Today was Friday, and my first day off in Jerusalem. I met up with my colleague, Animesh, from India who is also visiting and working on the same project as me. He came to my hotel and we set off walking towards the city centre.
It was about a half-hour walk through the suburbs with wide roads and trees and parks. We — or I should say I — took a couple of wrong turns, and while I was looking at the map and complaining that there are no signs with road names in Jerusalem, Animesh would enthusiastically accost a passer by and get directions. So it was that, hot and thirsty, we found civilisation in the form of a tiny convenience store on the edge of the town centre and finally got ourselves some water.
A couple of blocks later and we were properly downtown, at the intersection of King George and Ben Yehuda streets. We explored around looking at shops. It’s quite a European looking city apart from the buildings which are all yellow limestone. It was bustling with activity and commerce, but not too crowded. We looked in a few shops, explored some side streets, and discovered a few possibilities for lunch. I spotted a girl in a green uniform stood on a street corner with an M-16 rifle. I had heard that there would be young people around on military service carrying their rifles, but this was the first one I’d seen. I asked her if I could take her photo and she just smiled. I took a picture and explained that we don’t see many girls with rifles back home, and she just smiled some more.
For lunch we found a tiny falafel shop with chairs and tables outside and umbrellas to shelter us from the midday sun. We both had falafels with salad, humous and spicy sauce. A small boy came up offering to sell us pens. When we said no he looked all sad and pointed at our food and at his mouth. He reached for one of my falafels and I shooed him away. He tried the same trick on Animesh who relented and gave him one. Ten minutes later he was back. I glared at him and he just grinned at me, walked up and snatched one of Animesh’s falafels right off his plate and ran away grinning. I suppose that proves you get more of what you reward — in this case small boys trying to take your food.
After a brief detour for a McBathroom break (I had to get my bag searched by a security guard outside), and stopping in a sweet shop to buy exotic treats, we set off down the hill in search of the Old City. This is a walled area, the original site of the original Jerusalem, but mainly rebuilt in the Ottoman days of 15-hundred-and-so. I was a bit nervous about visiting it as it’s the one place that seems to be a bit risky. The foreign office website warns travellers to “maintain a high level of vigilance” there, and one of my Jewish colleagues said that I should “be a bit careful” there. It’s divided into Jewish, Christian, Armenian and Muslim quarters, and it’s easy to imagine there might be trouble there from time to time. So I didn’t quite know what to expect and worried that we might be the only tourists and therefore easy prey for any dodgy elements.
Sure enough, as soon as we walked through Jaffa Gate we were accosted by an Arab guy vhemently recommending that we take him up on his offer of a two and a half hour tour. He said he could tell us all about the history, show us the Muslim area (“You are Christian? You should see other side of things”), and even take us up on the roof of “the hostel I work for, over there”, for a view over the city. And all for a mere 300 Shekels; about £40. We somehow managed to get rid of him and headed for the information office, which was closed. I was wondering whether his offer might have been worth it.
We walked down the main street. The streets were narrower here, the buildings older, there were more Arabs and less Jews, but there were lots of tourists and it didn’t seem that bad after all. The first major building we came to was the Tower of David. We decided to go in. Imagine the Tower of London, but smaller, browner, and with no Beefeaters. There are walls, ramparts and towers to climb over, and inside some rooms are exhibits detailing the history of Jerusalem. The first thing we did was climb to the highest tower — the Phaseal Tower — for a fantastic panoramic view over the city. I was glad we hadn’t taken the expensive tour now, because a good look over the city was what I wanted, and I’d got it for a tenth of the price.
The rest of the museum was well worth it, too. I learnt a lot about the different stages that Jerusalem has been through. That’s how I know that in the 16th century the Ottomans rebuilt the walls that had fallen to ruin. Apart from that the rooms with exhibits were air conditioned, a respite from the heat worth 30 Shekels several times over.
We stayed for a couple of hours, then managed to find a Slush Puppy type drink in the little outdoor cafe there, which we were just in time for as it was closing.
After leaving we walked around some more, and headed down a tiny alley that was bustling with little shops. This was a proper Middle-Eastern shopping experience. I’d been told that the Old City was the only place you have to barter, and now I understood. All the time walking down that alley shopkeepers who stood outside their shops would try to get you to come in and buy things. My strategy was to smile politely and then ignore them. Animesh engaged them a bit more, asking how much things cost. They would then invite him in to look at other wares, and when he walked away they would start lowering their prices. “It’s okay, I was only asking the price.” “No, no! How much can you pay? 30 Shekels? 15 Shekels?!” It was a little alarming at first but we eventually got used to it and took it in our stride. And I don’t want to over-generalise: not all the shopkeepers used these tactics. Some were happy to just let you browse.
The alley seemed to go on forever. Every now and then we would come to a side alley that also stretched on forever and was equally bustling with shops. We resolved to just keep going in a straight line or else we would get hopelessly lost. There were a few T-shirt and carpet shops, but most of the shops sold the same trinkets: ornamental knives, vases, key-rings, various Jewish paraphernalia, thimbles… Thimbles! I have an aunt who collects thimbles with designs and place names on them. I bet she doesn’t have one from Jerusalem. I asked how much. 10 Shekels. Animesh was all, “no, that should be only 2 Shekels.” The shopkeeper wouldn’t budge. We tried the walking away trick and this time, when I actually wanted to buy something, it didn’t work! They must be able to read my mind. I ended buying the exact same thimble from another shop for 10 Shekels. In fact, all the prices seemed pretty uniform. All the T-shirt shops were selling T-shirts for $1 or 5 Shekels. All the shopkeepers seem to know each other anyway, and probably form into little cartels or at least, working in such close proximities, don’t want to antagonise their neighbour competitors. They weren’t poor, though: the guy I bought the thimble from was chatting on his mobile phone.
When we reached the end of the alley, we turned around and went back. Actually, we didn’t ever reach the end of the alley, it just reached a T-junction and went left and right forever, but it was mainly more of the same.
I was pretty exhausted and had seen enough. We probably could have spent several more hours exploring the rest of the Old City, but there comes a point when you just can’t take any more in. We got a taxi, which Animesh tried to barter down the price for but I undermined him by settling for the drivers second offer. We were probably, technically, ripped off because of this, but £5 each for a taxi ride home with a relatively cheerful driver was worth it to me.
I’m now back at my hotel. The Jewish Sabbath — Shabbat — started just before sunset and goes on until just after sunset tomorrow. The shops all closed really early. The hotel lift is in Shabbat mode so that it stops on every floor so that you don’t have to press buttons to operate it. For some reason the doors beep before they close — I speculate that this is a warning that the anti-crush-you-in-the-door sensors are disabled as triggering them would constitute operating an electrical switch — and I can hear this incessant beeping in my room.
I fell asleep in my room and when I went down in search of food everything was either closed or being used for a Bar Mitzvah. I could have paid $40 for a dinner, but it would have been a proper “sumptious” Shabbat dinner (shalosh seudot) and I’d rather just have something light, and I don’t know, I feel kind of out of place with all these Jewish families around having their celebrations. Luckily I have some supplies in my room. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some lunch, although all the Jews will be having another sumptious meal so I don’t quite know what to expect.  I should probably get over it and go and join them!
More Jerusalem Travel:Â previous day; next day; first day.