Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Last week was my last week at work before business school (!), and now it's been on to a two week vacation in the Middle East! I've never been to the Middle East before, so I am incredibly excited about seeing something new. The first stop was Tel Aviv, where I spent 4 nights, and while there I also made a fill day trip to Jerusalem, which is just a 30-40 minute car ride away.

Tel Aviv isn't a place with lots of huge sights to see, but it's a very cool town nonetheless. I was expecting a more metropolitan city, but I actually liken it more to Miami. It's a beach city with miles of beaches right near downtown (and is incredibly hot and humid as well), but it's also quite big with a lot of business, culture, nightlife, etc. The first couple days I was there I basically just wandered around, got a better feel for the town, tried some falafel and hummus, checked out the beach and experienced the culture. One highlight was visiting Old Yaffe, the old town where the city started near the port, and also the port where Jonah supposedly set sail before getting swallowed by a whale. The second night there I also met up for some drinks with some fellow new HBS students that I'll be in class with in just over a month.

The next day I took a shared taxi (for only like 6 bucks!) to Jerusalem to check it out. I basically walked through the city just a little, spending the majority of my time in the Old City where most of the religious landmarks are. The first thing I visited was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the spot where Jesus was supposed to be crucified, buried and resurrected. Next I went to the Western Wall, which is the western wall of the Temple Mount, the temple(s) that were built by Solomon, his ancestors, and eventually Herod, and one of the holiest places in the world for Jews. Then it was to the Dome of the Rock - the Islamic mosque which stands on top of where the aforementioned Temple Mount used to stand, and also on top of what is supposed to be the Foundation Stone, a stone where the inner room of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant used to be located. According to Wikipedia it is the holiest site in Judaism, and Jewish tradition views it as the spiritual junction of heaven and Earth. Three of the holiest places of three different religions all crammed into a space less than a kilometer from each other. It was weird to stand there and think about the countless people that had died in wars trying to take control of the place where I was just standing and taking pictures.

Outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Inside

Western (Wailing) Wall

Dome of the Rock

Shops in the Old City

One thing that was kind of disappointing was the number of touristy shops lining all of the streets in the Old City. It was basically like all of the souks in Marrakech lining all of the small pedestrian streets, except the vendors were (slightly...) less aggressive. Kind of took away some of the charm. Regardless, it was still a pretty incredible day trip, seeing so many sights that are so important religiously, culturally and historically.

That night my dad flew in from Atlanta to join me for Petra and Cairo, so we grabbed some dinner and the next morning it was off on a flight to Eilat, Israel and a border crossing to Aqaba, Jordan. More on that later!