September 22, 2005
Ramparts Walk and Tower of David Museum
After a restful night in the Notre Dame Guest House (Did we mention that we had a suite and so Brooke and Tyler had their own bedroom?), we had a wonderful breakfast. It was different from our normal Israeli hotel breakfasts because this one was not kosher.
After breakfast we walked to Jaffa gate and climbed up onto Jerusalem's walls. The route is called the ramparts walk. Here is a view from the top of the wall looking towards modern Jerusalem.
Modern JerusalemThe ramparts walk was really neat. We didn't run into anyone else on the walk and we got to see Jerusalem from a whole other perspective.
Ramparts walkThe ramparts walk ended at the Dung gate which is near the Western Wall. We were tired from the walk and wanted to get back to Jaffa gate (an uphill walk) so we decided to take a taxi. It only cost us 25 shekels (about $5.50) and it was worth every penny. We got to Jaffa gate in 5 minutes instead of a 30 minute walk. Of course Tyler was thrilled to ride in a taxi. We did have to convince the taxi driver that we only wanted to go to the Jaffa gate and that we did not want a tour of Bethlehem.
The highlight of our trip for Tyler was the Tower of David museum. They had a special exhibit called "Train tracks to Jerusalem." The open air courtyard had LGB sized trains running everywhere. Tiffany was thrilled to see some Chihuly glass that remained from an exhibit in 2000.
Train amid Chihuly grassTyler could have stayed at the museum all day. In fact, we spent the rest of our time in Jerusalem at the museum. We had to leave a little before noon to check out of the hotel, but then we returned to the museum to stay until closing time at 2 pm. Inside one of the rooms of the museum was a miniature town setup with many trains running around and through it.
Happy boy with trainsTyler loved watching the trains go around on their tracks. Many of the trains also had sounds.
Entranced by trains (video)Here is a view of the Tower of David courtyard. Tiffany was a little disappointed that we hardly got to see any of the other exhibits at the museum because we spent the whole time watching trains. However, the train exhibit was one of the main reasons we wanted to go back to Jerusalem. We were hoping to go during our last trip but it was already closed for the Sabbath when we arrived in Jerusalem.
Tower of David museumThe Tower of David museum is called that because it has many tall towers that have been attributed to King David. We climbed to the top of the tallest tower just as the Muslim prayers were starting.
Sounds of Jerusalem (video)From the top of the Tower of David we were able to get one of the clearest pictures of the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock we have taken.
Dome of the RockTyler-isms:
"The colors sound the same." - The colors looked similar.
"Did the rain stop raining?" - We finally had our first day of rain.
Brooke-isms:
"Kucker" - Sucker
"Wakca" - Washcloth
"Aww gone" - All gone. When she finishes her food.
"Sarsar" - Sorry. She usually says this after Tyler has been told to tell her sorry.