The hospice (which is a beautiful hostel, not a place where people go to die!) resides within the Arab Quarter, which you enter by way of the Damascus Gate. It is so interesting to see how incredibly different this entrance and environment is to the main gates and the Jewish and Armenian Quarters. There are always young kids (8 - 14?) pushing these small overfilled carts of goods through the narrow streets. Contents range from remote controls to fabrics to herbs to cow heads and they yell and navigate their way through the crowds. Coming within inches of dead animal is not my favorite thing, but then realizing that those fly-covered things moving with no cover through the boiling hot market near hundreds of people are going to be someone's dinner really throws me!
The baked goods look and smell different, the clothing stalls are filled with traditional middle-eastern dresses, scarves, wraps and coats worn by the Arab community. Even the streets themselves are different, as they have shallow stairs going down the hilly way, but there are ramps built into the side all the way through to allow for the carts (and for us the double stroller).
The hospice is at the corner of Via Dolorosa which is believed to be the path that Jesus took to his crucifixion, so it is a major tourist hot spot. You would never know from the crowded, dirty, dark doorway that you are about to enter an oasis. The gardens as I've mentioned are beautiful, but something happens to all of us when we get there. No matter how hot, tired or cranky one or both kids are, they light up when we go to the breezy, shaded and beautiful gardens. They both eat differently, and have more patience to sit at our table. But then they are so happy to explore the small area on their own and love to go to strangers that chat them up.
No comments:
Post a Comment