GREETINGS FROM JERUSALEM!!!!
It's about 10 pm here now. The flight was long. None of us slept much, but we began touring Wednesday about 9 AM. Our guide is Beirta, lovely woman originally from Denmark. We first stopped at "Mini-Israel", a several acre recreation of everything in the country. This helped us to get our bearings. We then had lunch in Modeine (that's where the Macabees are from). Checked in to the hotel in Jerusalem. We all crashed then, and slept for couple of hours, used the pool and had dinner.
After dinner we took a fantastic tour of tunnels dug under the Western Wall. This gave a great perspective on the holiest place in the Jewish world. We didn't know that the Western Wall is actually only a very small fraction of the wall surrounding the old temple site. Much of it is now covered by the Moslem quarter.
This morning we first took a drive to Mt. Scopus and then to the Mount of olives. Had some fanatastic views of the old city of Jerusalem. Then took a walk to the tower of David and Bierta gave us a very detailed tour of the museum there that gives a great history of the city. Sam loved it; Benjy was falling asleep, so Sam and Benjy went back to the hotel to rest, and Bierta took me and Mimi on a walking tour of the Jewish section of the old city.
Had dinner at another excellent kosher place nearby. Too many kosher places to choose from.
Tomorrow we're to see more excavations around the Kotel. Saturday we'll go to the nearby Masorati (conservative) synagogue, then a jeep tour of the Judean Hills.
Once I can find some place with a card reader I'll post some photos.
Paul