Strolling around the Old City

We were up and at ‘em for a stroll around the Old City.  Here I am with the lion in our complex before heading out for the morning.

 

The first stop was the Tower of David Museum.  We needed to pick up tickets for the light show later that night.

Since it was Israeli Independence Day, the museum was open free to the public.

 

Since we were there, we decided to go in and scope out the seating arrangements for the show that night.

Here is the inside of the museum, which is in the old citadel, and in this first picture you can see the Tower of David.

This is the seating area for the show and then a movie type of show is projected on to the old walls of the building.

Here I am with my aunt.

I love looking at the old building and knowing so much went on there in the past.

 

Of course, what museum is complete without a coffee bar.

This cookie was so good, and the latte was excellent.  Actually, the cookies are so good that I bought a package of them from a bakery and will be bringing them home to Ryan (so Ryan if you are reading, you can enjoy these too).

Here you can get an idea of the wall which becomes the screen for the show.  The show goes from Jerusalem at the beginning of time to present day.

 

When we left and headed into the Muslim Quarter and found these enormous falafel balls.

Plus, we found these enormous bagels and then these breads filled with dates.

This bagel was HUGE!

 

LOL, I had to laugh at this shirt.

Again, we strolled the markets on our way to the Wall and the Jewish Quarter.

Here we are at the Wall again.

 

Lots of people out, especially because it was a holiday.

We kept walking through the city to find the Jewish Quarter.

Here are some pictures of the streets lined with eateries.

Someone told my grandpa about this bakery, so we had to check it out.  Look how good everything looks:

Ah ha, we found the Jewish Quarter.  This is the big synagogue there in the main square.

Oh, and this is the main square.

This is the view looking out from the Old City.

Next up was lunch.

We ate at a place called Cafe Cafe.  This was in the mall across the street from where we were staying.

We all ordered shakshuka, which is a a traditional dish based on tomatoes and eggs.  The first is with fish and the second is with eggplant and feta.

Obviously they were served with Israeli salad.

  

After lunch, my aunt and I took a walk in Independence Park.

 

It was Independence Day, so tons of people were BBQing and having a good time.

 

This was the closest we came to seeing a burning bush while in Israel!

Look at all the people celebrating.  It was a great sight to see.

Then we kept walking.

When we reached the Jerusalem Great Synagogue we stopped for some pictures before turning back.

There were so many pizza places.  I loved this name.

 

Then we checked out all the goods at a convenience store.  They even have sushi in Israel.  I picked up some candy bars too.

When we were walking back we passed the park again and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the guy on a hammock.

 

Dinner that night was at Mona.

 

It is a cute little restaurant, and early in the evening was rather quiet.  Not to mention extra quiet because it was a holiday.

 

Here we are…

Dinner started off with some salad and bread.

  

My Aunt had the salmon.

 

I had  barramundi with linguini.  Barramundi is a great fish and I can’t get it at our base, so this was a nice treat.

My grandparents split a seafood pasta.  Obviously this was not a kosher restaurant.

 

How could I resist a cappuccino after the meal, especially when it looked as pretty as this.

After dinner we headed to the Tower of David to watch the light show.  Over by the Jaffa Gate into the Old City there is this beautiful lit up Israeli flag.  This was so neat and I loved that we could see this from the balcony of the condo we rented.  It was so cool to be here for Israeli Independence Day.

Here are some night shots.

 

 

The light show was phenomenal and completely amazing what they can do with the technology.  If you are ever in Jerusalem, you need to check this out.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever tried shakshuka?  Have you ever tried barramundi?  Have you ever been in another country on their Independence Day?