Day 6

Saturday morning we finally had an opportunity to sleep in and slow down our pace - for a moment. Being that it was Shabbat, our faithful driver, Sasson had the day off so we went on a thorough walking tour of the old city. Looking over the Jerusalem hills, our guide Ronit once again reviewed the time line of the building and destruction of the Temples and the Old City. From there we entered at Zion gate. This particular entrance was built strategically with a 90 degree turn so that if a group wanted to attack the city, they could not enter directly. We witnessed our very own miracle in Jerusalem as a rather large lengthy taxi manipulated its way out of the gate. Our walk took us through the Armenian Quarter and into the Jewish Quarter where we visited the newly opened and rededicated Hurva Synagogue. You may recall a visit to the Old City when you sat in a courtyard and looked at an arch imagining what the synagogue that stood there could have looked like. There is now nothing left to the imagination as this gorgeous rebuilt structure stands proudly again. It was just opened in March. Here is a link to its history http://www.jewish-quarter.org.il/atar-hurva.asp. As you will see this website hasn't been updated with the most recent photo so you will see one here. Here is a link to other pictures of this tremendous structure.http://www.google.co.il/images?hl=en&q=hurva+synagogue&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=CPLVS6naI4-tOIeIvbUO&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQsAQwAw

From the Hurva we continued our walk through the Jewish Quarter, exploring its history. A walk through the Arab market brought us to the rooftop of a building where we were able to view the entire old city in all of its glory and intricacies.

From the Arab Quarter many continued on to the Christian Quarter to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After a rest back at the hotel we returned to the David's City for an outstanding Sound and Light show that graphically displayed the history of Jerusalem's history. It was spectacular. Another full day ended with anticipation of a busy day ahead.