While we were riding into town yesterday afternoon there were groups of young Jews walking and clapping and chanting. All of the hotels and restaurants had Succot tents set up. This morning we walked through the Jaffa Gate into the Old City, and it being Sunday the bells of all the Christian churches were ringing. At the same time, a steady stream of Jews hurried by as they made their way to the Western Wall where special services were being held for Succot. It all made for an amazing atmosphere.

We spent the day with one other couple and a guide, exploring what seemed like every nook and cranny of the Old City. Churches and temples and ancient fortifications and Roman ruins and mosques and ancient underground waterways. I’m afraid it was a bit of overload for me and by the end I couldn’t tell one ancient rock from another, but it was an amazing experience. I can’t write about each place in detail because there was just too much.