The second day in a row of waking up early to take a train found my sister Ilana and I in a grumpy mood.
OK it wasn't so bad.
OK we were excited to go to Florence!
The first thing we did out of the train station in Florence was duck into the tourist information place to purchase our Florence Cards. The Florence Card is a 72 hour pass to all public transportation and most museums throughout the city. They're €50 each, so we wanted to make sure we got our money's worth. The great thing about the cards is that they let you skip the lines at any of the museums that accept them - so there's no need to worry about scheduling a specific entry times. From the tourist stand, we went to our hotel. This hotel was a disappointment compared to the rest. The Hotel Palazzuolo on Via Palazzuolo is a block South of the train station. The people at the desk rarely spoke English, and our room felt inexplicably damp the entire time.
The view down Via Palazzuolo from the hotel entrance. Also Ilana!
Nothing could be done about it so there was no use complaining. We dropped off all our stuff and took the bus (using our Florence Cards) from the train station to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The Piazzale Michelangelo is an elevated look out point on the Southern bank of the Arno River. In the center is a bronze copy of Michelangelo's statue of David.
More important than the copy of David, is the view from the Piazzale. Throngs of tourists are constantly snapping pictures from this vantage. We joined the throng for about a half an hour.
Florence.
Also Flornce - you know what? I'm going to save a lot of time and just say this is all going to be Florence.
We are photogenic.
A little bit afraid of heights here...
Down the Arno River.
So now we're across the river from central Florence, and are not sure exactly what to do next.
Hmmmmmm...
We went for our default - the Jewish attractions. We did get a little lost wandering around trying to find the Synagogue area, but we got to see some parts of Florence we probably otherwise wouldn't have:
Florence happens to be a beautiful place.
The Great Synagogue of Florence is on Via Luigi Carlo Farini which is about a quarter mile East of the Duomo. We tried to visit the Synagogue through the museum and sanctuary entrance, but were disappointed to find that they close in the early afternoon on Fridays to prepare for Shabbat. Next door to the Synagogue, there's a milchig kosher restaurant named Ruth's, so we had lunch.
If you ask me, the food was pretty so-so, but it's good to support a small Jewish Community that relies on tourism.
Yay! I'm supportive!
The very helpful waiter, restaurateur, and shamos of the Synagogue, Thomas Jelinkek, knew we wanted to enter the Synagogue and the museum before Shabbat started. He came to our table while we were waiting for our food to let us know that there was a wedding service going on in the Synagogue, and that they needed people to complete a minyan if we still wanted to go inside. Of course! Why not?
There were Italian armed guards at the entrance to the courtyard of the Synagogue. This is yet another sign that vandalism of Jewish holy places is on the rise, but it was nice to see that the Italian government is doing something to prevent these acts. Once again pictures weren't allowed but we sneaked a couple anyway.
From what we could gather, an Italian-Israeli wanted to have their wedding in the Synagogue of their roots. Pretty cool, huh?
After our mediocre lunch and nice visit to the Synagogue museum, we headed in the direction of the Accademia Gallery (of Florence - there's also one in Venice). The Florence Card got us in front of the line and into the Accademia in about twenty seconds. Go Florence Card!
Seeing the David in person is kind of surreal. It's like seeing the Eiffel Tower, or the Mona Lisa, or any truly famous sight in person. You've seen pictures of something your entire life and then you're actually seeing it! It feels like your eyes are expecting the image to be in two dimensions and then it's not. Eerie...
The statue is of David as he is about to face Goliath. He's got the slingshot draped over his back from his left and he's holding the stone with his right. The detail of things like the veins sticking out of David's arm and stuff like that are so life-like... Michelangelo was a genius. David's head and hands are overlarge. The explanation for this is the statue was originally supposed to be displayed along the roof of the Duomo so details like those would've been hard to make out from ground level. Unexplained is why David decided to fight Goliath in the nude.
There's also a musical instruments section of the Accademia and some other remarkable renaissance and medieval pieces, but the second best reason to visit the Accademia is the collection of the unfinished Michelangelo sculptures. Michelangelo was such a genius, that his unfinished works could pass for masterpieces. Here they are:
Michelangelo would say that he could see the figures inside the marble and all he did when he sculped was chip away at the excess marble... what a guy.
Next we strolled lazily back to our hotel on Palazzuolo taking in Florence.
We spent an hour or two lazing around our hotel. I know that vacation time is very precious, but this was our fifth day in Italy. We needed a break during the day of some sort. The hotel was a nice enough spot to lay around and watch Italian-language television (mostly we watched television claiming that a salve if rubbed on the midsection could remove up to 5 inches from the waistline - crazy Italians...).
For our Friday evening, we took a taxi back to the Great Synagogue. We participated in the Shabbat evening services at the Great Synagogue. Mostly the tunes of the prayers were unfamiliar to me, and the space itself with its extremely high ceiling and extremely small congregation - did not make for the best acoustics. The high ceiling and colorful (but dark) decorations did make for a very beautiful setting. The Synagogue itself has a lot of architecture reminiscent of Turkish Mosques.
After the Kiddush in the courtyard above (provided by our former waiter, Thomas Jelinkek) we were invited to Shabbat dinner at the Chabad of Florence. Anyone familiar with Chabad would expect exactly what we got there: A traditional Shabbat meal (chicken was a bit iffy, but I suppose they must have obstacles in the way of obtaining kosher food on a regular basis), lots of Jewish tourists/students studying abroad, and a spirited sermon delivered from the Rabbi - Rabbi Eli Dovid Berenstein.
When I say spirited I really mean it. He said he gives the same sermon every week, so if you ever find yourself there you're in for a treat. Basically, he more and more excitedly builds up to a point about why you (as a Jew) came to Florence for the sights (at this point which he reaches several times, he will list the sights of Florence in rapid succession - ThePonteVecchio!ThePalazzoVecchio!TheDavid!The...!), but since you came to see the sights, and are celebrating Shabbat here, you are also bringing another place in the world closer to an ideal level of spirituality. It was nothing if not entertaining.
Israel was nice, but it was time to move on. I met up with my parents and younger sister in Italy for a fantastic nine day trip. It made more sense for me to fly in Sunday morning and for them to arrive on Monday, so I began the trip alone - therefore I consider this post a prologue to the actual trip even though I did a lot of fun things that day.
After having been up all night in the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport and after an airline mix up which left me having to buy a carry-on sized bag in the airport itself I arrived in Rome. Despite the mix-up, Ben Gurion Airport is extremely nice and I consider it a model for how airports should be arranged.
Upon entering the baggage claim/ground transportation area of the Rome airport, I followed the signs to the bus ticket vending window. It costs four euros to ride a coach bus to the central train station of Rome. From there I took a cab to my hotel - the Best Western Astrid - pretty far north along the East bank of the Tiber river. It so happened that that day was the day of the Rome marathon. Luckily the marathon route didn't obstruct my taxi driver (the nicest taxi driver in all of Italy who gave me an English language tourbook of Rome someone had left in his car) from taking me to the hotel.
Although I was very tired, I did not want to waste any of my time in Italy at all, so I started walking toward the sights - snapping pictures of the marathoners along the way.
You can do it!
I'm not so used to marathons taking place so close to such beautiful churches.
Go! Go! Go!
And then I saw the Vatican! The biggest church in the world! It was mind-blowingly cool.
Could you ask for a cooler finish line?
Almost there!
OK turns out the marathon didn't end at the Vatican like I thought it did. In the picture below, which is the same stretch of the race as depicted above only facing away from the Vatican you can see they veer away.
Disappointed from thinking I was going to see the finish line, I decided to visit St. Peter's Basilica. Pictures do not do the place justice. It is something one must see in person to appreciate. Unlike what people think of as classic renaissance church design, the ceilings are mosaics (pictures made of different colored tile) instead of frescoes (paintings). Entry to the Basilica is free, but in most cases visitors do have to stand in long lines to get through security on the north end of St. Peter's square to get in as I did.
Breathtaking. Keep that golden ring near the top of the picture in mind for later.
Once inside, immediately on your right you see Michaelangelo's Pieta- one of the many scenes from the bible I was about to see very often over the following ten days.
My camera was dying - not enough juice to try several times to get a clear picture. Anyway - it's behind smudgy glass... just google it.
I strolled around the Basilica. When I had finished doing that it was time to climb to the top of the dome. You may ask, "but Josh, how can you climb to the top of the most imposing landmark in Rome?" Well I'll tell you. What you'll want to do is head out of the front entrance to the Basilica and turn left back towards the security entrance. Once past the north wall of the entryway to the basilica turn left again and head down the alleyway to get to the entrance to the cupola tour (cupola means dome).
It costs €5 total to climb the stairs the entire way and €7 total to take the elevator halfway up to the roof of the Basilica and then up and down the cupola by stairs, then back down to ground level by elevator. I highly recommend the elevator. I've read that there are no views along the way up to or down from the roof of the Basilica and it's just adding exercise to an already strenuous climb.
Stairs are hard if they're not a cardio motion you're used to, and in Afghanistan I probably averaged about five stairs per day for the entire seven months I was there. I've climbed various other stair-centric tourist attractions and I knew I was going to be sore before I began - so yeah - elevator is the way to go.
There are endless spiral staircases up through the lattice-work of the dome. I'm surprised that they allow tourists to even go up there considering the risks of a pileup or a missed step leading to a bunch of broken legs - although there are emergency buttons you can press at most of the many landings along the way. The views of Rome from the top were yet to come, but first I came upon the inner ring of the cupola. Here I was looking down into the basilica. These pictures might help someone who has never been comprehend the sheer scale of this church. Once again my camera's battery was dying and there's a chain-linked fence keeping those at this level behind the railing.
Remember that gold ring from earlier? Now I'm above it.
After that landing you continue to ascend through the dome structure - the stairway leans more and more inward accounting for the curvature of the dome until you're climbing with your body nearing a forty five degree angle - then the direction switches and instead of back and forth, you're at a point where the incline of the staircase turns directly inward and upward toward the very top of the dome where you get the best view of anywhere in Rome!
That crowd in St. Peter's square seems to be growing...
Back down at the roof level I took a few more pictures of the surrounding areas.
And that's what it's like to climb St. Peter's. My legs were very shaky and tired at the end, but this climb is worth it. As I walked back into St. Peter's Square everyone started applauding! I thought, "Wow, Rome really knows how to welcome a lowly tourist!" and then the speakers rang out in Italian. Pope Benedict XVI was addressing the masses from the papal apartments. It was a Sunday during lent so it warranted a special sermon from the Pope himself! This explained the gathering crowd in the square.
See that little mauve drape thing under that window - that's the pope above that!
The Pope spoke mostly in Italian, but in total he spoke six languages including Latin, Spanish Russian, English, and German. Very impressive.
The crowd.
Thanks for all the blessings, Papa!
The legend of the founding of Rome revolves around Romulus (the founder of Rome - note the similarities in the names) and Remus being raised by a she-wolf. Concordantly, this subject is often depicted in art throughout Rome and all art museums in and out of Rome.
mmm... wolf milk.
By the time I finished soaking up some Vatican views, I was truly exhausted. I strolled back up the Tiber toward my hotel and as I walked snapped a couple more pictures of the stragglers in the marathon, disheartened at how little it turned out I knew of the route the race takes through Rome. I passed out in my hotel and got some much needed sleep.
Clowns running a Marathon.
Now they're running into a tunnel? I don't know this city at all... yet...
In my opinion, no trip to Israel is complete without a visit to Jerusalem. This trip, in relation to the other times I've visited Israel, was decidedly not Jerusalem centered. I enjoyed my experience in Tel Aviv overall, and it was nice to spend lots of time on the beach and see secular Israel, but I'm much more of a Jerusalem guy than a Tel Aviv guy.
I went with my good friend Seth who is in Israel on a Masa Program to see the sites I had seen many times before, but am always excited to see again.
We started by taking the 405 bus from the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. From the CBS in Jerusalem, we took the newly completed light-rail directly to the North Gate of the Old City - the Damascus Gate. Entering this gate headed south puts the Christian Quarter on your right and the Muslim Quarter on your left.
We continued south and took a quick look at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church encompasses the sights where Christians believe Jesus to have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. The several final stations of the cross on the via dolorosa are within the church itself.
There it is.
Site of the crucifixion.
Churches are usually pretty nice looking.
The tomb where Christians believe Jesus was buried and came back to life.
OK this church was established in the 300s by Constantine (most people know him as the guy who converted the Roman empire's religion to Christianity)'s mother Empress Helena. After Constantine changed the official religion - she went on a mission to the holy land to "find relics". She came back to Rome having "found" the true cross, the holy tunic, the nails of the crucifixion, as well as the sites of various important points in Jesus's life such as the site of the nativity, and the place where Jesus was crucified.
It's a little funny to me to imagine her walking the streets of Jerusalem and pointing to the stations of the cross along the road, "and that's where he fell, and that's where Simon the Syrene helped him carry the cross, and that's where he was crucified... and so on". Archeologists believe that the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was once the site of a Roman temple so really it's more like she was sent to convert the holy land into the new religion of the empire - in the same way that late December became Christmas because there was a Roman holiday at that same time of year. I find it hard to believe that basically any of these churches marking the important points mentioned in the bible are actually in the right place, but I understand the Christian desire to have these actual churches erected - it makes it more relate-able that they are walking in the same places as Jesus once walked.
The church itself is shared between the sects of Christianity that are prominent in Jerusalem. These sects have shared responsibilities and prayer times within the church for more than a hundred and fifty years. Every once in a while the status quo of this shared status is tested by something most people would consider to be very minor. A door is left open, a guy moves his chair a few feet to the left - things like that, and a fist fight breaks out between the sects. I think it's pretty funny.
After visiting that church we backtracked a little bit and passed various stations of the cross along the via dolorosa. Here's a picture of one of those:
I think it's one of the two stations that mark where Jesus fell while carrying the cross.
We were backtracking to make our way to the Austrian Hospice. Not hospice like a hospital, a hospice is also like a hostel and generally intended for use by people of a certain religion. The Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem has been in use since 1863.
If you know where it is (it's at a point along the via dolorosa) and if you ring the bell they will buzz you in. Once inside - say hello to some German speakers if you must but then - climb the stairs to the roof! It's a great view of the old city from inside of it!
Wow that was fun. After that, we started heading toward the Western Wall. Along the way I had to take this picture:
OSU v. Michigan.
So the Western Wall is the closest bit of retention wall holding up the Temple Mount to where the Jewish Temple once stood that is open to the public. It's forbidden to more observant Jews to go up to the Temple Mount lest they stand in the spot where the Holy of Holies once stood because that exact spot isn't known, BUT since the Holy of Holies is the aptly named holiest spot in Judaism, Jews pray towards it, and since this is the closest permissible spot to stand and pray - it's a popular prayer spot. Sorry if that was complicated.
Well - it's usually popular. Sometimes there are lull periods like this one.
Spent some time at the Wall, then, by chance the Temple Mount was opening up to tourists so we went up there. Tourists are only allowed up to the Temple Mount at very odd hours and only at the entrance ramp made of wood visible from the Western Wall prayer plaza. Muslims are allowed to go there by various other entrances, but there are Israeli guards stopping people who don't look Muslim - pretty much the most racially profiling job of all time. I look very local in the Middle East so I probably could have made it in, but Seth looks White - thanks a lot, Seth.
As a tourist, you're not allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock or the Al Aqsa Mosque, but the Temple Mount itself is very pretty.
This kid was having a temper tantrum.
Temper Tantrums are pretty much the same in every language.
See? It's pretty.
Then we took very tourist-y pictures like this one.
Seth.
From the Temple Mount, you have a great view across a valley towards the Mount of Olives. Half of this hill-face is completely covered with the graves of thousands upon thousands of Jews. The graves are strategically placed. Jewish tradition holds that when the Messiah comes, the dead will wake and live in a Paradise. The people who are buried there are in a prime spot for when that happens - right there facing Jerusalem!
Also on the Mount of olives are various other Churches dedicated to specific events mentioned in the new testament. This picture shows three of them with the giant cemetery just visible at the upper right of the photo.
Lower left to upper right: Church of Gethsemane, The Church of Mary Magdalene, and the Church of Dominus Flevit.
Gethsemane is mentioned in the bible as the garden where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion. There's a garden next door to the church with many trees hundreds of years old - perhaps not 2000 years old, but this is the traditional Gethsemane garden. The Russian Orthodox church of Mary Magdalene is very clearly Russian - lots of different nations make their mark like this one on Jerusalem. My history of Jerusalem teacher said that Jerusalem is like a beautiful woman that nations try to woo by giving her beautiful jewelry like this. Interesting way of putting it... Anyway this church is also only open at odd hours like the Temple Mount (I went there back in 2008). The church contains a relic of the pinky bone of the Saint Mary Magdalene herself, but don't ask me about its authenticity... Finally the church of Dominus Flevit marks the passage of the bible where Jesus looks upon Jerusalem and weeps (dominus flevit means "and the lord wept" in latin) because he foresees the destruction of Jerusalem - and so the church is shaped like a tear. That church is tiny. Basically it's a 20 foot square chapel.
After leaving the Temple Mount, we started heading towards modern Jerusalem, after first spending some time in the Jewish Quarter - taking in some sights and eating some shawarma, we headed towards the King David Hotel. This is one of the oldest and most luxurious hotels Israel. Since its opening in 1931, it has hosted royalty from all over the world - presidents, prime ministers etc. The headquarters of the British mandate was housed here - this one scene from the awesome film Exodus was filmed and took place here. Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint had Martinis there - so we ordered some Martinis on the terrace which also has an incredible view of the old city.
To industry!
To the sun never setting on her majesty's empire - oh wait...
After our classy drinks and what had become a lot of time on our feet, we were ready to be done. There was just one more sight I had to see. The Time Elevator. The Time Elevator is the most kitschy, corny thing you could possibly do in Jerusalem - and I hadn't done it yet. I had waited for this moment for years. Basically, it's one of those movies with the moving seats that make people nauseous. You are in a malfunctioning time machine that Chaim Topol - the actor who played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof - helps to navigate back to the present by showing you around the history of Jerusalem, and YES - it is exactly as awesome as that sounds.
After the incredible experience at the Time Elevator, we made our way back to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and hopped on a bus back to Tel Aviv. We really did see the highlights of Jerusalem tourism in one day of touring - which is a feat! Take it away, Bender!
