Today was a long day of travel by plane from San Francisco to Tel Aviv and then by bus to Jerusalem.

The bus dropped us off just outside the Damascus Gate. Here we are walking toward the Damascus Gate pulling our luggage.

We are staying at the Hashimi Hotel which is in the Old City of Jerusalem.

There are only four of us in the group. Two Steve’s and two Chandlers.

Here is the view from the roof of our hotel. We look out over the Temple Mount and can see the Mount of Olives in the background. The Dome of the Rock is glowing as the sun sets. The sky is also colorful as it reflects the sun.

Our first order of business was to get some dinner before everything closed down for Sabbath and Ramadan. We did not have much choice as to what we were to eat. Here you see the different salads we could fill our pitas with.

We also had some nice chicken shishkebab with some chips (fries).  The dinner was delicious especially after enduring airplane food.

After dinner we took a walk down to see the Western Wall.

The Western Wall was busy since the Sabbath began at sundown. We could see Jews from many different groups praying at the wall. Most distinctive were some of the Russian Jews with their big fur hats.

Tomorrow we will explore Jerusalem and then head to the dig on Sunday morning.

Steven