Shalom and happy weekend! This morning I walked to the Lions Gate east entrance to the Old City where I found and walked the Via Dolorosa, or the Stations of the Cross (literally translated, the way of PAIN). There's no set walkway to follow besides a plaque with a Roman numeral at each location, so finding each one is a total toss-up for a girl who speaks zero Hebrew or Arabic. Finding each station was a total game, as the Old City is super maze-esque. I haphazardly caught up to an Italian tour group also following the Via Dolorosa and they spoiled one station for me before I could sneak in front of them while they took a sincere moment to genuflect. That'll teach them.
After Via Dolorosa, I left the city walls and walked to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went before his betrayal and crucifixion. The original 8 olive trees that Jesus sat at when he was in agony over his fate are still there, though the public are not allowed in. I did manage to jack a rogue olive that rolled out ofthe fence, which I have taken hostage in my souvenir collection.
I finally met up with my Jew friends to countdown the hours until they could break their Yom Kippur fast. As soon as the sun went down, it was water and chow city all over Old Jerusalem. Free boxes of pastries and bread kept appearing out of nowhere. A place that literally rains chocolate pastries? WHY WOULD I EVER LEAVE? Woof. Then we got majorly indulgent houmus with tons of beef and chicken and vegetables, and of course, Israeli beer. If anyone can find Shapiro wheat before I get home, that would be DIVINE.
Off to Rome in the morning. Don't wait up kids!
Cheers and gbr-
M
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