athens to jerusalem

time for some catching up:
k: we liked athens enough that we stayed for a second week. I took that opportunity to get a shoe shine on the street.

k: As most of you know, I believe in proper shoe maintenance - even when on vacation/extended travel. I have now backpacked europe twice - with shoe trees in tow. I love transitory space-placed shoe shine stands (airports, train stations, subway stations, etc.) and this guy's was just outside a main subway stop, his little box-and-chair setup plopped in the busy pedestrian periphery of Omonia Square.





k: there's the final product. I actually was starting to like how they looked before the shine - all weathered and beaten to a nice patina, but their shabbiness wasn't doing me any favors with strangers renting us apartments and stuff. ok - enough about my shoes.


k: we went to a big department store in Athens. it was like nearly all department stores in europe - very weird. they feel oddly russian or something. the organization by floor is similar to US stores - the men's floor, women's floor, etc. but on each floor, everything is organized by brand name/designer label. each has their own little booth where only their products are sold. you find this in nicer department stores at home, but the divisions are not so severe that each label's space feels like a separate mini-store.

on the top floor there is a cafe. we got some beverages and looked out the windows.


ann had the parthenon on her mind.

(zing.)


k: sorry this picture is so blurry, but the story behind it is hilarious. we needed an internet cafe with a printer so that we could finalize some things for israel and egypt - we found this weird place on the second floor of an office building near a busy tourist area. as soon as we walked in, we saw this balloon animal-making street clown using one of the computers. the only open machine was one seat down down from him, so that's where we sat. at the same time, the clown (remember, this is *literally* a clown - big red shoes, face paint, balloon-adorned silly hat) placed a cell phone call to his long-distance girlfriend. it seems they were trying to have a video chat, and he couldn't get the internet cafe computer to connect to his girlfriend's machine. she, apparently, then logged on to his account to play with the settings - this made the clown extremely angry. he began yelling at her as much grumbling ensued among the cafe patrons. minutes later, the deadlocked australian hippie backpacker girl seated at the computer between the clown and us tried to - in her best "let's all get along, man" hippie way politely ask the clown to keep it down. the clown argued back that he was just trying to video chat with his girlfriend, which sort of set off the hippie and she went from nice-hippie to angry-hippie - a very dangerous situation, as she proceeded to angrily ... do nothing further. oh, hippies.

minutes went by, the clown kept yelling into his phone, the hippie kept quietly, righteously fuming over her "inability to concentrate" ... on checking her facebook messages, and we kept on booking our jerusalem hotel. then, a breakthrough - the empty-nester british couple on the athens stop of the-trip-of-their-lives who were seated at the computers on the other side of the clown and were tired of having the soundtrack to reading emails from their grandchildren be the sweet tones of a street clown verbally abusing his lover via telephone, yelled at him to stop.

I couldn't help laughing. Here was some 65-year-old ex-whatever (civil servant? accountant? mid-level advertising executive) who had worked his whole life to take this grand trip around the world - reduced to screaming at a noisy clown in a shady athens internet cafe.

the clown, now angry with technology, his girlfriend, and most of the patrons at the internet cafe, loudly ended his phone call, saying, "I have to get off the phone, people are complaining! They're making me get off!" You'd have thought he was being dragged out by riot cops.

But no, he just put his phone back in the pocket of his comically oversized trousers, logged off from his computer, picked up his balloon animals and balloon animal making supplies, and headed back outside to entertain the children.


k: after the clown incident, we got an athens specialty - the frappe. they're not like the garbage of the same name at home - they're actually (and this is coming from someone who 1) doesn't really like coffee, 2) doesn't like iced coffee drinks at all, and 3) doesn't like any sort of sweetened coffee/tea beverage) delicious. the head is so frothy and the sugar so subtle but integral that I could not help but like it.





k: our second athens apartment was super nice. brand new - with a fireplace! it was, ironically, in the anarchist part of town. we somehow always seem to end up there ...


k: our typical breakfast spreads. they're cheap and fun to eat. I've realized that multiple beverage choices at breakfast trick me into thinking it's "fancy." as in, "oooh, I'm going to have coffee, water, *and* orange juice! this is so fancy!" as I eat bread and cheese in my haven't-been-washed-in-a-month pajama pants.


k: another thing we seem to run into a lot - strike protests. this one came on our last day in athens, when we needed to mail a package home - and the shipping place was on the far side of this massive demonstration. ann almost got knocked over by riot cops. oh, memories ...(a: this is the day that I learned the lesson every man for himself!)


k: this bread was awesome. it's apparently a greek thing where they mix whole wheat flour with white flour - it creates the perfect white bread loaf. and this was $1 grocery store brand stuff!


a: just in case we need to know the ingredients...oh, wait greek is like chinese. which brings me to another funny saying "it's all greek to me" - well the greeks seriously say "it's all chinese to me!" really!


k: a surprisingly good cake that magically appeared before me in the middle of the night on our flight to israel.


headed to the holy land.


k: we arrived in tel aviv at 4 in the morning. we headed for jerusalem via shared taxi, checked into our hotel and took a nap of sorts. when we awoke, we walked around. turns out, jerusalem looks a lot like ... miami mixed with arizona.


k: we struck out for the Old City - the famous walled-in square mile home to some of the most contested - and most violently contested - land on earth.


these are the walls around it.


k: here's ann reluctantly walking them.
a: why is it that everything that is supposed to be "an amazing way to introduce yourself to the city" always involves very high places with scary stairs!


k: the view toward the outside, overlooking "modern" jerusalem.





k: and here's what part of it looks like inside. this picture shows some of the most famous/religious sites in the world: the jewish-sacred wailing wall (center) and the muslim-sacred dome of the rock (left) and al-aqsa mosque (right); the (now demolished) temple that stood here is known to christians as the place where jesus confronted the money changers; he also prayed there according to the bible.

having been raised reading the bible and hearing adults tell me about jesus the way kids talk about superheroes, this was all a little surreal. I read the bible as a child and I read it again for a class in college, but at both points in my life, it seemed like "long ago and far, far away" mythology - you sort of think, "nice story, but none of these things happened, did they? or if they did, they happened in such a different and distant time and place that I have no way of making them truly real to me." It's difficult to relate on any deep level.

but it has always been a familiar mythology - I've known about these people and places since birth. Jesus and the moneychangers at the Temple story is just as much a part of my upbringing and personal memory as the plot to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - I've always known it; for me, there is no conscious period in my life before I knew it. I'm sure this is true of almost all American children. This creates a weird circumstance: we can't remember learning about Jesus or Rudolph or the music our parents' listened to (for me, The Beatles), so it's like we were *born* with knowledge of it. At least, I think, that's sort of how our brains process it eventually - "perma-knowledge." I don't recall learning the lyrics to "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" or the story of Adam and Eve - and I've known them for so long that I start to subconsciously think they are somehow a part of me: like if my brain were a body, it was born with a Beatles finger and a Bible liver - just integral, innate familiarity - but still almost entirely abstract. I mean, how do you relate to your (forgotten, neglected) spleen?

Anyway, being in the place where stories in the bible occur is weird. even for a kid who hasn't been to church since he was 15. it was like visiting the north pole or the bat cave.


k: the wailing wall is the holiest site in the world for jews. you're allowed to walk right up to it and stand amongst their holiest leaders praying there. it feels a little wrong. a little too permissive.


k: we were there on a thursday - which is bar mitzvah day at the Wall. thing is, it's an orthodox place, so men and women have separate, divided parts of the Wall at which to pray - this creates a bit of a hurdle for female relatives of the young man on his big day - but they stand on chairs, lean over the dividing wall and participate anyway.


k: going over to the Palestinian-controlled, Muslim side of things was a bit tense. the entry and exits are controlled by jewish, israeli military guards, but the actual areas containing the muslim holy sites are like their own little world.


k: and unlike the jews, who practically invited you into their holiest spot on earth, the muslims weren't having it. the dome of the rock is something like the 5th or 7th holiest site in Islam, but - likely due to the prior day's fighting in Gaza - non-muslims were barred from entering the dome and the al-aqsa mosque.








k: this is the market in the Palestinian quarter of the Old City. The most popular children's toys on sale there? Fake plastic toy machine guns. It was depressing and disturbing.


k: an old Palestinian dude with a lunch cart was grilling up fresh falafel balls. some of the best I've ever tasted.


Old City streets


k: Santa made multiple appearances in the Christian Quarter.





k: The Chuch of the Holy Sepulchre was bizarre. It's supposedly on the spot where Jesus was crucified and "buried."







k: people were way into sticking their hand in this hole so they could touch something associated with the Crucifixion. the catholic/orthodox ritual/relic stuff was severely downplayed in my childhood's version of Christianity, thus I'm not so up on the specifics of all that.





k: It was odd to see computer and technology stores set in cave-like spaces in the Old City.





downtown modern jerusalem


k: our hotel room had a balcony - perfect for drying sink-washed socks and underwear.


k: great bagels at Holy Bagel. apparently bagels in Jerusalem used to be hard and bad, but they learned from NY and upped their bagel game.


k: morning TV in jerusalem. this guy was either a wizard or orthodox-something. I'm not sure.


k: falafel sandwich with french fries. yum.


the main food market in west jerusalem.


k: the odd thing about "modern" jerusalem was that, despite being the biggest city in the country, it still felt like a relatively small city in a "developing" (i.e better-off Third World) country. this picture was taken on the main street next to the main square.


k: the market provided a sweet spread of side dishes and dips with which we made a number of lunches.


k: I've been trying the local colas everywhere we go. this ... hawk? ... cola tasted like barn. not so delicious.


k: we stumbled upon an israeli hippie/punk/emo/gutter punk mixed bill show in a cool record store/bar downtown.


a: on saturday, we took a day trip to masada and the dead sea.


a: this was our first and maybe last big "arranged" tour. we waited by the King David Hotel in the morning and a giant tour bus picked us up. this was our potty/drink stop on the way at a gas station in the middle of the desert- that also had israeli flags flying all over the convenience store. oh, yeah and a camel to ride and pose with for the tourists.
k: gas stations in america don't have live camels tied to trees outside? where are you getting your gas, ann?


a: again, why must everything "historic" be so high? thank goodness the lifts up to masada were enclosed! this was the view looking down on the massive desert.
k: that's the dead sea in the distance. the hills of Jordan are beyond.

a: it was probably about 75 degrees but felt like 95 because it was so dry and high. masada is a very historic site. the plateau stands as the site of king herod's palace which became a fortress where the jews fought off the roman conquerers - which led to a mass suicide of everyone on the cliff top. the people believed that it was better to "free" themselves (and dead) than be slaves of the romans.


a: the pile of what appears to just be normal rocks are a placed collection of ancient round cannon stones and walls.
k: a star wars set?


a: then it was off to the dead sea. not only did our tour include a float in the dead sea but it took us to a fancy, tourist spa that included mud baths and different pools and a sulfur bath. we both took advantage to clear up some pores and smeared ourselves with the smelly mud. keith became mud-man!
k: wow, I am ugly!


a: it was recommended that you bring water shoes but we didn't have time to look for any before we left. the shore was a giant hard crystal of salt! I wore my socks in the water but keith was much tougher! or at least it balanced his "european"-style swimsuit..heeheehee...
k: notice - please do not enlarge this photo.


a: here's keith floating! the stomach position was not allowed but we both broke the rules.
k: jazz hands!


a: look at that yummy salt!


k: this hurt. a lot.


a: I think I found my next boyfriend on the beach too!


k: this is the gift shop they made us stop at on the way home. the caves above it are where the dead sea scrolls were found.


a: keith and I are addicted to carbonated water and judge each new city's bubbly water. we found schweppes to be most impressive in jerusalem...it was the kind that explodes in your face when you drink it, and the bottle even had a warning not to open the top in the direction of your face! hahaha!


a: also, in every new city we research the best place to eat. it just so happened that this restaurant was just a few doors down from our hotel. it was recommended on chowhound and also a slow food site, both good eating sites. Eucalyptus specialized in "native Israeli food with an emphasis on local herbs, produce, and historical recipes." the chef, from iraq...probably in his 30's, was amazing and very nice. After our meal, which also included a dessert on the house from the 20-something waitress we started a lengthy conversation with, the chef came out and showed us all the herbs involved in the dishes and even his journal book of dried herbs. it was an incredible experience...I just wish I could remember all the names of the herbs!


a: keith ordered the lentil soup...a favorite of his that he tries everywhere we go.
k: my favorite restaurant in michigan is Jerusalem Garden in ann arbor. my favorite dish there is the lentil soup. now that I was actually *in* jerusalem, I had to try some lentil soup. turns out it's not super popular in that town anymore! ha! but Eucalyptus specialized in traditional recipes, so they had me covered. it was a complex soup - considerably different than most lentil-mush soups at home, and much more interesting that the broth-y vegetable soup-style lentil soups you sometimes get. this one had levels of flavor and texture, and stood out from the field of my experience. very good.


a: I had the artichoke soup...oh, my goodness so wonderful...buttery, savory, creamy.


a: we split the specialty, figs. I had never had figs before but this is the fruit of israel. it was very sweet but it was stuffed with a chicken puree. very different in taste but I would die for another bite right now!


a: this was our main dish, of chicken spices rice and vegtables, which they made a larger portion for us :) very, very comforting - simple but flavorful. the dish had a moroccan feel.


a: and we ate every bite!




a: keith was very satisfied!


a: this was our dessert. sooooo good and soooo simple. just tahina (this isn't the american tehini that is thick like peanut butter but thinner and softer in palate) and date honey. the waitress advised us to eat with our fingers.
k: amazing.





a: keith, or should I say cookie monster, tries the local cookies everywhere we go.
k: I'd rank these third in the world so far.


a: keith counting the last of our shekels


a: yes, don't scoff at us....we never intended to eat mcdonald's but we were at the airport waiting and thought it was the best time to try a kosher hamburger! it actually did taste different than the mcdonald's burgers at home...more grilled flavor and a little drier. keith was excited about the happy meal because of the "squirt-style" applesauce :)
k: I felt like a child, but the applesauce squirt pack was surprisingly refreshing!


a: ......and we arrived in cairo, egypt!