Up early to get the Western Wall Plaza early so we could collect our tickets for the tunnels tour.Our tour guide this time was an American archaeologist.  She explained the history of the tunnels and how they came about. The temple mount area was created by building a retaining wall around the hill, Mount Moriah, and then filled in and levelled. After the Jewish rebellion (73 CE), the Romans destroyed the temple and the entire city – a lot of the material from the temple was dumped over the walls. When Jerusalem was occupied by the Muslims they built their houses on this rubble and against the Temple Mount wall. All the remains visible above ground is what we see today as the Western Wall. An archaeologist in the 1900’s, Warren, dug under some of the houses to see if he could find the base of this retaining wall, He succeeded in part and made numerous discoveries. After Jerusalem was reunited and came under the control of Israel after the six day war in 1967 excavation started again.

After more than twenty years hollows and arches under the houses have been excavated and a series of tunnels now exist that begins, just off the Western Wall Plaza and end at cisterns that are under the Via Delarosa.

We had been through the tunnels in 2006 but wanted to see them again as this is the real thing – stones and streets as they were almost 2000 years ago.

There are also a lot of new excavations currently happening in the tunnels. Under Wilson’s Arch, below the current floor, a series of rooms and a Mikvah have been found. In the main hall further work is being done. The largest stone of the wall, the foundation stone, 13 x 3 x 4 Meters is total amazing, it never ceases to amaze us that a stone so big and weighing more than 500 tons can be placed so precisely.

Further along the tunnels, the area reputed to be nearest the holy of holies is being enlarged. This means that more excavation is also taking place, but as yet no significant discoveries have been made … but there is always the potential for surprise.

Leaving the tunnels we stopped at Pizzeria Basti (where Suzanne had taken us on Tuesday) and had an omelet breakfast.  What we like about this place is that you tell them what you want, and they make it.  No menus, no fuss.  Anwar came over after a while, shook Rob’s hand and apologized for not recognizing us immediately (he only arrived whilst we were eating).  Breakfast came with the usual Israeli tomato, cucumber, soft cheese and pita, which seems standard.  We had their fresh orange juice again… WOW ! That stuff really has a kick it is so fresh and concentrated that it curls your toes, but boy it is good.

We retrieved a message from the City of David tours to say that our tour was moved.  For some reason, the guide was no longer available for 2 pm.  They did say that if we wanted to do a “self-guided” tour they would waive the usual entrance fee for this.   So we had to change our plans.   Rushing off we tried to catch the No. 99 bus, which is a round-the-city-tour on an open topped bus.  But frustration set-in, the timetable on the website was wrong! Grrrr (although Rob was “slightly” more annoyed than “grrr” indicates …).  After checking the time for the next bus, they run + every 2 hours we walked up into the New City to one of the other stops and got on the bus about an hour later.

While waiting for the Bus we watched the IAF do some aerobatics over the city.

On the bus we each got headphones and plugging them into a panel next to each seat we selected English and listened to a commentary of the areas we passed each point of interest, with a bit of Israeli music in between. The tour really gave us a good idea of the city. From the central area we went up to Mt Scopus for a panoramic view of Jerusalem from the north looking south, then travelling past the Old City to the east we had a great view of the Mount of Olives. Travelling south to the start of the Haas Promenade we then got a view from the south. We then passed through a number of the suburbs south of Jerusalem and were amazed at the size of the city. The variety of building and styles is truly amazing, most homes are apartment blocks, some only 3 floors, others seem to climb up hills or down valleys in terraces. Multi-storey block abound but every building is covered in Jerusalem sandstone. In one respect this looks monochromatic as all the stone is the same colour, but the texture and finish of the stone varies from rustic rough blocks to mirror polished finish, and the style of the buildings also vary from traditional to super modern. Most Jewish home are modest without many exterior embellishments (other than brightly coloured plants, etc.), the contrast is the Arab home often have colons, elaborate balconies, and archers. The tour finished by travelling through the Government block, the Knesset, Museums, Supreme Court and government buildings.  These too are covered in sandstone in modern and often striking designs.

Art, design, architecture and music abound, every style and flavour are to be seen, but more on that later.

Getting off the bus we strolled back to the studio, we will be extremely fit by the time we get back.  En route we were tempted by a bakery… fresh breads, cakes, pastries and sooooo much more, so we bought a few chocolate éclairs and savoury Danish – which we’d eaten by the time we’d walked one block …

After a little sleep to try and catch up on some after all the early mornings, we headed to Foccaccia Bar for supper.

Tomorrow, City of David Day 13… and “who knows what” in the afternoon.