David Sokol Photography: Day 11 - Out and About in Jerusalem

Another 8:00am start and we were off to tour around Jerusalem. First we drove past Mea Shearim where the ultra-orthodox hang out. Because they mostly don't own cars they're very dependent on public transport. But because of their orthodox lifestyle provisions have bee made to accommodate their needs. We're all used to buses having route numbers on them - well here there is a bus number of a bus going through the ultra-orthodox area that can only be used by women and one bus number that can only be used by men. There is also a bus number where the bus has a front and rear door - women must use the back door and sit in the back of the bus and men must use the front door and sit at the front of the bus.

Our first stop today is at Ammunition Hill, a memorial that was established after the Six-Day war in 1967 and Jerusalem was taken back from Jordanian control. it is a memorial to the paratroopers who have lost their lives fighting for Israel's existence. It still has the trenches used by the Jordanian fighters during the fight. It's hill position overlooking Jerusalem made it a difficult site to regain control of. We saw an excellent multi-media presentation that described the troop movements during the Six-Day war and how this hill, that housed so much of the Jordanians' ammunition, was taken back.

Next stop was Israel's House of parliament, The Knesset. Security is a bit tougher there than it is at Australia's Parliament House, so there was no popping in for a chat with the politicians. It's a strangely plain building (hence no photos), but just outside is the Menorah with the biblical emblems on it.

Next up was the Israel Museum. We were taken through the Shrine of Book Museum, where the Dead Sea scrolls are housed, and the Holy Land model, a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it was at the time of the Second Temple period. It is actually built from limestone consistent with the material used to construct nearly all of the buildings here.

Then the big one - Yad Hashem, the most famous Holocaust Museum in the world. It is intensely moving experience with a huge display of static reminders of mankind's darkest period, inter-mixed with many, many video interviews with Holocaust survivors. On the same site we also visited the Children's Pavillion which is in itself a haunting and desperately sad commemoration to the 1.5 million children murdered by the Nazis.

The energy in the bus after that was flat, sad and tired. I could only stay at the Museum for a little over 2 hours because it had such a huge impact on me, given my parents' plight during the war and the desecration of my grandparents' family on both my mother's and father's side.

So I joined the rest of the tour to visit the Chagall windows in the synagogue inside the Hadassah Hospital. Every pane of the twelve windows is a microcosm of Chagall's world, real, and imaginary, with vivid imagery, symbolism and his unique floating figured.. the windows took two years to make. The synagogue was dedicated in 1962 in Chagall's presence. He drew his inspiration from the Bible, particularly Jacob's blessings upon his 12 sons and Moses' blessing on the 12 tribes.

Many of the tour headed to the light show at King David's Tower but I just joined them for dinner in a restaurant at Mamilla Mall and then headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we're on the road and heading for warmer weather as we go to the Dead Sea area.