Day Two: The Layers of Jerusalem

We began our day with an incredible breakfast in the hotel's dining room--the fruits and vegetables in Israel are fresh and vibrant.

Some of the breakfast bounty at the Dan Panorama

 We began our tour by walking through the Mamilla mall--a beautiful open air pedestrian mall housing fancy boutiques and restaurants which was once nothing more than a dirt road leading up to Jaffa gate. Towards the end of the mall we met three chayalot (female soldiers)--each from a family that hailed from a different country just one generation prior.

Elaine making some new friends

 We stopped outside Jaffa gate for an explanation of some of the surrounding environs as well as some of the sites just within the walls of the Old City. It was nice to enjoy the view, as well...

Enjoying and learning about the view--right outside Jaffa Gate

 Walking through the Arab shuk (marketplace), our tour guide brought us into a stall belonging to a family he knows well. They are ninth generation jewelry makers and live in the apartment above their stall in the shuk. They specialize in Roman glass, but also carry an enormous line of fabrics and other antique items. Headgear is a particular specialty of theirs--both men's and women's (see below).

 We continued through the Old City, walking through the Cardo--a Roman marketplace that has since been converted into a beautiful Judaica market. We stopped for lunch, enjoying schwarma and falafel and picking up some delicious pastries at a bakery for dessert. We then headed to an excavation of what was once the home of a very wealthy Kohen during the Herodian period. Iddo pointed out how much of the dig pointed to specific halachik practices kept by the family who lived there. We proceeded to the Kotel for some heartfelt prayers and finished the day at the City of David excavations--the city that once held King David's palace, just beyond the Temple Mount.

The day was titled "The Layers of Jerusalem"--having seen excavations from so many different periods, all with a bustling, modern city built above it--we certainly appreciated that description!

At day's end--group pic outside the Old City walls