Early November, Kotel, Playgrounds

We returned from Egypt at the beginning of November to find autumn in full swing.  

The students feel like Jerusalem is "home" especially after an out of country field trip.

Here are some photos from fun playgrounds we found, mostly by accident:

This is called the Mitfletset, or Monster.  We drove around for a long time to find it.

We found this cute elephant by the Givat Shaul waste collection center (dump) where they collect glass and cans for recycling.

This fun place is in Har Homa by the fields where we gathered to overlook Bethlehem from a shepherd's point of view.  

A view of Bethlehem at night:

We wandered around looking for the falafel place we passed, took a wrong turn, and ended up at another playground:

At this falafel stand in Har Homa we saw an automatic falafel maker extrude perfect cylindrical falafel balls and fry them in front of our eyes.  Usually the store owner scoops up the chickpea mixture into a round scoop, then pushes a button to eject the greenish blob into the oil.  It is a little time consuming when done by hand, but either way, fresh is definitely best!

We visited the Kotel Tunnel with students, which begins near the Wester Wall and continues underground the length of the wall supporting the Temple Mount/Haram Es Sharif.

King Herod's craftsmen moved and shaped some huge stones to support the base of the wall!

We walked through arches which raised the street level and filled in the ancient valley, a wall close to the estimated location of the Holy of Holies where Jewish people prayed, remnants of a quarry, a partially completed road which would have been street level at the time of Jesus, then an old water system.  Near the water system, the tunnel was tall like the end of Hezekiah's tunnel.

Emily's activity day friends meet every other week for some spiritual lessons and fun.

Emily invented a machine to make sandwiches.

Emily learned about pressure at school.  She demonstrated how to pierce a baggie of water without letting the water out.

We visited the Davidson Archeaological Park, basically the south eastern corner of the temple mount and the surrounding excavations.  This is a popular corner for families who are gathering for bar mitzvahs.  We heard a saxophone and drums playing a lively tune.

This is the pinnacle of the temple, which would have been by a busy street south east of the temple.

Once upon a time, street level was meters higher.  Someone inscribed an adaptation of a verse from Isaiah on a block which is now high up on the wall.

The inscription is under the scraggly bush.

Students love to sit on these steps and envision the Savior walking here on his way from the Temple courtyard to the pool of Siloam.

The girls are waiting for the bus for another great day at the Anglican School!

This sign asks for pedestrians to please not walk through the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood without dressing modestly.

Forgive the randomness here,  every day is unique and different here!