"This Day Had 17 Highlights!" - Noam

"I give up, the shwarma wins," said Cale, half the contents of his wrap spilled over the table he shared with the other five Edmontonians and me. It was his first shwarma ever. But it wasn't all that was consumed on this, the very first day of the 2018 Israel Experience. There was ice cream and peach iced tea, matza cakes and matza shnitzel, cottage cheese, and even other classic Israeli delicacies like tuna for breakfast. And all that didn't even make it into Noam's 17 highlights.

We started the trip with an introduction from our madricha, Stav, the Calgarians, their teachers Tzvia and Jeff, and said shehechyanu at the overview of Jerusalem from Har Hatzofim. Then we got ready for today.

Our first full day on the ground was the longest day of the trip - no hyperbole! It started with a walk into the Old City and over to the City of David. I learned something new! One of the pieces of evidence that David's palace was where they say it was is that the capital of a column was discovered which matched the style of a capital found in Tyre, Lebanon, from around the 11th century BCE. Well, in the bible we read exactly about that: Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David (Samuel II 5:11). What's even cooler is that the likeness of that capital is on the back of the 5 shekel coin. And yes, I did learn today that the capital is the top of a column.

From the City of David we went through the water tunnels of King Hezekiah, a favourite for all, dropped by the Masorti Kotel, and headed off to the shwarma lunch. After the lunch we did a cool scavenger hunt activity exploring the Cardo, Hurva Synagogue, and other Jewish Quarter hot spots. Then it was time for the Kotel.

Apparently it was time for everyone else to go to the Kotel, too! There must have been a bar mitzvah or something cuz the place was packed! We pushed through the crowds and got our notes in and even tried walking away backwards for a few steps. That was the last activity for a while though. Or at least the last scheduled activity.

Back at the hotel, we were able to get about an hour of nap time before we were woken up by a real life political protest! They were shrieking whistles and screaming right outside our windows. It was pretty crazy but all in all peaceful. Conversations at dinner included the pros and cons of returning terrorists for captives and it was definitely on Noam's list.

After a half-hour conversation to get everyone in the mood for Yad Vashem tomorrow, we headed back to the Old City (by bus, though) for the Kotel Tunnel tour. 

We hit the ground running, learned some new things, reviewed lots, and got lots of sun and exercise. I have to go to sleep now, enjoy the pictures! If you want to see more, Calgary also has a blog at http://cjaisrael2018.blogspot.com.