Our plane didn't leave until evening so we had the whole day to explore. My dad and brother wanted to see David's Citadel and we girls decided to tag along.
The long opening in the wall is to shoot arrows out at enemies. Windows could be breached by the enemy...these openings did not allow a man to fit through.
View from the top of David's Citadel. Beyond the Dome is the Mt. of Olives and Gethsemane.
Flags fly at the top of the Citadel.
The inside of the fortress
The openings for the arrows from the inside the tower
After touring the Citadel, we split up because the girls had some shopping to finish and the men wanted no part of that.
The rows of shops are so colorful and interesting.
Mom haggles with a shop owner for a good deal. Looks like she's saying,
"Oh come on! You can give me a better price than that!"
"Oh come on! You can give me a better price than that!"
My sister models some of the baubles.
Beautiful fruit displays. Those are carrots in the front! HUGE!
Would have loved to bring one of these guitars home for the kids!
There were many beautiful quilts, rugs, and tapestries. We didn't buy any but we admired them.
These carts are frequently used to carry merchandise, food, soft drinks, etc. to the shops.
This little boy was so cute--and his mama didn't mind me taking his photo.
Some of the wares to sample...
Amusing sign of the day...
While on our little shopping excursion, I wanted to buy a t-shirt for Jeff. I spotted a little old Arab shop owner. He only had one arm and looked like he could use some business. So I haggled with him a bit and he gave me the big drama about how he was helping me by going so low in price. ha. But then...he handed me the shirt and patted my shoulder. And then my back. And then he continued to go lower until he patted something he had no right to touch. Grrrrr.... I was so shocked. I quickly moved away and left but ewwww....
It's not every day you see soldiers with machine guns in the women's public bathroom.
View of the Wailing Wall with the gathering area in the middle. The prayer sections are fenced off and the large area in the foreground of the photo is kind of like a town square.
The covered ramp in the upper right corner leads into the mosque grounds.
We noticed that there were lots of soldiers around. I stopped to ask what the event was and was told that there was going to be a large swearing-in ceremony that day! Cool! It was a public event, so we attended.
{Incidentally, in Israel everyone is required to spend one year in the army.}
This guy was giving orders.
Family members watching and taking pictures.
Interesting juxtaposition of two kinds of men.
Lining up for the ceremony
Taking the oath
Guns and books that looked like a Bible or a Torah
Filing past us after the oath had been taken
The dad of this little boy made him pose for me after he saw me point the camera in his direction. Isn't he cute? Afterwards I wondered if maybe King David looked like this when he was a boy.
Yep...they still have money changers.
Jewish school boys
Time to go home...what an amazing trip!
We had a trying time getting through all the security at the airport. A few of us got pulled out of line for extra searching and we really cut it close making our plane. Ugh. So do not love running through the airport to catch a plane! The rest of the trip was uneventful, thankfully.
