(Christian) Quarter to the (West) Bank

After consoling Lisa about not getting her morning latte at the hotel, we then discussed the silliness of not allowing use of the machine, because on Shabbat you can't push a button. We then pressed the elevator button to go back to our room and grab our things before heading out for the morning.

We headed out by ourselves on foot straight for the Christian quarter in the old city of Jerusalem. Perhaps some retail therapy would get Lisa over her earlier disappointment. Along the way, the kids did some geocaching. And in their hunting, they thankfully stopped just short of trampling through an ancient cemetery under repair.  After a few about-faces they finally discovered the treasure hidden within a rock wall.

Onward we went into the the winding streets and ally's of the Christian Quarter. One shop after the next, every shopkeeper was eager to be our best friend. Sophie was happy to find yet another cat in need of some attention and Theo got a kick out of a Pokemon shirt that said 'Pik-a-jew'. 

In our outing, we did wander into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was supposedly buried. It was quite a site to watch a man take things he probably just bought, like a plate or a sculpture right out of the box to rub it on the table Jesus was laid while being prepared for burial. The columns of the entryway were rubbed smooth from all of the hands laid on them to feel closer to God. I guess it's akin to the Western Wall. I didn't get it. And leave it to us Jews to get a quick scolding from the priest for not being modestly dressed enough. We know when we are not welcome, so left to do a little more shopping. 

We did have one religious experience, as a tired and bored Theo and Sophie actually sat down to play a game together as Lisa and I haggled for some souvenirs. We then walked back to the hotel for a buffet lunch with our group.

It seemed like the heatwave was subsiding as the temperature barely broke 90 today, nonetheless, Sophie really wanted to go swimming. So Lisa did some research and off we went again, this time via taxi, to Ein Haniya, part of the Israel Parks system. We were warned ahead of time that there isn't much (any?) good swimming in Jerusalem other than hotel pools, but we were up for an adventure. 

We got worried as our talkative taxi driver pointed out the barricades that we had to drive through on the 20 minute ride. They separated Jerusalem from Zone C of the West Bank. Oh dear, what did we get ourselves into. Thankfully the border was pushed back a few years ago and this was now still Jerusalem. We thanked our driver as we got out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. A short walk took us to...the gift shop and entrance to the park. Continuing on, we arrived at the spring pools. It was quite a stark contrast from the spring pools of the Sachne from last week. If that was the Garden of Eden, this was the cesspool of a Roman bathhouse. There were two 'pools' (one downstream from the other) with 4 feet of green stagnant water. We all ventured into the lower pool which was nice and cool, but disgusting. We all lasted about 5 minutes before deciding to see if the other pool was any more inviting. Sophie and Lisa watched worms swimming around in it and had a 'nope!' moment before we all promptly headed for the exit. We tried.

We grabbed a taxi, and went back to the hotel to rest up until dinner when restaurants open after Shabbat.