Sunday, June 1, 2014

Israel - Jerusalem (Part 5) - Independence Day

“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

Some final pictures taken in Jerusalem. 

Our last day was Israel's Independence Day (sundown May 5th - Sundown May 6th).  As a result, almost everything was closed.  Which made it the perfect day to just walk around and take in the sights...


In one of the new sections of Jerusalem, we discovered an old railway line that was converted to a biking/walking path.



Independence Day barbeques!  I guess that's a tradition everywhere.  The parks were packed with families.  It smelled (wonderfully) like roasting meat. 


This particular park is Bloomfield Gardens, which has a view of the old city in the distance



In one of these parks, we discovered this tomb.  Discovered in 1892, they say it is 1st Century BC (!!!) and it's believed to be the tomb for King Herod's family.  Wow!


I like that everything was closed.  It's so nice to see people enjoying a day off together with family & friends.  Instead of going to Macy's or Walmart for the "BIG" one-day sale. 



 
Sad because no one offered him some shashlik (meat kabob).




Sir Moses Montefiore was a rich British gentleman who decided to build some homes outside of the Old City for the Jewish people, after seeing the deplorable conditions they were living in.  Called Mishkenot Shaananin ("Dwellings of Tranquility"), they were built in 1860.  A small community called Yemin Moshe eventually was established & still exists today

Montefiore's Windmill.  Montefiore's original plan was for Mishkenot Shaananim to be self-sufficient.  But apparently there wasn't enough wind to regularly operate this windmill



A Muslim cemetery near Damascus Gate



A quiet spot in the Armenian Quarter


Happy 66th Independence Day!


A final cocktail in the King David Hotel bar, and now we're off to the coast!

2 comments:

  1. Your picture of the man with his horse in front of the beautiful tree with the city in the background is just perfect ! Like the kitties and the pooch too.

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