Faye in Egypt: Israel with Dad and Ted

I cannot say anything that has not been said about Israel, so I won't try. It is a trip though, the call to prayer goes off, at the same time church bells ring, and an Orthodox Jew walks past with the big furry hat on. Religion overload really. But the old city is beautiful and the new part reminded me of a futuristic kids book I had titled something like Dinosaur Utopia, weird right?

The best part about Israel was that I was not supposed to go. I was supposed to be working, but work stopped working out, the heavens above favored me with perfect timing, and I joined the itinerary of Dad and Ted, bringing Katie along for the ride. We wandered around the old city most days gawking at the hoards, trying to remember religious history, struggling to find beer on the Sabbath, and everyone but me took a lot of photos. Katie is a photographer and was on a mission, Dad and Ted were fresh tourists ready to capture it all, and I was tired of the "get camera out and put away" routine pictures require.

In my mind the weirdest part of Israel is how drastically different country is from the neighbors. Crossing from the Sinai into Israel is like stepping from a donkey cart to a Mercedes. That analogy sounds favorable and I do love the first world, but it was also unnerving. I have been told the Jerusalem is its own world and the rest of Israel is far different, I will go back and see more, inshallah.

What follows are the few pictures I took. Also if anyone knows the names of all the clothes that Orthodox Jews wear I am really interested and I could look it up on the internet, but this way could be more fun. Do the women have to wear skirts, or is the skirt/boot combo just all the rage in Jerusalem?