Facing Fears

Today I took Ramparts Walk which along part of the wall surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem. I topped the wall at Jaffa Gate and decsended at Dung Gate. In the map below, the X (work with me, it's supposed to be an X) underneath "City" is roughly where I live at St. George's Cathedral/College.

For some perspective, it takes me about 10 minutes to walk to Damascus Gate and maybe another 10 or 15 to walk to Jaffa Gate. The walk along the top of the wall took me about 45 minutes.

Now the distance isn't that far...but I'm afraid of heights.... Each of the little knots that point out of the wall is a "tower" which means I had to climb a little higher (only about 5ft more, but still). This wasn't a problem when I first climbed up the wall (which is a lie, I sort of froze on the stairs up and the very friendly guard encouraged me on!) where the wall floor was quite wide and sided by rock on each side. But as I travelled, the inner side opened to just an iron fence and the floor was significantly smaller. The floor is uneven rock and like all rock throughout the city, slippery. I very much had to force myself to continue. The stairs were the worst.

Alas, I made it to the end. Tomorrow I will attempt the other portion of the walk: from Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate.

Below are some pictures of my travels:

Looking back toward the top of the stairs at my entry point behind Jaffa Gate and the Tower of David.

The narrow walkway that was sided by stone...nice and safe...and the plaque briefly explaining the history wall.

The southwestern corner tower in the Ottoman wall is built over the remains of a large fortress dated to the Fatimid and Crusader periods. The remains may be seen at the foot of and outside the tower.

And c'mon! Look at that rail...would you trust it? I really am higher up than this picture suggests :)

This was an Armenian cemetery as viewed from the wall.

And because every post so far has shown the Dome of the Rock...this was near where I dismounted the wall...in the Jewish Quarter, right near the Western Wall.

Today being Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), coming out at the Western Wall was quite something. I walked around the grounds but did not go up to the Wall, instead I just watched and listened as the Rabbis said their prayers. It was pretty spectualuar to witness.

No pictures are allowed on Shabbat out of respect for those in worship. Guards continually warn you against taking pictures. Standing at the entry gate watching, a group of men beside me started to snap photos. I leaned over and whispered to them the guards will take their cameras if they see. The dialogue after was something like:
Them: "I pay my taxes in this country...I come here...I'll take pictures if I want... What's the big deal?"
Me: It's the Sabbath and they belief it's disrespectful.
Them: Pfftt...whatever...it doesn't matter.
Kerri: It matters to them.

As Kerri walks away, the guards warn them about pictures.

After this, I wandered the Jewish quarter and a bit into the Muslim quarter, which I found a marked difference between. The Jewish quarter, while closed up, was busy with people heading to/from the Synogogue or the Wall. Men and women were well dressed and the men wore Kippah (a skull cap), Tallit (a prayer shawl) and Tefilin (small leather box with long leather straps attached, worn on the left forearm and on the forehead, inside which are passages from the scriptures). In contrast, the Muslim quarter seems very poor...dark and was nearly empty.

And just when I start to wonder if I've gotten myself lost...out I come back onto the Via Delorosa and into the market stalls.