HERE I AM SAFE AND SOUND

Well, we made it to Israel last night, Wednesday Israeli time after and long, long flight. I know why I hate flying : the lines, the security and the waiting. Actually we made it to New York on time, and then we had a few hours wait until our connection to Israel. Interesting thing, we had to go though security a second time before boarding the plane. They are very careful with flights going to Israel. We also had to remain seated with our seatbelts fastened from the moment we entered Israeli airspace.
From the plane we made our way to the bus which took us to Jerusalem through the Judean Hills. We made a short stop at the Haas Promenade (as in Levis) where we said the tradition "shehechiyanu" blessing, recited upon entering Jerusalem. We could see many of the sights of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount from this overlook.
Israel is an area of contradictions: old versus new, ancient versus modern. Along the highway to Jerusalem you see on one side of the road old, rusted, bombed out vehicles from the war for independence in 1948, and on the other side of the road, the golden arches of McDonalds!
We had dinner at the hotel and most of us went to bed early because we were starting our sightseeing on Thursday very early.
I discovered most of us had a hard time sleeping last night, but we all made it to breakfast by 7:00. They have a lavish buffet breakfast every morning here with everything from fruit, vegetables, hot dishes, breads and juices.
Our main theme for today was the 5000 years of archaeological history starting at the Westerm Wall. We took a tour throught the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount. It is amazing that these sites have been here for thousands of years. Much of it was covered over and built upon by generation upon generation. and until only recently, in the last 30 or so years, have areas been excavated. We were able to stand at the Kotel (the Western Wall) alongside Jews from everywhere in the world. Of course, the women were on one side and the men on the other. We stood on chairs to look over the fence and watch several young men celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs on the men's side. It's just an amazing place where children run around, women look over at the men. A very noisy place, but one where decorum and modesty is expected. A woman reached over and pulled my shirt down when she saw a small bit of my belly exposed!
We saw a couple of different presentations of how the TEMPLE was built, destroyed and then rebuilt, leaving the huge area of the layers of Jerusalem exposed.
After lunch we were able to do some shopping and then more sightseeing. We saw 2000 year old Herodian Mansions of the Jewish Quarter, some just recently discovered.
We took a tour through the city of David's new excavations and ended they tour going though an old cistern where water flowed thousands of years ago. Part of the tunnel we went through was only wide enough for one person to barely squeeze through.
This was a long, long day, mostly spent walking the streets where our ancestors walked, some as long as 3000 years ago. It is a peaceful area, but the hustle and bustle of street vendors selling food, trinkets, and religious goods. I am having an amazing trip and expect the rest of it will be just as interesting.
Tomorrow we study more about our history, visiting Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial to the Holocaust.
Until later. . .