Thursday, August 7

What a fun morning we had! We met some friends from the states. Actually they are friends of our children, Mike and Kirsten, but we had met them before. Issa is Arab and grew up in Bethlehem and he and Mike became friends when Mike’s parents were in Israel doing mission work. Issa, his wife, Susie, and their two children now live in Michigan, but they were back here visiting relatives. They met us at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City and then we hiked to Hezekiah’s Tunnel and all waded through the spring water. Susie lost a shoe when she nearly slipped and fell early on. Thankfully it floated on ahead and hit me in the leg so it was retrieved J. The two children, aged 7 and 5, were not sure they wanted to go. It gets pretty deep at the beginning and when Susie slipped they got scared. In the end they made the brave decision to go for it and they finished strong! Issa’s uncle and a niece were along, too. They are just delightful people.

Following the tunnel we walked to the Western Wall and then back through the Old City. The Western Wall has changed since we were there in 2003. Now there is a barrier in front of it and you can only enter through a gate where each person must show ID and all bags are inspected. Women go through one gate and men another. At first Issa’s niece was refused since she was not with her parents, but in the end Issa’s uncle was able to talk them into letting her through.

We split ways when they headed to the bus station for their ride home.

We ate at a new restaurant, The Olive and Fish, on our way home. We’ve walked by it several times and decided to try it this time. It was very good - comes with top recommendations from us. When we got home, I rested a bit and iced my back. It’s acting up, causing pain in my hip and knee again.

Then we hiked down to the internet store for some catch up on emails. Came home and typed the evening away.