02.09.00 It was a beautiful Wednesday and the kids didn't have a full day of school. So we decided that they could miss their half day of school and we would take a family trip to Jerusalem. Along the way we had to stop at the airport to pick up a box that had been sent to David. This was a complex negotiation because most of the people didn't speak English and there was a question about whether we would have to pay VAT on the computer that had been sent or whether we could just leave a deposit and get our money back when we left the country. Esti of the IDC had talked to the people there and arranged for Idit to help us. She agreed to let me pick up the machine without having to leave any deposit (don't tell the bureaucracy) since I promised to take the machine out of the country (I will). Here she is IditAtCustoms We proceeded on to Jerusalem after this long interuption and proceeded to get lost in traffic. Eventually we pulled into a parking space to get our bearings. David backed out without looking and hit this car. Fortunately we were going slow enough that there was no damage. These pictures are in case the owner wants to complain. CarWeHit1 CarWeHit2 We proceeded on to the old city and parked our car near the Jaffa Gate. Our first order of business was to find lunch which we did at a cafe SarahAtLunch JaneAtLunch BenAtLunch opposite the Citadel (aka David's Tower) TheCitadel StreetSceneNearJaffaGate Next, we started walking through the Old City starting with the Arab Quarter where we saw the market displaying all sorts of things FamilyinArabQuarter FamilyinArabQuarter2 ArabQuarterStreetScene From here we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure where the crucifixion happened. ChurchofHolySepulchure SSandJ Next we made our way to the Western Wall WesternWall2 Suzanne, Sarah and Jane went to the woman's side SSandJatWesternWall David went to the men's side DavidAtWesternWall DavidAtWesternWall2 DavidAtWesternWall3 And Benjamin preferred to stay on the plaza not at the wall BenatWesternWallPlaza BenAtWesternWallPlaza2 Of course the security was strong, especially so because there was a visiting princess with a camera crew SecurityAtWesternWall WHen we left we could see the whole scene WesternWallFromAbove and the Dome of the Rock which we'll have to visit next time DomeOfTheRock DomeOfTheRock2 On the way out, we paused at the NY Deli in the Jewish Quarter P2090027 And we took a few more pictures before we left town CityView CityView2