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OUR
WAKE-UP CALL was at 4 a.m. By 4:45, still pitch dark, we were in a
taxi on our way to the Sheraton Hotel across the Nile, from where our
bus to Israel would depart. Already there were around twenty backpackers
waiting along with an assortment of locals and other Mediterranean
types. We barely had time to get a quick coffee-to-go before a large bus
with an Egyptian courier appeared and soon we were on our way, every
seat filled, through quiet, calm, pre-dawn Cairo.
Apart from the frequent stops in obscure villages so our driver could
have coffee, it was an uneventful trip through barren scenery. Nobody
spoke except when absolutely necessary. We all seemed tired—too tired
to strike up new relationships. The girl sitting across the aisle from
us had just torn herself away from a passionate farewell with her
Egyptian lover and she spent the day staring out of her window in a
melancholy stupor.
The stamp in my passport
Crossing
the border into Israel was—as we expected—a bureaucratic
nightmare. Our bus waited its turn in a long line of other buses, some
loaded with colorfully clad and veiled Arabs. Inside the terminal we
showed our passports over and over to teenagers in uniform, who eyed
them—and us—up and down with suspicion. By the time we reached
“freedom” in Israel we were famished. (We hadn’t brought along any
food and all we’d eaten all day was a bag of biscuits.) Waiting for us
on the other side was a restaurant, aptly named Terminal Café,
where we split a falafel-type dish.
A bus like ours at the border
Riding
through the Israeli desert it began to grow dark, so there was little to
see. At around 8 p.m. we arrived in Jerusalem where the bus dropped us
off at one of the gates to the old city, the Damascus Gate, as no vehicles are permitted
inside the walls. Old Jerusalem is a bit like Disneyland—a small, old
fashioned microcosm of a town surrounded by high stone walls within the
huge, teeming metropolis of modern Jerusalem. It is divided into four
quarters (Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Islam) and has winding, narrow
cobblestone streets normally bustling with tourists, shop owners, local
residents, and religious practitioners. Now, however, they were
practically empty and most of the shops were closed.
Damascus Gate
The hospice that had sounded so perfect in our Lonely Planet book
turned out to
be disappointing—$65 for a claustrophobic, austere room with a small
shower—and we left after a quick glance. With our packs on our backs we trod through the
narrow uneven streets to a café whose owner said he knew of a hotel.
Leaving Joy behind at the falafel
buffet, I followed the owner’s little boy to the place which was only $35 for two but bare and very noisy,
with lots of attractive young
foreigners just beginning their evening revelry. I felt we could do
better. Looking again through our guidebook, we decided to try—at least for
one night—the Austrian Hospice, even though it would cost us
$36 each, breakfast included, since it was getting too late to quibble.
What
a great place we walked into! After entering through a heavy, locked
door built into a stone wall surrounding the building, we found
ourselves in a sanctuary of beauty and peace, of gardens, vast stone
hallways, a chapel, a comfy dining room, and friendly help. Our room was
enormous and well-appointed, with a large balcony with a sweeping view
of the old city. After we settled in I bought a bottle of wine
downstairs in the restaurant and we drank it on the balcony, with the stars above and the
unusual sounds of Jerusalem in the background. We felt very close to
Jesus in this place where he had spent so much time. 
The Dome of the Rock Mosque from roof of
the Austrian Hospice
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CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeus
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairo
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
this
page
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galilee
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorini
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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