the day

Men's side of the Wailing or Western Wall.
Great shopping area.
Lots of soldiers with AK47s. It was explained they are just there to learn.

Today we went to the Mount of Olives - I think - and spent a long time at the temple. I say I think because everything seems to run together. More archaeological stuff. It was walking, walking, walking, up and down slick steps of large stone mostly, but we also walked through a narrow tunnel under the Muslim part of the wall. And speaking of wall, we got to go to the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. There was a side for men and one for women. We got to put our prayers on a piece of paper and stick them in the crevices between stones. I will try to get a pic of it. A really fun thing was after we got back to the hotel this afternoon, Casey and I took a train (free) to Mamilla, which is a really cute shopping area an then walked over to the Old City markets. Now that was special and defies description in this small blog. When we arrived there I felt a strong vibe of peace. Mostly Moslems (I think that is what they call themselves) were owners of the stalls and I talked to many of them. Everyone was nice. I think my favorite thing here is all the people. The Jewish men look so cool in their various dress.