Foraging for food in preparation for Friday...

You know how in Australia on a Friday around 4pm, everyone at work sort of downs tools and knocks off for the weekend?

Well, in Israel, they take that one step further.

Friday is dead in parts of Old Jerusalem. The new city's not much better!

We have worked out a cunning plan to keep up our walking fuel -- Friday is the Muslim holy day, so that day we can shop in the Jewish quarter. Saturday is the Jewish holy day, so we can shop in the Christian quarter. Sunday is the Christian sabbath, so we can shop anywhere we want but the Christian quarter on Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon we managed to get completely lost in an Arab residential area, and a nice Jewish guard took pity on the directionless Aussies and took us back to the Muslim quarter's market area.

We met two nice Australians from Malvern near the Wailing Wall. They were on a tour. Basically, during our great adventure in the Arab residential unknown, we were looking for ways to get back the main gates. How do you do that? Spot the tourist groups. There was much excitement when we spotted a bunch of people wearing very un-Israeli hats and carrying cameras. They were our salvation and led us to the safety of the main business district.

Tip for the day -- always wear sunscreen and make sure you break up your big notes before heading to the markets. They will always complain that they don't have enough cash to give you. And the sunscreen? The reason for that will become apparent when you get back to our hotel looking like a beetroot. The sun here is different. It doesn't sting, therefore telling you that you're burning, the way it does in Australia.

Also, stock up on water when it's not a holy day!!! What was 1.5 litres for 4 shekels became 1.5 for 5 shekels on Thursday, and up to 8 shekels today. Highway robbery, but what can you do? A tourist has to hydrate!

We've been walking around as you would on a summer day in Melbourne, with our arms uncovered, though with long skirts, of course -- and the only people to take offence have been the ultra Orthodox Jews. The men avert their eyes as they walk past us, which is kind of amusing, since the most devout of Muslims doesn't bat an eyelid.

One Orthodox man asked us for donations for poor families for Shabbat dinner though, and there was no eye aversion.

Our day started at 3.37 on the dot, when we were woken by the prayer call. Lesson to anyone planning to stay in the Muslim quarter: invest in earplugs unless you want a true, Jerusalem experience. The prayer time went on for well over half an hour. We had a knock on our door just before it all started, which is most likely to do with the fact that often people knock on doors to remind people to get up for prayers. My Saudi friend knocks on every door in her house to make sure everyone wakes up for prayer time!

After our early wake-up call, we chatted, and eventually left the hotel at 8, after a breakfast of fruit and cashews.

First stop -- the newer part of Jerusalem, outside the walls of the old city. Dead. Nothing was going on. We bought challah to go with our outrageously expensive water, and sat down to have a mid-morning snack.

After that, we spotted an Italian Synagogue and the Italian Jewish area, complete with French music playing in the background -- just for something different.

After that, we headed back to the old city, to the Armenian quarter. We were confronted by a man who was very, very pushy, trying to sell us some Armenian pottery. He told us we could bring him good luck if we were his first sale of the day. We eventually got away, walked through the market and found a stall run by a young boy who was maybe 10 or 11. He also wanted to sell us something, but wasn't pushy. When we said no, we didn't want to buy anything, he still gave us directions to where we wanted to go.

The boy's stall was just on the edge of the Jewish quarter. We decided to go back and buy from him, because he was so helpful, even though we hadn't intended to pick up any souvenirs today.

He was very happy to see us! The first thing he said was "You said you'd come back!" And we had, about 20 minutes earlier. We'd told him we'd be back in a few days.

We spent 100 shekels in his shop, buying Armenian pottery and Israeli glasswear (this is so beautiful, it has to be seen to be believed!) He gave us a good deal. Other places were selling their pottery and glass for much more, but we noticed that he dusted every item before he gave it to us, because each one was covered in dust. His shop is not in the main tourist area, so presumably he doesn't get a lot of tourist traffic. It was nice to be able to give him some cash for his beautiful products!

We then walked (with instructions from our new friend the shop boy!) to the Jewish quarter, which is a complete contrast to the Armenian and Muslim quarters.

The Jewish quarter is spotless. It's organised. It's very well set out. We could live there.

The Muslim quarter is organised chaos! It's bright, colourful, hectic and full of spices and Arabic sweets. People shout to you to get your attention, so you'll buy their wares. People push their carts full of produce down the narrow street (if you could call it that!) and whistle for people to get out of the way.  It's wonderful, but tiring here!

The Armenian quarter seems sadder. It's not as busy with tourists, so the money doesn't seem to be going in there so much. In contrast, the Jewish quarter has expensive shopping with designer/artisan items. The Muslim quarter is full of amazing bargains. They are both full to the brim with tourists and people offering to be your guide.

We just had lunch on the roof of our hotel, which has the most amazing view of the golden Dome. The dome itself has illuded us for the the past few days. Try as we might, we can't find a way to it. Tonight's plan is to map out a fool-proof route. And if all else fails, to find that nice Iraeli security guy to give us directions again!

We're now off to explore the Christian quarter. We've skirted around it, but haven't actually gone into the area.

Our feet are still holding up -- but only just! So far today we have done 13,846 steps or 8.03 kilometres!

At this rate, we will need a holiday from our holiday!