Asking for directions will cost you money...

Asking for help getting around Jerusalem goes a bit like this:

You look lost, while trying to find your way on a very small map in the guidebook (which Nur kept leaving behind in stores, only to be chased by locals giving it back to her!)

A local stall owner approaches, asking where you want to go.

You hand him a business card of another stall owner, and while he is  quite happy to give you directions, he would like you to look at his shop, too.

This, friends, is how you end up parting with your much needed shekels.

Today, we asked for quite a few directions, if you know what we mean...

Our suitcases will be overflowing with physical memories of our time in Jerusalem.

But before we get into today -- last night was a real show of different cultures in the Old City.

After our dinner (challah with tomato, cucumber and our 32 shekel tiny, tiny pizza) on our hotel rooftop, we decided to go for a walk. The hotel manager told us it was safe to go out, and that was all we needed to hear.

We walked towards the Damascus Gate (yes, the same gate we staggered through with all our luggage at 10pm just days before) and saw a never-ending stream of ultra Orthodox Jews, walking with purpose to the point where they were almost running.

They were dressed in their Shabbat best, and curiosity got the better of us.

We decided to follow them and find out where they were going.

We ended up at the Western Wall. Why didn't we realise that's where they were going? It seems so obvious now!

The street, Via Dolorosa, was very busy, with the local Muslims, the ultra Orthodox, a few tourists and many, many armed soldiers.

We were surprised that nobody batted an eyelid. This is obviously routine for the locals. A mix of Muslim and ultra Orthodox, all running around the same busy street. Only we tourists looked at it like it was something out of the ordinary.

The strange thing is that our street, which runs parallel to the Via Dolorosa, has no military presence. We have been wondering why, but will probably never find out the reason.

Every Israeli soldier or police officer we've asked for help or directions has been very nice and helpful.

Anyway. We digress... Once we figured out where the Orthodox were going, we stood around for a few minutes, deciding where to go next. We ended up heading back where we came from, when we were distracted by loud drums, cheering and singing.

There was a large crowd, and we thought it was a festival. On closer inspection, there were flags being waved, and we were worried it might have been a protest. A local girl (probably about 10!) and a shopkeeper assured us it was nothing to be concerned about... it was a wedding!

Despite that, we decided to leave them to it, and went back up through the Damascus Gate, where there were still stalls set up. A group of local teenagers sat out the front flying a kite so high it almost looked like it had escaped them. However they were hanging onto the string very tightly. The sight of a huge kite over the old city was very pretty!

Today was an early start, but not as early as our mornings have been.

First stop? An ATM! Cash runs out quickly in the Old City where there's so much to buy, despite your best attempts to resist! The new city was deserted, since we were up and about before the shops opened. It will  most likely still be quiet because of the Sabbath.

Observation of the day: at the traffic lights, there are no buttons to push to get the lights to change. Presumably this is to do with the Sabbath laws.

After the ATM stop, we shopped 'til we dropped. We visited Majd in the Armenian quarter -- the boy we bought from yesterday. He remembered us, and we picked up a few other items of Armenian pottery.

Nur gave him a little stuffed koala to remember us by!

We then spent ages trying to find another Armenian pottery stall we had been to before, and got caught up buying other things we didn't need because we asked for directions to find it!

They all seem surprised when we come back after saying we will, and tell us that Australians are better than Americans (they probably tell the Americans they're better than the Australians!!! Anything that will help a sale!)

Anyway, the man at our second Armenian pottery shopfest remembered us. He asked us how our hotel was, talked to us about Australia, and helped us part with our hard earned shekels.

He also gave us more directions after we'd finished financing his holiday by buying up half of his stock!

We came  home (funny how the hotel feels like home after just a few days), and got stuck in a crowd of South African tourists, all wearing blue caps so they couldn't lose each other. Nur vowed that we would NOT wear humiliating tour caps in our group, and we would probably be leading the tour through Old Jerusalem, since we're quite the experts after just two and a half days (with a little help from our friends!)

We dropped our goodies off, and went out in search of food to eat on the rooftop. Falafel with chips and a couple of cans of Coke hit the spot, and we were up on the roof just in time for prayer time.

A fellow tourist from Indiana was on the roof too, and was telling us about the area. He had lived here four times over the years teaching at a university and said that the view from our hotel's rooftop was one of the best around.

After we finished our lunch, we chatted with him for a while, before the daughter and niece of one of the hotel staff asked us if we wanted anything from their cafe. So. Cute. These girls made chocolate balls, chocolate chip cookies, sesame biscuits and various drinks to sell  in their little cafe. Very inventive! Australian children could learn a thing or two about running a business from these girls, who couldn't have been much more than 10 or 12. We knew something was going on, because when we'd arrived back, we noticed a sign on the front door advertising their little bakery.

Which leads us to this moment.

We are checking our emails, writing our blog, recovering from the heat and waiting to double check with our tour group about where to meet up tomorrow in Tel Aviv.

It's sad that part one of our Jerusalem adventure finishes tomorrow morning.

It's been amazing.

It will be good to be back with the tour group, but will no doubt be a very different experience to navigating the maze of stalls, churches, synagogues and mosques on our own.

The contrast from one quarter to the next is so interesting and the people all over the city have been really nice, friendly and helpful.

PS. we both have sunburn, despite popular belief that those with 'olive skin' don't burn! However it's nowhere near as painful as Aussie sunburn!