My New Favorite Place!

On top of the Tower of David with a great view of the city in the back ground! 

Spices at the Jewish Market! 

Today we had a free day in the city, so a group of us went out around 10 and went  to the Tower of David. It was a really cool museum that is really well preserved from centuries ago. After two hours or so, we were starving, so I had my first Schawarma! It is this pita stuffed with a very interesting combination of things such as cabbage, french fries, lamb, onions, pickles, and lettuce. It was really good though, and was fun to feel like a local. Since we were in the New City, the Jewish section, we decided to walk a few blocks to a Jewish Market. This isn't any market, it is a huge outdoor market that sells everything possible. There are 1000 different smells coming at you at the same time, people yelling and pushing all around you, and so many different foods! It is the most amazing thing in the city. We walked around there for a few hours, stopping to try almost every pastry the venders sold and also branched out to try sesame seeds crushed together and combined with lots of different flavors. It's really compact, and they sell it in brick sized packages. It's usually a tan color, but the best is when they add the flavors, my personal favorite was vanilla. I don't know what it's called, but apparently it's pretty popular around here. 

After the market we split off into a smaller group, so five of us girls set out to look for a small area with a few smaller attractions. After consulting the map a few times and getting some help from some misinformed local men, we found a small museum called the Ticho House. It was a house built in the 1890s and the Ticho couple bought it in the 1940s and lived there until about 1990. She was an artist so her work is always on display. Since the house was given to the city of Jerusalem after the couple died, it is an Israel Museum and was hosting an art exhibit called "Women of Israel." We wandered in and were suddenly standing in front of an Andy Warhol, three Picassos', and a Renior! We couldn't believe our good luck! 

Over all it was the best day so far and we were so proud to finally be able to get around the city. We're starting to feel like a local!