Look Out Jerusalem!

JULY 7, 2020 – Look out Jerusalem, here we come! Today’s excursion was to visit several observation points in the hills of Jerusalem. We literally looked at Jerusalem from different angles. This was a trip made to fit these corona virus times – the lookouts were all outdoors and being a weekday, there were few people at these locations, so social distancing was easy. Our oldest grandchild, 11-year-old Lavi, joined us for the day.

Before writing about our trip, I first want to say that tomorrow is our aliyah anniversary – 40 years ago on July 8^th, we moved to Israel. At the beginning, when people asked us how long we have been here, Mark would answer “We have been here five years, and in another seven we are up for parole”. Today our parole thoughts are long gone and here we are 40 years later – living happily in Israel and very thankful for what we have.

Part of the magic of living here is the ability to travel short distances all over the country, and experience many different landscapes. On top of that are many years of history available to see and explore. In today’s trip we saw the mountains of Jerusalem, the desert landscape beyond, and looked at the results of the building of Jerusalem over the millennia.

Our first stop was the Haas Promenade in the neighborhood of Talpiot. To reach the promenade, we drove through the busy city, full of stone apartment buildings and bustling storefronts. When we reached the parking lot of the promenade, and saw the open view, it was WOW.

The Haas Promenade is also know as Tayelat Armon HaNastiv (the promenade of the Governor’s Mansion). The area was once called Armon HaNatsiv because the British governor’s mansion was on this hill. The promenade spans several layers along the top and down the hillside. There are kilometres of paths along the mountain at various levels surrounded by plants – including some from the seven biblical species such as pomegranates, figs and olives.

It seemed that from no matter where we saw the view, the initial focal point was always the golden Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. This gave us the perspective of what we were looking at. Other landmarks included the golden spires of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalena, the tower of the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, the square tower of Augusta Victoria Hospital, the pointed tower of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension and of course, the walls of the old city.

Throughout Jerusalem, pianos have been installed in public places. On this promenade, we saw two of them. At one point, a teenager sat down and started to play classical music. As we walked back to our car, we were serenaded by his beautiful melodies, adding to the marvel of the day.

• 

Since the next viewpoint was in the center of the city, we first went looking for a falafel stand for lunch. There were some restaurants that were open, but no falafel stands. After asking a local and hearing that the nearest falafel is quite a walk away, we saw that several people were eating outside at a restaurant nearby. This turned out to be a small taco shop – Tacos Luis. Making sure they had a vegan option for the adults and something that a picky 11-year-old would agree to eat, we decided to stay. The food was fresh and delicious. It reminded me of Chipotle in the States – we had a bowl of rice with beans and vegetables, taco wraps, and homemade corn chips with guacamole. Being a kosher version that serves meat, the generous  Chipotle servings of yellow cheese and sour cream were missing.

The next lookout was the least impressive of the views. This view point was next to the Confederation House, immediately behind the King David Hotel. To know where to go, we were following an article that was written six years ago. It seems that the trees had grown since then, and now it was difficult to see an unobstructed view. Through the branches, we had a view of the old city walls, including the Tower of David.

From there we drove to Mt. Scopus, where adjacent to the Hebrew University Campus is the Glick Observation Plaza. From the Haas Promenade we had seen the old city from the south, and now we had a view from the north.

Not far from the Glick Observation Plaza is an additional observation point that does not overlook the city of Jerusalem, but rather gives you a panoramic view in the opposite direction – towards the desert and the Dead Sea. I remember being here as a child, when looking out and the view was only barren desert. Today from the same lookout, we saw several large suburbs of Jerusalem, the city of Maale Adumim and other towns scattered in the desert.

Our last stop was at the Rehavam Ghandi Observation Point in front of what was once known as the Intercontinental Hotel on the Mount of Olives. Here you see the Temple Mount from the east. Between the lookout and the old city is the Mount of Olives cemetery. Thousands of graves, both old and new, dot the hillside. Towards the bottom of the hill a funeral was taking place.

We had spent the day doing adult sightseeing. It was time to think more of pleasing an eleven-year-old and so we detoured to the Ben and Jerry’s Factory in Yavne. After a chocolate sundae, we had an even happier child.

Another nice day. Mark and I enjoyed seeing the city from different perspectives. Lavi said it was better than being bored at home.