We recently had a four day weekend and thought we would head somewhere nearby. During the brainstorming process a friend invited us to Jerusalem with a group to run a 10k. With the prospect of sun, history, friends, humus and falafel how could we say no. Plus the run might help burn off a few of the calories we consumed.

Both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were enjoyable but the amount of history that Jerusalem has sets it apart in my opinion. The mixing of religions and the importance of the sites creates for a different kind of experience and a feeling of constantly recalling all the biblical things you hear about in church and experiencing them first hand is a cool experience in itself. We definitely did not have enough time in the country and will plan a trip to go back to see more of the country.

Read the captions on the pictures to get a better understanding of what we saw.

Walking through the old city was impressive. While it had a similar feel to other cities the fact that Jesus is said to have walked down some of the streets and the locations he stopped at was a different kind of experience.

Thursday is Bar Mitzvah day at the Western Wall.

Tefillin arm wraps during the prayer process. Something I had not witnessed before.

Watching all the Bar Mitzvahs was awesome. The mix of emotions from all family members was impressive. There are two sections of the wall, in this section only men are allowed to enter so mom’s had to watch from a distance.

Solem prayer at the wall, you can see the papers with the prayers in the cracks.

One of the few Bar Mitzvah boys who seemed to be enjoying his day and not terrible scared.

Photographer explaining something.

Caitlin in front of the dome of the rock in her lent hoodie.

A hired musician for the procession of the Bar Mitzvah boys.

Dome of the Rock.

One of the few pictures of the two of us.

Downtown Jerusalem on Shabbat. Everything shutdown.

Dome of the Rock.

Caitlin putting up with all my requests for photos.