July 16th--Full Day Jerusalem

Wow...goosebumps...somehow driving up the mountain to Jerusalem never gets old and today was no different. We left the house relatively early and headed towards Jerusalem to spend a jam packed day...and we did!As tradition states, on the way into Jerusalem each time we stop at the cemetery to visit Yehuda's Zaidie for whom Zachary was named. The kids picked out rocks to gently place on the grave and Benjamin beautifully stated, "When you put on the rock it shows the love and Joshua picked the biggest rock so he has the most love." Really beautiful...Next we parked by Mamilla and began the very familiar trek dow into the Old City through Jaffa Gate, through the Arab Shuk and into the Jewish quarter where we saw lots of individual families marching and dancing with drums down to the Kotel for their son's bar mitzvahs. Then we ate lunch at Mozarella (delicious baguette pizzas) and tour of the Herodian ruins in the Wohl Archeological Center under Yeshivat Hakotel. The kids love ruins and once again this did not disappoint. The questions they asked were amazing and their interest never waned.Next, in the extreme heat, we went down to the Kotel for an emotional and spiritual visit. The heat and sun on the backs of our heads was brutal but that didn't stop us from heartfelt prayers. From there we went on an amazing tour of the rebuilt Hurva Synagogue. It was so interesting and really spectacular.Next we walked back up out of the Old City and took our first ride on the long awaited "Rakevet Kalah", the Jerusalem light rail train. We only went two stops but did it for the experience or "chavaya" as they say in Israel. There we got off at the famed Ben Yehuda Street where we had frozen yogurt, walked around the shops and then had dinner. The kids begged for Burger's Bar again so....Burger's Bar it was...except for Benjamin who wanted pizza from the store across the way.Then we headed on the long walk down to Ir David where we arranged for a "Jerusalem Under the Stars" tour at 9PM. The kids were amazing troopers. The tour (along with the sound and light show and 3D movie) was incredible. We did a similar tour 2 years ago and they have found so many new things since then. It never ceases to amaze me how the guides use the Tanach as their guides, proving that the history as recorded in the Tanach actually is confirmed by the archeological findings. The most amazing thing was that we saw a completely new dig that wasn't there the last time and we went through new water tunnels that ended at the bottom of the southern-most wall of the Kotel (the opposite side of the tunnel tours). Pretty amazing! Our guide was spectacular.Finally we had to walk back into the Old City through Dung Gate and back up the long trek to the Mamilla parking lot. It was an incredible action-packed day that I don't think any of us will forget for a long time! We arrived home at 1 AM and everyone crashed--without showers might I add...
BTW--Sorry that the pictures are often out of order. The blog often shuffles them...