint area, and dropped us right at the international travelers entrance. From here, a porter helped us with our bags, and showed us where to go. I knew there would be many checks, and that we would ride a shuttle bus through the actual border crossing, but I didn't really know what else to expect.

The Jordanian Police had a security checkpoint on the outgoing side where they X-rayed our bags, and they were VERY thorough. Unlike on an airline flight, they are very concerned with items in your checked luggage. They opened all of our suitcases, found the metal souvenir knives and other items we had purchased in Dubai and Jordan and took them.

I was afraid that they were going to seize the knives, and I looked sadly at the police officer and said
"These are gifts." He set the knives aside, then then took Sean to the police office, and asked him several questions about the knives in front of several other police officers. I just stood there with our suitcase and waited. I could see them in the office, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sean said he was very polite with them, and he explained the knives were souvenir gifts, and that we meant no harm with them. Thankfully, Sean's charm convinced the police to allow us to keep the knives, and they told us to be sure and not put them back in our bags, and give them directly to the Israeli police on the other side. More to come on the knives...

From here, we walked through the Jordan passport control station, where we paid our exit tax (10 JD
each). We both had to use the restroom, so Sean went first. He came back, and said it was absolutely
filthy, so I decided to wait. We then boarded the shuttle bus that would take us across the bridge. We waited on the bus for about 30 minutes. A large group of Palestinian people got on, then a small group of Europeans. The bus was only about 1/3 full, and I had read that it would wait until it was full, so I was getting pretty uncomfortable. Finally, the driver got on, and the bus pulled out of the terminal.

The drive across the border area had two Jordanian security checkpoints, and many barbed wire fences, then we crossed the actual bridge.

There was one more checkpoint in the Israeli side before we arrived at the Israeli immigration building. Sean said they were being very thorough with the vehicle checks. They looked under the bus with mirrors.

At the Israeli immigration station, we collected our bags, then approached the first passport control counter. The guards looked at our passports, then gave us tags for our bags. We put them on the 

conveyor belt, and headed inside. The first X-Ray and metal detector checkpoint was mayhem! You put everything you are carrying into bins, and they go through an X-ray machine, and hand

inspection (which you cannot see) while you go through a metal detector. The metal detectors were

very sensitive, and 2/3 of the people were having to go through multiple times. I set it off twice, and the guards finally told me to take off my shoes. I stood there, holding my shoes and looking for an empty bin, until one of the Europeans (also holding his shoes) was able to grab a bin from someone and allowed me to put my shoes in it, too. Finally, I was able to walk through without beeping! When I got to the other side, Sean had already taken charge of the knife situation, and was talking with one of the Israeli guards about them. The guard said he would meet us outside of the inspection station and give us the knives back. Thankfully, there was a toilet right there, so I ran in! (Fortunately, it was not dirty!)  The next stop was the immigration checkpoint. Aside from us and a few Europeans, everyone there was Palestinian. The line moved very slowly, and many of the Palestinians were turned back. When we got to the officers, they saw our American passports, quickly gave us our entry cards (no Israeli passport stamps anymore) and we walked through!

There was one more passport check, with a friendly Israeli police officer who said "Welcome to
Israel" and we walked through a big turnstile. After this, we collected our suitcases, and then another
guard scanned the tags to match our entry cards, and we walked out of the building. And there, as promised, was the guard with our knives! We thanked him, and I promised to mail the knives home while we were in Israel!

Just around the corner, our driver was waiting with the wonderful sign with my name on it. Hooray! We jumped in the car, and headed to Jerusalem. It was about half an hour's drive up the mountain to the city.

The driver pointed out Jericho, the Mount of Temptation, and several other major landmarks. We saw several road signs for more too. He also showed us the Israel Wall that separates the Palestinian side, and we went through another checkpoint to get into the city.

Our hotel, the Harmony,

is in the nice neighborhood of Nachalat Shiva that has many shops and cafes along the narrow streets.

The desk clerk was very helpful, and she gave us a map and a guidebook for local restaurants and things to do. Since we had arrived before check in, we decided to go walk around for a while. Even though many of the shops are closed until sundown for the sabbath, we still managed to find a few small markets that were open,

as well as a good pizza place.

I am looking forward to this evening after sundown when everything will be open!

A when we returned, the room was ready, and she had already put our bags in the room for us. She had even given us a larger room! I had to laugh at the tile in the bathroom...it is very unique!

Roman ruins and the Dead Sea

Friday is Jumah, the Muslim holy day. We woke to find the city nearly silent, and the streets deserted. Even the hotel breakfast buffet was a ghost town. It was almost eerie. Fortunately, the skies were clear and blue, and yesterday's rain was gone. Our private tour guide, Nidal, was willing to move our tour to Friday since the weather was so awful yesterday. He agreed that today was a much better day for exploring.

Nidal met us at 8 AM, and we headed out! Our first stop was the Amman Citadel.

This complex was built on the central mountain and overlooks the entire city (5 million people, according to Nidal).

It was mostly built by the Romans, and then it was occupied by the Muslims after the Romans left. The views of the city are stunning! We mostly had the place to ourselves, so we walked around and admired the views. There is a small archaeology museum there, but it doesn't even compare to The Jordan Museum from yesterday.

After that, we drove to the Roman Theatre at the bottom of the hill below the citadel. It is still used 

for concerts and events today. 

Nidal said the acoustics are nearly perfect!

Then we were on the road to Jerash, which is the largest set of Roman runs outside of Italy. It is in the northern part of Jordan, about an hour's drive from Amman, and closer to the Syrian and Iraqi borders. When we arrived, the complex had just opened for the day, and we were the only people there. The complex has a VERY nice indoor shopping area at the entrance. 

Nidal gave us 2 hours to walk around and said "Don't waste your money on hiring a guide!"

The first thing you see when you enter is Hadrian's Arch. It is VERY impressive! 

Then you walk past the Hippodrome (horse race track) and you come to the ruins of a Byzantine era church. The mosaic on the floor is beautiful! Notice the Greek writing on the right. 

The huge Roman circular plaza was beautiful. It was ringed by columns, and the Temple of Zeus overlooked it. 

The Cardo, or Roman street lined by columns, led from the plaza to the rest of the city. The road here was uneven and difficult to walk on. Notice that some of the stones have grooves in them from the Roman chariot wheels! The Cardo was lined with shops back in the day. I can just imagine the bustling street scene!

The beautiful Nymphaeum was a large public water fountain that also served to aerate the city's fresh
water supply.

Behind it was the Temple of Artemis. It had a lot of steep steps leading up to it, and I couldn't imagine trying to climb them in sandals and a toga! 

The view of the entire complex from the Temple was just stunning. 

We spent the whole 2 hours walking all over Jerash. I was very impressed! 

While we walked around, Nidal went to the local mosque. 

After this, we drove down to the western border of Jordan to the Dead Sea. We drove through the very fertile Jordan River Valley, and its many fruit and vegetable farms. Again, we saw roadside produce stands along the way.

Nidal showed us a farm that was growing bananas under a large tent. He said the Jordanian bananas are very sweet and popular with the locals. He also explained that many Jordanians like to come to the Dead Sea and picnic with their families on Friday afternoons. We saw many of them just sitting in the grass along the side of the road. I found it hilarious that there were many vendors offering shisha rentals, and camel, donkey and horse rides along the way.

Since the water was too cold for us to go swimming, Nidal took us to a public beach so we could at least put our hands in the water to feel how salty it was. Again, the locals were picnicking with their families, and there were vendors offering animal rides. 

Nidal showed us how low the Dead Sea has gotten in the last few years. He said it is losing 1 meter of depth every year. Sean noticed this, too, since he visited in 2004. The hotels used to all be beachfront, but now, they are high above the sea. What a shame.

I grabbed a few salt crystals as souvenirs of our visit. Nidal also pointed out how Jericho and Jerusalem are visible across the Dead Sea! 

We then headed back to Amman and our hotel. I really enjoyed the tour, and I have a much better understanding of Jordan and its place in history. 

After the busy day, we relaxed in the huge indoor pool and hot tub, 

and had a light dinner in the Club Lounge. Tomorrow we make the journey to Jerusalem and Israel. It will be the Jewish sabbath, called Shabbat, so I expect the city will be fairly quiet when we arrive. We leave here at 9 AM, and Nidal warned us that we could zip right through the crossing, or it could take hours. We will have to be patient!

Rainy day in Amman

Our first full day in Amman was supposed to be spent doing a private driving tour of the area. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It didn't get out of the 40s today, and the was heavy rain and snow flurries until about 3 PM. Fortunately, the tour company was able to move the tour back until tomorrow when the weather will be much better. So, today we did some indoor activities instead.

First, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet here at the Sheraton Amman. I upgraded our room to a Club Room, which includes free breakfast, afternoon snacks, and evening cocktails. This has already proven to be an excellent decision. The breakfast buffet is the best I have EVER seen!

Of course there are eggs and omelettes cooked to order, plus the European cold cuts and cheese, and the Arabic  vegetables, flat bread and grilled halloumi cheese (which we are becoming very fond of!). The pastry section is also well stocked (they had several kinds of croissants and at least 6 kinds of jam) and there is a smoothie bar, and every kind of coffee imaginable. And real pork sausage and bacon hidden off to the side of the hot items! YUM! We thoroughly enjoyed it all, and we weren't even hungry for lunch.

I had heard about The Jordan Museum online, and it was a short cab ride from our hotel, so we decided to check it out. The Jordan Museum

Admission was only 5 JD each, which was a real bargain. The museum covers all of the region's history from prehistoric times until the Great Arab Revolt 100 years ago. We both really enjoyed learning more about the area, especially the Nabateans (who built Petra), and the Greek and Roman occupations. Our World History classes back in high school barely scratched the surface of this time period, and there was so much to see and learn.

They also had a very good exhibit about the Bedouin tribes! We took our time, and we ended up spending about 3 hours there.

Tonight's dinner was at Naranj, which is the Amman location of Sean's favorite classy restaurant from Kuwait City. We were happy to find that it was only a short cab ride from the hotel, and right around the corner from the US Embassy.

 

The food here was very good! Sean had his usual lamb chops, and I had a hot pot with stuffed grape leaves and sliced lamb. We shared a fattoush salad and hummus with lamb and pine nuts. This was one of the best meals we had on the entire trip!

We shared a plate of Jordanian sweets, and had tea for dessert. The round balls were coconut, and they were my favorite! The Jordanians love their sweets, and it's easy to see why. 

On the way back from dinner, our cab driver asked if we wanted to stop in a shop for souvenirs. Sure! I bought a beautiful blue embroidered scarf, and a hand painted camel bone box with horses on it.

When we got outside, the cab had a flat tire! Fortunately, we were just down the street from our hotel, so we told the cab driver it was no big deal, and we walked back. We made it in time to enjoy drinks in the Club lounge, too!

From Petra to Amman

Today at Petra, it was much colder and foggy, so we were very thankful for yesterday's great weather!

We had to return the rental car by 10:30 AM, and it's a 3 hour drive via the main highway, so we got an early start. The drive was a lot less scenic from the highway. We didn't get to see much of anything except open desert, petrol stations, big trucks, and some police checkpoints.

Speaking of the police, in true Sean style, he got a speeding ticket. The officer literally flagged us down, and he said we were going too fast. Here's a photo of the ticket:

Obviously, its in Arabic, so we can't even read it, and we have no idea how to pay it... we doubt the Jordanian police are going to put out a warrant for his arrest or extradite him, so it will just be another souvenir from Jordan!

We returned the car at the airport, and hopped in a taxi into Amman. We did pass an IKEA store along the way!

We arrived at the Sheraton Amman around noon. We don't usually stay in 4-star hotels, but this hotel is special for Sean: he stayed here several times in 2004 when he was a contractor in Iraq! 

Our room wasn't ready yet, so we explored the hotel and enjoyed some vanilla chai tea. Once our room was ready, we were happy to see that we have a small balcony with a gorgeous view of Amman!

We spent the afternoon relaxing, taking a nap, and catching up on watching The Walking Dead.

At dinner, we ventured out of the hotel in search of local food and a shisha for Sean. A few blocks down the street, we found a nice local place!

We both had lamb chops for dinner, along with fresh juices. It was very good!

We are both running low on clean socks, and the Sheraton wanted 2 JD (about $4.50 US) to wash a single pair of socks, so we were planning on doing some wash in our sink this evening. On the walk back from dinner, Sean spotted a local laundry. They will do a large bag of laundry for 10 JD! So, we will take care of that in the morning. 

The weather here tomorrow is going to be cold and rainy, so we are most likely going to visit The Jordan Museum instead of walking around the markets downtown. Fortunately, I was able to move our tour back a day due to the weather.