Looking Out Upon the Old City
The Old City of Jerusalem is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The ancient walls and streets, the incredible panorama, the density of it's maze-like structures, the bright red sunsets - I love it all! I can stare at it for hours and never get bored. To look at a place so old and so alive feels like I'm able to see into the past. One of my professors said it best, "Studying Jerusalem is like an onion - you have to peel of it's many layers to discover its history. All the excavations, structures, and people bring the stories alive. It's amazing to think of all that has happened, is now happening, and is yet to happen in this ancient land.
Panoramic 1 & 2 - From inside the tower of the Church of the Redeemer
Panoramic 3 - From on top of the Citadel
Inside the Old City
Jerusalem is a city that is jam packed with different emotions. It doesn't take lake to notice a feeling of tension around you. This makes sense when you learn of it's past and present situation. The city itself is segregated into quarters - Christian Quarter, Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Armenian Quarter, etc. - and it is very easy to tell which part of the city you are in by the people, the language, the signs, the shops, etc. However, even though this tension exists, one can still feel and see the beauty that resides in it's inhabitants, it's ancient walkways and structures, and it's liveliness. I walked several times throughout the old city and still never saw everything there is to see. It is a maze filled with a different surprise around every corner. Over time I had my favorite spots where I often went while visiting the Old City. My two favorite places to eat where the Armenian Tower and the small falafel restaurant just inside the Damascus Gate where the road splits in two. I couldn't get enough of the grandeur of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - the smell of the incense and oils, the diversity of churches, the endless places to walk within, under, and on top of the church. The Old City to me is a fun, exciting, emotional, spiritual, magical, and breathtaking place with an endless layer upon layer of remnants left by those who once inhabited it during their time of Jerusalem's long existence.