New Jerusalem, Israel

Walking along one of the isles of Mahane Yehuda Market.

This post deserves four pictures because, well it just does.

My two favorite things of Isreal are these two things, Topolino and Mahane Yehuda Market. Topolino is at the corner of the market which I assume where it aquires it's fresh food. If I could live in any place it would be next to any market like this. There's three long rows of these which have fresh fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, spices, pasteries, breads, dried goods, cheese, chocolates, nuts, and candies.

Girl asking her mom for pasteries in Mahan Yehuda Market.


Fresh sardine bruchetta with garlic, herbs, tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella.

So we fell in love with this place that we ended up going here two nights in a row. The place is owned by a couple who when not cooking or serving food are sitting in front of their restaurant smoking a cigerate and having coffee. The first night we got their home made raviollies filled with ricotta and smoked salmon or ricotta and artichoke with an apatizer of the fresh sardine bruchetta. The next night Wai just got the bruchetta and civeche to her self and I got the Gnocci. Mind you i really don't care for gnocchi but this one the owner recommended. It was amazing. I would come back to Isreal just for this place.

Gnocchi alla Romana and fresh buffalo mozzarella served in tomato and basil sauce.

Old Jerusalem, Israel

Jewish Quarter - Western Wailing Wall

I have never seen a such a strong mixture of religions and cultures in one spot. The Old Jerusalem city is split between Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armanian quarters. The wailing wall is the last remaining portion of the second temple. You'll notice all the Orthodox Jewish men give their sorrows on the left and women on the right.

Muslim Quarter - Temple Mount

Non muslims can only enter through the main gate, we are restricted to certain hours, and we can not enter the temple. We waitied like tourists in front of the Western wall munching on felaffel and lemonade until we were let in. You can see this golden dome from almost anywhere in the city. This temple has multiple importances to different religions which is probably too long to describe here.

Christian Quarter - Ceiling of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Ethiopianm, and coptic churches believe that Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected here. I still have trouble pronunciating Sepulchre. It's so easy to get lost in the old city, the streets are narrow and filled with souqs. So everywhere you go people are always trying to get your attention and yelling "Japonese!? Korean?! Where you going?" trying to sell you their wares. So it's nice to come to a peacful church and not be disturbed.

Amman, Jordan

Mint Lemonade icy served at Wild Jordan Cafe


Probably one of the most common drinks that you'll catch us with, a lemonade with mint. Served as an icy with minced mint is even better. We knew that Wadi meant valley from Wadi Rum. As we explored Amman on foot we found out the hard way that Jebel means mountain, or hill, or some high point requiring many steps and uphill efforts. We found pretty good food in Amman and very refreshing mint lemonades at the end of the treks.

Petra, Jordan

As-siq at night with candel lit bags

After our adventures in Wadi Rum we went with Keesh and Jolanda to Petra for two nights. We found that they were doing a night show of petra when we got there. We walked a mile in the Al-siq only lit by little paper bags with candels in them. Everyone walked in silence through these towering sand stone walls.

Petra Treasury at night lit by candel light.

As we neared the end of the crevace I spotteda pillar off in the distance and i couldn't but help hum the Indiana Jones song to myself. It opened up to the treasury lit by hundreds of these paper candle bags. We were sat down on mats and then one person sitting in the middle of the candels began to play a string instrument, then a flutist took over, and then a story teller. We sipped tea and watched the moon hoover above and dissapear into the wall.

Al-Deir Monastery at the top of Petra

The next day we did two hikes, one to the very top where the Monastery sits. Then on the way back we went to the high place of sacrafice. I would not recommend doing both hikes in the middle of the day. Both sights were spectacular though. The carving into the sand stone of the monastary was just as amazing as the treasury. Petra is packed with monuments and tombs carved into the sand stone walls. The guide book was right, if there's one thing you do in Jordan, you have to visit Petra.

Rum Wadi, Jordan

Wai and Keesh standing on top of Umm Fruth Rock Bridge

After visiting a few places in Jordan, this place, Rum Wadi, would be a reason for me to come back. We only spent one night here and a quick few hours for each day touring the rocks and sights. As the sun set we sipped on tea and nibbled on biscuits. sat around the camp fire and talked to the people staying there. They prepared a home cooked meal for us which was great. The guide brought out mats and pads for us to sleep on under the starry sky. The Wadi is so huge I feel like I could spend at least a weekend if not a week here exploring the mountains and canyons. There's supposed to be good climbing here however i didn't get much of a chance to boulder. Next time.

Standing in front of our camp site at night


Let me warn you of their taxi/guide setup. The taxi we took here from the border was a nightmare. We paired up with a dutch couple (Jolande and Keesh) to split the costs. We told the driver we needed to go to an ATM so we could pay him and then proceed to the visitor center. He took us to a broken ATM right past the Aquba city limits and wouldn't take us to another one saying we were past the city. He tries to trick us by bringing us to another camp site when we already scheduled one. Then yells at us to pay him when we make him bring us back to visitor center where we're supposed to meet our guide. Before we make it back to the center the competing guide took his jeep and cut us off just to convince us we should go with him. Shady business I tell ya.

One of the few springs found in the Wadi