The Old City

I've been able to go down into the Old City twice over the last two days. We are able to hop on the light rail, which has a stop located at the foot of Mount Scopus, and ride it to the Damascus Gate, where we enter into the Old City via the Muslim Quarter. The Muslim Quarter is amazing. Every inch of the street is filled with booths and every inch of the booths are filled with food or products. In one booth you might find knock-off Hello Kitty items, and next to it you might find an "official" antiquities dealer happy to sell you coins, swords, pots, ect. from the time of Christ or even older. The streets are incredibly narrow, and steps downward and upward come out of nowhere, so you have to watch where you are going at all times. On Fridays, the Muslim quarter is packed to the gills with worshipers going to and from the Temple Mount. Kids zoom past you on their bikes so you have to be willing to press yourself against the walls to allow them to pass or risk being run over. Everywhere, the yells of shop owners mingle with the loud conversations of the passerby, making the Muslim Quarter a very loud and rowdy place. The Christian Quarter is quieter, with the stores selling carvings of the last supper instead of "Free Palestine" shirts. The streets are also wider and easier to navigate, and there seems to be less people in general, though admittedly I haven't been there on a Sunday yet. As a Christian, I thought I'd be more at home in the Christian Quarter than in the Muslim or Jewish, but this assumption has not proven quite correct. While it is true that there are churches everywhere in this area and the memorabilia are recognizable scenes of Christ's life and of the Christian faith, the store-owners are still looking to make a profit at any cost, and so they are just as aggressive as the Muslim and Jewish businessmen. This means that you feel almost as harassed as in the Muslim Quarter. Once you enter the Jewish Quarter, you feel like you have stepped out of the Old City entirely. This quarter of the Old City had been destroyed and then rebuilt, so all the streets are incredibly wide and there are many open areas/parks where trees are planted and you can actually see the sky. It is a great place to just sit and relax for a bit. Regardless of what quarter you visit, the Old City is an amazing place. Steeped in history and tradition, the Old City brings together the three major religions living (somewhat) peacefully side by side. Outside the walls, the world keeps on going; but inside, time has frozen.