Thursday, August 15, 2013

Tower of David...

After an exhausting two weeks of exploring Jerusalem, we took the day to get a couple of chores completed and relaxed a bit. Even though, we were out and about much of the day. We were up and down Jaffe Street a couple of times looking for items we thought we'd like to take home as souvenirs. Today we explored the numerous side-streets off the main boulevard. We even found a "flea market" with 40 or 50 vendors selling all sorts of "treasures".

Tower of David.
We found an absolutely delightful shop owner who, for a few "bucks" took care of our laundry. As we walked back to our lodgings, we enjoyed an extended "sit down and relax" at the Jerusalem Coffee Bean. As it turns out, it's the only Coffee Bean in Israel.  It's the one place where we can get the kind of coffee we're used to having. It's interesting that, as we travel around the world, we look for little touches of home.

As mentioned, we'll be going to the Tower of David Museum and Light Show this evening. As luck would have it our lodgings are just across the lane from the Tower of David. It was originally built in the 2nd Century B.C.E. to strengthen a weakness in the Old City defenses. To further bolster the defenses, the fortress even includes a "moat".
Tower of David at night.

The light show is a visual and musical representation of Old City history. The inside of the Tower of David is a large space with the inside of the walls and towers surrounding the interior. The light-show consists of an audio-visual presentation of the history of Jerusalem. It's interesting, and beautiful, how the show uses the interior of the walls as the "screen". The show is made in such a way that some of the actual windows, arches and stair-cases are integrated into the film presentation. It very unique and not something I've seen before. The accompanying music is beautiful.
Image Projections of a "library" on the walls of
The Tower of David Museum, Jerusalem

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Jerusalem. We'll be heading to Tel Aviv on Saturday followed by a stop-over in Haifa and visits to other cities and sites in Northern Israel.