All Entries Tagged With: "jerusalem"

Picture of the Week LXIV

Off we go to Jerusalem again this week, with a quick peek into life in the bazaar in the Old City. It’s a Friday evening and all is quiet and relaxed…

The picture was taken by Jonas Hansel, a guy from Holland who looks like he was on holiday here a couple of years ago. Click to big to get the full effect.

Picture of the Week LXIII

This week’s pic is of one of the most well-known landmarks in the Holy Land the world, the Dome of the Rock. This Islamic shrine that sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is in fact the oldest Islamic building in the world. Personally I’ve never stepped inside but have walked around the courtyard outside, camera a-flashing.

The picture was taken by Serithian, who has some mighty fine HD pics from all around Israel in his photo stream. Well worth checking out.

Kool and the Gang LIVE in Jerusalem!

You know you want to, go on, shake your thang! The genuine, bonafide Kool and his Gang, strutting their stuff at this week’s Student Day festival in Jerusalem.

Picture of the Week XLVII

Today is Good Friday, one of the most somber days in the Christian calendar, with many pilgrims flocking to Jerusalem to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. That pilgrimage often involves following in the footsteps that Jesus took down the Via Dolorosa as he carried his own cross, with many of the pilgrims actually carrying crosses themselves (see the pic below).

The pic was taken by jonas k, a guy from Berlin who was here a couple of summers ago and took some great shots.

Picture of the Week XXXIII

Well, there you go, I was planning on a home-produced pic this week, with parcels from back home tucked under the tree, tree lights twinkling, and a plate of cookies and glass of milk (laced with rum) for Santa. But, the parcels haven’t yet arrived, so here’s the backup…a nicely lit Jerusalem alley with Christmas trees a plenty, and yes, even some Santas! Takes me right back to a Christmas past…

The pic was taken by Eitan Charnoff, who has some other great pics of Israel in his collection.

Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Right, I’m off to down that glass of milk (laced with rum) that Santa didn’t drink…

A Christmas Past…

A few years back, before the patter of tiny feet scuttling across my living room floor became a daily joy (and I’m not talking about reindeer here), Christmas in Israel meant heading over to Jerusalem or Bethlehem, accompanied by a never-ending flow of alcohol…us Brits eh? Not like we ever need a reason…

One particular Christmas stands out in my mind, and that was back in ‘94. In an effort to get festive, my mate Peter and I had decided to set off for Bethlehem. Well, that was what we’d told our Israeli girlfriends…the truth was we had heard of a Christmas Eve party in Jerusalem, so had decided to party Christmas Eve in style. Rather than mingle with the masses at Midnight Mass.

We caught a minibus over to Jerusalem and after getting diverted by a car ablaze in the middle of Jerusalem (nothing sinister, just an engine blowout), finally ended up at one of the tourist pubs where the “party” kicked off. The beers flowed, the party moved on to the Underground Bar, and the singing and dancing on tables began with a passion.

Something I’d never seen until I came to Israel was the standing on tables in bars and pubs. It never seemed to take much to get Israelis up and singing and perched on their bar tables, but on this Christmas night I was up there with the best of them! Christmas classics were belting out and the few tourists that were in the pub were singing our drunken hearts out, lurching from table to table and getting the Israelis in the bar to sing along with us. There’s something quite amazing about seeing a bar full of people singing along to Band Aid’s “Feed the World”…

As the night continued, I remember Peter and I strutting our stuff to some Israeli tunes as we danced with Israeli soldier girls and other dark-haired beauties. I recall promises of phone numbers and return visits to Jerusalem, but my memory cells had been obliterated by beer and we had to get back to Tel Aviv that night…and as the taxi driver put his foot down and I spotted the speedometer hitting 160km/h I decided that closing my eyes was the better option (I still don’t remember waking up after this taxi ride home, but I guess I must have stumbled home somehow!).

Anyway, this post was just an excuse to feel a little festive, and to play one of the biggest and best Christmas tunes out there and to recall a festive Christmas Eve many moons ago (as I change another nappy…)…it might be 25 years old but it still sends a chill down my spine whenever I hear it!

Picture of the Week XXVIII

This week it’s time for some food-related goodness. Israel has some great foods to try of course, and the spices that are thrown into the bowl or frying pan play a big part in making those foods turn out as tasty as they do. One of my favorite spices is paprika, which can either come in sweet or hot/spicy versions. The mountains of spices in the shot below look like paprika, though I could be wrong. It also looks like they’re being used to brighten up a Jerusalem felafel stand, though whether or not the felafels are getting livened up with sweet or spicy paprika, who knows…

The pic was taken by Haravroth, who has a small but nice little collection of pics in his photostream (he only started uploading pics to Flickr last month).

Crikey chaps, I’ve got the munchies!

Picture of the Week XXV

This week it’s back over to Jerusalem for some street action, a very nicely timed shot with a bit of everything. The t-shirt of the guy on the right reads “My Jerusalem”, while a rabbi-like Orthodox Jew passes on his left, a perfect secular vs. religious moment. In the background there are more religious Jews with kippas and a policeman taking a swig from a bottle. Great shot! Sums up the recent tension between secular and religious Jerusalemites nicely.

The shot was taken by YogiBear91, a guy from Tel Aviv with some very nice shots in his collection. Particularly loved his New York street shots, but hey, this is a blog about Israel, so check out his Tel Aviv street shots instead!