is there some kind of rule book about travel writing? do i just elaborate in its entirety or select a few highlights? screw this. onward, ho!
around 2 pm, i left the hostel to find one of my fellow bezalel students, gianvito. he is staying at the citadel youth hostel, which i found out, wasn't too far from where i'm staying. even though the walk wasn't far (5 mins tops), it took me 30 mins to get there. why? because all the store owners (who are men, by the way) kept calling out to me, engaging in a conversation with me and eventually took me inside to see their wares. the first one complimented my face and smile and said that he had the perfect thing for me, asking me where i was from, etc etc. his name was something i can't remember now. the second guy was a little bit more sketchy. apparently, it is the style of storekeepers to say that anything in their store is of their own design, especially if it's jewelry. whatever. the second guy's name is gizo. he asked me if i had a boyfriend and when i told him i had one back in the states, he asked me if i had one in israel. what the hell?! i said one was enough for me. he kept pushing these opal earrings on me and didn't take no for an answer. the price went from 500 sh to 250 sh to 200 sh to 120 sh and finally 100 sh and i caved. he made me feel bad. 100 sh ~ 30$ he asked me to a drink later. i said okay and just left. i am not returning to that shop ever.
when i finally got to citadel, i met gian. he's italian and is studying industrial design. we took a walk toward the holy sepulchre, the site of anatasis, jesus's burial site. after seeing some members of the church make their way in, we left for via dolorosa. there gian pointed out a marker that denotes the path jesus carried his cross. there are twelve markers* in total and these are places where people sometimes preach or others touch in reverence. toward the muslim quarter, we had lunch. 17 sh for a tiny bowl of blah soup and water... that's expensive! afterwards, we went to the wailing wall (western wall). it was shabbat still so it was very crowded. the western wall is divided into the men and women section. the men's part is huge compared to the women's which was crowded by people holding prayer books and well, praying. i was told repeatedly not to take pictures. especially by this woman who had very red cheeks.
on our way back to citadel youth, gian and i ran into his italian/canadian friends. they were going to go walk the wall and invited us along. alessandro, roberto and alexander led the way through the muslim quarter and i found myself at a school at the top. the kids were drumming in a circle and some were on the field playing football (soccer). the five of us walked the eastern wall to oversee Mount of Olives and the Jewish cemetary. From then on we went along the northern wall and exited through damascus gate. the wall was pretty scary as the it was constructed a long time ago and the steps are irregular. cool nonetheless.
dinner was amazinggg! we went outside damascus gate and found a place that sold a falafel sandwich for 6 shekels! that's like barely 2$! score! then i bought a bag of candy because i was getting jealous of the kiddies with candy.
p.s. my hostel mate likes watching grey's anatomy.
around 2 pm, i left the hostel to find one of my fellow bezalel students, gianvito. he is staying at the citadel youth hostel, which i found out, wasn't too far from where i'm staying. even though the walk wasn't far (5 mins tops), it took me 30 mins to get there. why? because all the store owners (who are men, by the way) kept calling out to me, engaging in a conversation with me and eventually took me inside to see their wares. the first one complimented my face and smile and said that he had the perfect thing for me, asking me where i was from, etc etc. his name was something i can't remember now. the second guy was a little bit more sketchy. apparently, it is the style of storekeepers to say that anything in their store is of their own design, especially if it's jewelry. whatever. the second guy's name is gizo. he asked me if i had a boyfriend and when i told him i had one back in the states, he asked me if i had one in israel. what the hell?! i said one was enough for me. he kept pushing these opal earrings on me and didn't take no for an answer. the price went from 500 sh to 250 sh to 200 sh to 120 sh and finally 100 sh and i caved. he made me feel bad. 100 sh ~ 30$ he asked me to a drink later. i said okay and just left. i am not returning to that shop ever.
when i finally got to citadel, i met gian. he's italian and is studying industrial design. we took a walk toward the holy sepulchre, the site of anatasis, jesus's burial site. after seeing some members of the church make their way in, we left for via dolorosa. there gian pointed out a marker that denotes the path jesus carried his cross. there are twelve markers* in total and these are places where people sometimes preach or others touch in reverence. toward the muslim quarter, we had lunch. 17 sh for a tiny bowl of blah soup and water... that's expensive! afterwards, we went to the wailing wall (western wall). it was shabbat still so it was very crowded. the western wall is divided into the men and women section. the men's part is huge compared to the women's which was crowded by people holding prayer books and well, praying. i was told repeatedly not to take pictures. especially by this woman who had very red cheeks.
on our way back to citadel youth, gian and i ran into his italian/canadian friends. they were going to go walk the wall and invited us along. alessandro, roberto and alexander led the way through the muslim quarter and i found myself at a school at the top. the kids were drumming in a circle and some were on the field playing football (soccer). the five of us walked the eastern wall to oversee Mount of Olives and the Jewish cemetary. From then on we went along the northern wall and exited through damascus gate. the wall was pretty scary as the it was constructed a long time ago and the steps are irregular. cool nonetheless.
dinner was amazinggg! we went outside damascus gate and found a place that sold a falafel sandwich for 6 shekels! that's like barely 2$! score! then i bought a bag of candy because i was getting jealous of the kiddies with candy.
p.s. my hostel mate likes watching grey's anatomy.
*my mistake. there are fourteen in total. nine are outside and five are inside the holy sepulchre! link of via dolorosa
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