Boldly Go Solo

I've been home from Israel for several weeks now and still haven't figured out what to write about it. Facts and figures about history and religion rained down on me during my 10-day visit. I was awed by sights that millions have visited before me.

The religious and political aspects of life in Israel, and between Israel and other countries, have been written about time and again.  

So where do I take a story? Or a blog post? No point in me recounting the complicated history I learned (and maybe should have already known). That can be found in books.

Books retelling stories from the Israelites to the Babylonians to the Persians to the Greeks during the Hellenistic period to the Romans, the Byzantines, the early Muslims, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, the British…

It's fascinating, to be sure, but also confusing to try to synthesize what I've heard, what I've read, what people say. The nuances vary, depending on who's talking, and who's arguing with who's talking (which happened aplenty during my trip), what religion they are and what their political beliefs are.  

Truth is, much of tourism in Israel is about the history and religion and religious conflicts over time. But the story is massive.

So maybe I'll just write about lunch. That's right. Focus on the little things. What a few hours in the walled Old City of Jerusalem was like on one Friday afternoon.

Just pick little, tiny pieces of a visit to Israel.

And so we enter the ancient city for a few hours for a little visit. Via the Muslim Quarter. For lunch at Abu Kamel, owned by an Arab who is a friend of our Jewish Israeli guide. A place where our guide spent a lot of lunchtimes as a kid, he said.

Hummus and falafel, naturally.

I traveled with a group* in Israel and group lunches proceed like this: First come the bowls of tomato salads, cabbage slaws, beets, olives and more, accompanied by baskets of warm pita bread. The plates and bowls of food fill the table. We push things closer together to make room.

The hummus is always presented artistically, usually in a pretty bowl. It is smoothed and shaped in some way for presentation, not just spooned in. And it is flecked with spices or a few chickpeas or some olive oil or all of the above.

Then, when you're full because you didn't realize that was just the beginning, the hot falafel comes out and perhaps some other hot food. Meat dumplings, chicken skewers or some such. And you didn't save enough pita for that. But they bring more. And then you overeat. Because it is all so good, fresh, hot.

The coffee after is dark and sweet. The tea often flavored with cardamom.

We leave our lunch spot and within a few minutes we're walking past the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian pilgrimage destination, said to be where Jesus was crucified and where he is buried. At least according to some Christians. Others disagree and believe Jesus was buried outside the city walls at the Garden Tomb.

Welcome to Israel.

Being such a holy place for Christians, there is not just one denomination in charge. The church serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem but several Christian churches share control of the building.

An Arab holds the key and another guards the door, a long-time practice begun when Muslims held the land and Christians were splitting into factions. Or so some say. 

But wait, I was supposed to focus just on lunch. Not get into all the religions duking it out in this small land. More to the point, in this one city.

I only wanted to point out how close all these religious and ethnic sites are. Once past the church, we crossed into the Armenian Quarter at some point (the other two quarters being the Christian and the Jewish.)

Some of us got pulled into a souvenir shop. Israel might be the only place where the shopkeeper asks your religion. And you tell him. He wants to know whether to sell you a cross or a star of David. So you oblige because he won't let up.

The store held a jumble of items representing several religions. A bucket filled with shofars used for Jewish religious purposes, sits next to a carving of the Last Supper. And a chess set. I suppose the chess set goes both ways.

And we've fallen back into religion. Because it can't be helped, particularly in Jerusalem. It's ever present.

Okay, we'll exit our little tour via a candy shop. Armenian, I think, though I couldn't really tell you. Walk a few steps one way or the other and you're in someone else's territory.

I know for sure it wasn't Jewish because it would have been closed for the Sabbath and our visit was on a Friday.  

In any case, it was a sweet ending to a jumble of a day.

Photos: Ellen Perlman. 

1. Entering the Muslim Quarter. 2. Bread vendor. 3. Abu Kamel hummus lunch spot. 4. Young server at restaurant (I use the term loosely. There were some tables and plastic chairs outside a take-away stand) 5. A well dug in a big bowl of hummus. 6. Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 7. Arab girl coming out of her home. Older sister is nearby somewhere 8. Schofars for sale in Armenian quarter. 9. Candy man selling halva, Turkish delight and other sweets. Something for every ethnic and religious group! (Except those who keep kosher)

*I was in Israel with freelance writers from the Society of American Travel writers. As a solo traveler you might want to consider day tours for some of your trip, or listen in on a tour in progress. It's fascinating to hear the guides talk about the different religions and their perspectives while at the sights in Jerusalem. The guides don't seem to mind. Twice we found we had add-ons tagging along and politely keeping to the back.