Day 2 Jerusalem 6/17/09

Well so much for trying to beat jet lag.  For those who are curious, NO JET LAG pills do not actually work.  We were all up around 3 am this morning and our day began.  Luckily, we all had enough to keep us busy until the sun came up.  The girls watched a few episodes of I LOVE LUCY. We bought them the first season on dvd before we came.  I caught up on email, started a blog and did a good amount of reading for Wexner and my own pleasure.  By 7 am, we headed down for breakfast.  And what a spread it was...all kinds of cheeses, a full salad bar, the best burekas ever, breads, sweets and pancakes and blintzes with chocolate sauce.  There were many different types of fish and of course, the freshest fruit in the world.  So I was very happy!  We dined with the Dordicks. They set off on their morning excursion and we set off on our own walking tour to Mea Shearim, the religious quarter.  Of course, we had to stop for Iced Coffee slush and a fresh fruit smoothie on the way.  (You'll see that much of my blogging will be about the food..no holding back here!)  Marc went in search of the son of a taxi driver he befriended here many years ago but no luck.  The address he had did not seem to match what he remembered. So it was a good walk for all of us and we rewarded the girls with their favorite ice cream pop, watermelon shaped and yummy.  We investigated the bus station to plan our journeys to Tel Aviv and Safed while we're here.  And then we cabbed it over to the Old City to meet up with the Dordicks for lunch and shopping at the Cardo.  We bought Elli a beautiful and colorful talit for his Bar Mitzvah tomorrow and then dined in a dairy cafe for lunch.  After lunch, we visited King David's tomb and the supposed sight of the Last Supper. I've now been in Jerusalem at least 8 times and this was the first time to these historic sites. We got some great views from above and then made our way back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta.  We tried to avoid it but we all benefited from the two hour nap.  We met up with the Dordicks for a lovely Italian dinner near the Russian colony.  Homemade pasta and yummy salads.  We were still raring to go after dinner so the Dollingers, along with Fran and Elli, the Bar Mitzvah boy, headed over to Ben Yehuda for some late night snacks and shopping.  Our favorite dessert spot in Jerusalem did not disappoint..Babettes waffles smothered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  It was as delicious as I remember. Thank you Michael. I'll be sure to have an extra one for you.  More window shopping as we slowly made our way back to the hotel in preparation for tomorrow's big day...Elli's Bar Mitzvah.  Ad machar...until tomorrow!