Odds and ends in Jerusalem

Today was kind of a "catch up" day. First, we slept late after our busy day yesterday. That was nice!

Then, we got those knives (and some other souvenirs) shipped home! This proved to be a challenge in both finding a mailing box and packing material! A few shopkeepers each gave me pieces of bubble wrap, and I found a store that had empty boxes from their morning restocking. We packed up the items, used tape from our hotel front desk, and walked over to the Israel Post Office. I like how their system works! You get a number when you walk in, then you sit in chairs and wait for your number to appear on a video monitor, which also tells you which window to go to. It was the equivalent of $49 to mail the box home, which is a fair price to not be hassled again by Customs in three countries on my way home!

After this, we went to The Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, also known as The Shrine of the Book.

Unfortunately, they don't open until 4 PM on Tuesdays (?!) so we stopped into an archaeology museum (Bible Lands Museum) that was nearby. We both decided it was boring! So, we hopped in a cab and headed back to the Old City. Sean had seen a shisha place in the Muslim Quarter that he wanted to visit! Thankfully, we found it without getting lost!

While he enjoyed the shisha, we both had an Arabic Coffee. 

This is a very strong coffee that has spices added to it, and it's served in a small cup. It's very tasty, but beware of the "mud" of spices and grounds left in the bottom of the cup! 

 As we walked out of the Old City, there was a Jewish man playing "Stairway to Heaven" on his violin. That's Jerusalem!

After this, we decided to walk to the Mehane Yehuda Market. This is a very traditional, stereotypical Middle Eastern market. Lots of fresh produce, meat, fish and bread is sold here. You can also get sweet pastries and a few gifts in the market.

We enjoyed walking through and seeing all of the local people buying food, and the variety! We did buy some fresh sweet pastries for a snack. They were delicious!

After this, we walked back to our neighborhood to have dinner at a local place we had seen that 

morning. It's called The Israeli Kitchen, and they make all of their food fresh from local sources. Our dinner was delicious! 

After dinner, we stopped in to a little museum called the Friends of Zion Museum that a shopkeeper recommended. It was VERY good and had several fascinating multimedia presentations about Christians that helped the Jewish people over the years.  

We are now back at our hotel and we have a big day planned tomorrow: our tour to Bethlehem!