After a good night's sleep (not difficult when you had almost no sleep the day before), I woke up early to catch a train to Jerusalem.
JerusalemIL31.773315/35.18679
From there, I took the tram to the old city and entered through one of the gates.
The old city consists of small alleys filled with little shops selling souvenirs, spices, and delicious food.
The main attraction is, of course, the Western Wall.
These are the only remains of the wall surrounding the Temple Mount.
Security is tight, and you’ll have to pass x-ray machines to enter the Western Wall Area.
Just outside are the Western Wall Excavations, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Since these attractions are all in the open, and it’s sunny today, I opted to head back into the old city for some shade.
I wanted to enter the area of the Dome of the Rock, but non-muslims can only enter an hour a day, and it wasn’t that time yet.
So I wandered around some more, and found a place for lunch.
There are ancient remains everywhere, such as this Roman corridor(Cardo)
It was nearing the time where the Dome of the Rock would be open, so I headed back to the entrance, which goes over the Western Wall.
The Dome of the Rock is an important site for both Muslims and Jews. In fact, according to Jewish rules it’s so holy that they shouldn’t enter the site.
The site is open for just one hour, and that includes the queue, so make sure to be at the entrance on time if you want to spend some time inside.
Anyone wearing shorts has to cover their legs with a robe they can borrow.
The structure itself is an octagonal building, capped with a 20 meter diameter dome.
While the old city is beautiful, it does get somewhat repetitive, as the same gift shops seem to be copy/pasted all over. Late in the afternoon I headed for the nearest gate and took a tram to the railway station.
There was a suspicious package at one of the tram stops, so I had to walk the last two stops. It seemed like business as usual, nobody seemed to be bothered by the announcement and the sectioned-off tram stop.
