Pauline
Forums Admin
Sunday March 24
We are in for two days of cooler temps (low 50sF) and rain. But Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are looking good, so we will probably take the car out and do some hiking in the Judean Hills on those days.
Today it was cooler and overcast, with some rain in the morning, but a light rain. We headed out on foot and walked to the Haas Promenade on the edge of North Talpiot. North Talpiot has rows of modern high rises but has an historic part in the center I think. We will go there another day. The American Embassy which was recently moved to Jerusalem is in this area. On the northern edge there is a park and two long promenades that go along the top of the valley. We started at the Haas Promenade which looks out over the Arab neighbourhood Abu Tor in the Kidron Valley, the Old City (a good view of the gold dome on Temple Mount) and Mount of Olives (the thousands of graves that line the hillside across from the Old City). It was not clear but we still had a good view.
We walked east on the Promenade to the next one, Golman Promenade. By this point the hilltop makes a turn and we were looking east to another part of Abu Tor. We could clearly see the separation wall and Abu Dis in the Palestinian Territories beyond. We kept walking thinking we could then turn into Talpiot, but we had left that area behind and were heading down into Abu Tor, so we turned around and walked back.
From the Haas Promenade we walked north, still along the top of the valley, into Trotner Park and the Peace Forest (planted after the war in 1967 when Israel regained control of this part of east Jerusalem). The park is lovely with fields of olive trees and there were even sheep grazing – right in the city! There are many green areas in Jerusalem making it feel less like a big city. It is the largest city in Israel with a population of 800,000. Israel has a population of 8 million. We walked through the park and came out eventually on the Hebron Road which is the edge of our neighbourhood – German Colony/Baka’a.
We made our way back to Emek Refaim, our main street, and had lunch at the new falafel restaurant. The falafel was great! Green inside, freshly cooked, good pita. I am starting to really like falafel. Steve too.
It rained a bit on our walk. We rarely lose things on our trips, but on this trip we have lost two things. One of our umbrellas (either left in the Haifa apartment, or in a café we went to on a wet day) and one of my two plastic containers that I use for lunch sandwiches. I had it full of carrot sticks and left it in the Kfar Blum hotel, in the fridge. I opened our one remaining umbrella a couple of times, but the rain was light.
Later in the afternoon we walked out again, up into Katamon, to a bakery that we like (Tomer’s). We ended up walking about 6 miles.
We are in for two days of cooler temps (low 50sF) and rain. But Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are looking good, so we will probably take the car out and do some hiking in the Judean Hills on those days.
Today it was cooler and overcast, with some rain in the morning, but a light rain. We headed out on foot and walked to the Haas Promenade on the edge of North Talpiot. North Talpiot has rows of modern high rises but has an historic part in the center I think. We will go there another day. The American Embassy which was recently moved to Jerusalem is in this area. On the northern edge there is a park and two long promenades that go along the top of the valley. We started at the Haas Promenade which looks out over the Arab neighbourhood Abu Tor in the Kidron Valley, the Old City (a good view of the gold dome on Temple Mount) and Mount of Olives (the thousands of graves that line the hillside across from the Old City). It was not clear but we still had a good view.
We walked east on the Promenade to the next one, Golman Promenade. By this point the hilltop makes a turn and we were looking east to another part of Abu Tor. We could clearly see the separation wall and Abu Dis in the Palestinian Territories beyond. We kept walking thinking we could then turn into Talpiot, but we had left that area behind and were heading down into Abu Tor, so we turned around and walked back.
From the Haas Promenade we walked north, still along the top of the valley, into Trotner Park and the Peace Forest (planted after the war in 1967 when Israel regained control of this part of east Jerusalem). The park is lovely with fields of olive trees and there were even sheep grazing – right in the city! There are many green areas in Jerusalem making it feel less like a big city. It is the largest city in Israel with a population of 800,000. Israel has a population of 8 million. We walked through the park and came out eventually on the Hebron Road which is the edge of our neighbourhood – German Colony/Baka’a.
We made our way back to Emek Refaim, our main street, and had lunch at the new falafel restaurant. The falafel was great! Green inside, freshly cooked, good pita. I am starting to really like falafel. Steve too.
It rained a bit on our walk. We rarely lose things on our trips, but on this trip we have lost two things. One of our umbrellas (either left in the Haifa apartment, or in a café we went to on a wet day) and one of my two plastic containers that I use for lunch sandwiches. I had it full of carrot sticks and left it in the Kfar Blum hotel, in the fridge. I opened our one remaining umbrella a couple of times, but the rain was light.
Later in the afternoon we walked out again, up into Katamon, to a bakery that we like (Tomer’s). We ended up walking about 6 miles.
