Being able to visit Israel was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t think we’d meet the rules, but then Tim was fortunate enough to get his covid booster shot in Cyprus so we were cleared to go. Once we arrived in Tel Aviv, we had our mandatory covid test at the airport and took a quick train to Jerusalm, and then a cab to our AirBnB. Once there, we were under a strict 24 hour quarantine- or until our test results came back negative. We had planned on getting some food for later at the train station, but everything was closed. By late the next morning we were getting hungry, and no signs of test results. (And still in quarantine until almost midnight) Looking online, we found a small grocery store half a block away that said they would deliver. Deb called, and after being connected to someone in the store that spoke some English, she inquired about getting some food. They asked what types of things we liked, we paid using our credit card, and they said they would stop by soon. After 45 minutes we called again, and found there was a mix-up in the address, but they then brought things right over. Wouldn’t even take a tip for their good service. So we now had a supply of sandwich fixings, granola, milk, juice, oranges, coleslaw and other items. During the day, we had this visitor to our window. (We were on the 4th floor) The tree is a Jacaranda, you can see a couple of the large seed pods in the upper right of the photo. The picture was taken early February, and a month later the tree had dropped all of it’s leaves. But it was just starting to bud out again when we left late April.

We spent the rest of the day getting our apartment organized, then the next morning started to explore.

Just across from our apartment was Liberty bell park, including a replica of the US Liberty bell. (They seem to take better care of their bell, it doesn’t have a large crack in it like ours in Philadelphia!) And, behind it, George the dragon.

When we arrived the vines (behind George) were bare, but by the end of our stay they had flowered with a thick mass of pink and purple flowers, then swiftly sprouted leaves. Continuing our wandering, we did some additional grocery shopping, and were amazed at the prices, about two to three times what we were used to seeing. Likewise, our apartment was about twice as expensive as what we had in Cyprus. But, it all averages out for us over time with different locations. And we were very glad to see Israel during an incredibly quiet time.

Walking through the streets of the old city was amazing. We can only imagine what it is typically like, packed with people during hot summer days. It made for easy wandering. Places like Temple Mount where we were told to expect two hour lines to get through security- took us less than a minute. (Another Temple Mount picture below)

As our stay went on, we explored the various parks and neighborhoods around Jerusalem. This in an old monastery on the West side.

We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of green space in Jerusalem. We had deliberately chosen a location were we would have access to good walks, but we did better than we expected. There were many small neighborhood parks that we could chain together to make up longer walks.

All the buildings in Jerusalem are faced with beige limestone, giving a very consistent look to the city. One of our favorite walks was along the Haas Promenade, a large park and lookout on the South side of the city. Jerusalem, like a number of places we’ve visited, has pianos available to play. But in this case, they have built custom cement cases to protect them, so they actually sound pretty good. (Note the wall of the old city above Deb, with the gold dome of the Dome of the Rock mosque)

And further south:

The Haas Promenade has occasional goat and sheep herds going through it to keep the grass trimmed.

Since we tend to follow spring/fall weather around the world, we get to see lots of flowering trees and plants. (The very top picture is us in front of the cherry blossom trees at the botanical garden)

On our way to the old city, we typically went through a park area, which had a small residential community in the middle of it. What a nice place to live in the city. (City wall of Jerusalem in the background)

I think every place we’ve visited has crows, or some bird that seems to fit the same purpose. Below are the hooded crows that are in Jerusalem. Sort of a crow with a more dapper dress!

Of course we took the opportunity to sample a number of the fine restaurants.

And the fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

And a small bakery in the old city where we picked up a few strange (to us!) things to try.

An amazing cable stay bridge that Deb discovered.

Another view of the old city, with Dome of the Rock on the left, and the Jewish cemetery on the far right hill. 

And outside the North-East side of the old city is the entrance to the Muslim cemetery.

West of the old city is the open air market.

But in the old city you will also find many vendors selling food, spices, souvenirs and household items.

As we took our daily walks, we enjoyed seeing the variety of plants that started to come alive in the spring.

West of us was a large park which contained a huge playground for kids of all ages. Would have loved to have had this when we were kids.

Swings, slides ranging from 1.5 meters high to 15 meters high, rope bridges, castles, climbing nets, overhead walkways…

Also in this park were some archeological ruins- here are the remains of a building, and an olive press in the back right.

And, in springtime, the poppies started blooming everywhere.

Of course, we also visited churches, museums and many other attractions.

And back to the old city.

It was so quiet and comfortable walking in Jerusalem- springtime had good weather, and tourists were few and far between. During one of our museum visits a gentleman struck up a conversation with Deb- he was curious to know if we were tourists. He said that we were the first tourists he had seen in almost three years! Although visitors were starting to pick up by the time we left, it was a magical time to visit, something that we will probably never experience again.

Well, this post has gotten long enough. We’re still not done with Israel, though, so more to come later.

Tim & Deb