Rampart Walk!

We went on a walk around the walls surrounding the Old City! It was really crazy--people had fought on, died on, and protected these walls for hundreds of years, and I was just allowed to walk on them! :) 

This is the first moment that I walked onto the epic structure--please take note of the extremely attractive fanny pack. Yeah, I'm rockin it.

These are some of the people we went with. Big groups are lotsa fun :)

 Some of my dear friends, Chaille (chay-lee) and Linsey! We all work in the OACL labs together, and it was a beautiful day when we realized that we were all coming to Jeru together!


The following few images will be of me reenacting one of the dramatic battle scenes that I'm sure took place in this very spot.

 Shooting an arrow to stave off the footsoldiers that are swarming the base of the wall. They're trying to put up ladders to scale the wall and take out the archers.

 Lost control of the wall. Fighting hand-to-hand with my trusty Arabian scimitar, protecting my Holy City.

Alas, a false move leads to death. Stabbing through the belly leads to certain demise.

Death. The bodies lie only temporarily on the wall, before they're kicked off to make room for incoming soldiers. Death for the Holy City is an honor.

 Livin on the edge, walkin the line--term it what you will. I did it. :)

 I leaned dangerously out of a small arrow slot to get this dramatic picture, but the house in the background doesn't even make it look like I'm very high up. Sniff. It was legitimately scary though--probably a 50 ft drop or so. NBD :)

 It seems that there were Hobbits defending this city back in the day, because here is a Hobbit sized arrow slot thing. I love Hobbits :)

 Here's the lovely Dome of the Rock. Gotta love that gold and shiny roof. It's like a giant snitch. Or a Liahona. Or an Eye of Sauron in the making. Use your imagination. :)

 My friendly friends, all being friends! India, Sarah, Spencer, Me, Alyssa, Kirstin, Lizzi, Jane, and two unidentifiables peering through the bars.

 This picture is for Dad--look at that paint job. It made me laugh :) Remember how careful we are when we paint, how we tape everything off, and how we don't get too much paint on the roller brush in order to prevent bubbling? It seems like none of these precautions were taken. :)

Hmm. What to say...yes, this was on the wall. Yes, it's human. Yes, it was fresh. It seems like some people don't quite respect their antiquities, because I found a great many of these "presents" on the Great Wall, too. Some people's kids :) (and for the record, I died laughing when I saw this)

I think this is a cool picture. A minaret and the Dome of the Rock. The minaret represents prayer, which is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Dome of the Rock is a mosque, which also represents prayer. Look at the moon shape on the top of the spire. Isn't that neat? :)

 Look, its the Jerusalem Center. It's right by my hair, can you see it? Home sweet home :)

Graffiti door...I think the graffiti they have in Jeru could be acceptable. It all seems to be of religious content, as you can tell by the Domes and stars and Ka'bas and minarets and Arabic writing. But then again, I don't speak Arabic, so I don't know :)

These are Arabic pastries. They have little pistachios in them, and they're rather dry and slightly sweet. Pretty good! We got some that were called "honey balls" or something...I can't even describe them. They were like Baklava but more soaked in sweet stuff.

I got a little Jeru bag :) One of my first purchases here! It was only 15 shekels, and it has proved it's worth--both of the straps came out after a week or two. Oh well :)

They have giant boxes and stores completely dedicated to spices. I love walking by these stores, because they always smell SOO good and interesting. I just want to learn to cook food with all these different flavors!!

A tiny picture, but worth it. This is a panorama of the view from the Rampart Walk. Look at this beautiful world. This is the city!! I love this place :)