The tour started with an in-depth history and geology lesson. Then we walked for an hour and a half seeing all kinds of building stones and even walked through an aqueduct. There are two different chapels used by women so they can be at the wall and nearer to the Temple Mount. One cobblestone street we walked on was over 2000 years old and several huge stones that weighed over 480 metric tons equaling 1000 tons each.
When we were leaving the old city I saw some boys watching a bird. It turned to be a Hoopoe (national bird of Israel) with a tuft on his head and a long beak.
Of course we ate and shopped and then got ready for our evening activity. We were visiting a very old friend and his family and they live in a settlement called Benjamin in the West Bank. Meir was a camp counselor in 1981 and stayed in our home. We have kept in touch and I have become friends with his mother. So he sent one of his sons, Itzchak to escort us by train and bus to their home. We had been there in 1988 and only a few families were living in the tiny settlement and in caravans, mobile homes. Today over 15000 people call this home.
We took the train to Ammunition Hill and changed to a bus. Because of heavy rush hour traffic it took almost an hour to get there and we passed through three check points as we left Israel. Finally we arrived and met Meir, his wife Miriam and six of their 11 children. Itzchak and his older brother Ezra have recently finished their army service. Hana works in communications for a TV station. The three youngest girls were 8, 11 and 14. We enjoyed talking and catching up after all these years. Both Miriam and Hana are wonderful artists and showed us some of their paintings. Miriam made sushi for us and then Hana and Ezra took us on a walking tour. Finally we had a light dinner and then had to say goodbye. We got on the bus and retraced our route back to Jerusalem. It was quite an adventure.
Ezra and Hana
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