I made it down to the Y to sign Lee and I up for a membership....only, it's $400 for three months- each. Not sure I'm all that inclined to pay that much money for the benefits of a pool and yoga classes in Hebrew. We're both still debating it, and I think today we're going on a run for the first time since we've arrived to see if that's an activity we can frequently do for free outside.
On Tuesday, I discovered when washing a load of clothes (5 kilos!), that there was...something...in the washing machine. When the cycle was done, the clothes (and the entire inner workings of the machine) were covered in what looked like gravel or sand. I tried running the machine on its own, but the grit wouldn't wash away. I cornered Micha on Wednesday morning (when headed to the Y and to ride the 99 bus...which still hasn't happened, btw), and he seemed confused;
Micha: "You mean dust, yes?"
Me: "No, it's like gravel or rocks."
Micha (noting that I'm in outdoor armor and leaving): "Ahhhh, ok. When are you back?"
Me (really wishing I'd seen him when I got back from my planned day): "Maybe 3 hours?"
Micha: "Ok, will come at three o'clock."
Right, so. I skip the bus trip (sadly), hit the Y (to find out that it's super spendy) and get back to the apartment to wait for Repairman Micha to arrive to fix the washer. He finally shows up around 4, with a teenage apprentice Repairman Micha in tow. I show him the problem and he says something like "yes, yes, I see." and goes to work. I peek in about an hour later to check on how it's going - and they're just filtering water through the machine to clean it out.
Me: "how's it going?"
Micha: "come look, it's rocks." (he proceeds to run water through the machine and into the bath, and it's full of grey rocks/grit/sand/ick) "this machine has been in the desert, the water there is very hard"
Me: "oh, so it's calcified?"
Micha: "no, it's rocks."
.......
Thursday was Boring. Yeah, capital B. I am expecting my mobile phone to arrive in the mail, and I had thought it would come on Thursday. As not-freaked-out as I feel walking around by myself, I'd like to go on some long tours, as well as get out for frequent runs, both of which activities I'd like to have some means of communication with me just in case I need it. So I waited ALL day, and no phone. Since I could do laundry, I did, and I also tried my hand at making chicken and mushroom pie from scratch (the home made pastry crust was totally awesome, if I do say so myself). Lee's company does a 'beer Thursday' night every Thursday, so he came home after tipping back a couple pints, and we kicked off his weekend by falling asleep at 9pm. Yeah, we're real party animals, us.
(In Israel, the weekend is Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday - Shabbat is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday)
On to Friday! After sleeping in to some absurd post-noon hour, we had to rush to get to the market for groceries before 2pm - Friday is the start of Shabbat, and apparently EVERYTHING closes at 2pm (markets, cafes, bars, shops etc). We got our marketing done just in time (the man with the floor polishing machine followed us mercilessly around the market....no joke), and headed off to the old city to via Dolorosa (the Walk of Sorrows), which (according to the tour book and all the locals) is the generally accepted most accurate record of Christ's last footsteps, with his cross, to be crucified.
You totally read that right. It is the walk Christ did, carrying the cross, to his crucifixion site.
We get to Jaffa gate around 3:30, and the hustle-bustle shops and streets are shutting down for Shabbat, so the streets are quieter than they were the previous time we'd been there- which allowed us both to take more photos.
(Imagine this alley with wall to wall people; Lee gets to use his fancy camera at last!)
We walked the via Dolorosa backwards to get to the start, as it was almost at the opposite end of the Old City from where we entered. The 'stations' aren't always well marked, and as tourist time was winding down, we were the only people doing the first part of the walk. The whole thing goes from via Dolorosa (an actual street) to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Station One and Two are inside a working college (Al-Omariyeh College), which is an inconspicuous building near the walls of the Old City. Lee and I walked up looking completely like tourists (he with his massive camera out ready to snap shots, and me with the Lonely Planet book open, mumbling to myself "it's got to be just right around here...hmm, right about this spot I think..we crossed that one path a little ways back, it's GOT to be here..."), and a nicely dressed older gentleman said "You are here, in the right place, the chapel of flagellation, is in here. It is free, welcome." (later, after we tried to leave the First Station, this gentleman escorted us back in to make sure we saw the second, showed us a Roman game etched onto the floor, gave us a little personal tour and then asked not-so-subtly for donations) We were the only people there. It was quiet, and we were stunned into silence ourselves. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for the next several stations.
One:
(Chapel courtyard; Chapel inside; via Dolorosa map)
Two:
(Chapel of Flagellation; Inside the condemnation hall; More information; the little etched Roman game on the floor of the second Station)
Three: (looks like I neglected to get a photo of this Station, where Jesus stumbled and fell for the first time- it was on a corner of the via Dolorosa and an Armenian church)
Four:
(Fourth Station, where Jesus faced his mother in the crowd)
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