Into the West

Another lazy morning before hopping the train to West Jerusalem where my friend's hotel was, and a visit to the Mahane Yehuda market. I really enjoyed the tram, especially since it made getting "home" last night much quicker and almost to the doorstep. The market is neat to walk through, it kinda reminded me of the market in Tel Aviv, but more local and less hip. Don't expect much tourist stuff here, but do try the food if you can.

Nearby I finally picked up a sabich, local food though more Iraqi. It's fried eggplant and boiled eggs in a pita, and really tastier than it sounds. I'd been wanting to try one since Tel Aviv so was glad I finally found it. I had one piece of the friend eggplant hot and it was good. Too bad I wasn't hungry til much later so it was cold by the time I got to it.

In the afternoon, it was a Sandeman tour of the City of David. You could probably do this on your own when you get the City of David, but it was informative to have a guide and a very small group. He gave us a lot of history, along with how archeology and geology evidence say that this is where the city started and not at the tower. Tradition vs evidence, sound familiar? Seems there's two versions of many things here, but I'm not surprised.

There are also 2 tunnels to choose from that you can walk through. The Canaanite tunnel is now dried up but it once carried water from the Siloam Pool to Jerusalem when it was just a town on one hill. The other is a Hezekiah's tunnel with waters up to 70cm high that you can wade through. It's supposed to be refreshing in the summer, but I'm not sure winter is such a good idea. This tunnel comes out at Siphon Spring, the later source for water.

From the City of David, we had a coffee break since it ended about an hour earlier than quoted, a little disappointing, but it did give us time to make it to the Western Wall Tunnel tour which I highly recommend. We went back underneath the city but we didn't go far, just down to see how far down the Western Wall actually goes and the history of the wall, how Jews had to find secret ways in, why it was well preserved underground.

A dinner adventure tonight as we sought out Adom Restaurant at the old railway station. Maps.me took us winding back and worth through parks and quaint neighborhoods but we made it. The restaurant we ended up in was Kitchen Station next door, but still a good choice as we split a cheese and croquette plate along with a pasta.Läs mer