A Jerusalem Birthday!

April 27th was my birthday and I was lucky enough to celebrate in Jerusalem this year! I gave some thought to what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, as I have no idea if I will have another "Jerusalem birthday" in the future or not. Although some of my initial hopes/plans did not end up working out, I still enjoyed the day immensely and wouldn't trade a thing!

I actually began doing my list of desired activities on Monday, the 26th. I have been wanting to go back to Masada ever since arriving in Israel in January, and I wanted to go before summer arrived with its baking temperatures. It was looking like I would be attempting this trip by myself, but a special couple I met the Friday before offered to go with me. It was their first time to Masada and my fourth. Ken and Judith were great company, and I enjoyed being able to explore the rest of Masada's plateau that we've never had time for in '04, '06, and '08. It was definitely a warm day and I am glad I went now!

That adventure began early Monday morning as we left Christ Church to catch the 8:15 bus from Jaffa Gate up to Jerusalem's Central Bus Station. It was a slow trip due to traffic, and we arrived at the station with barely ten minutes to stand in line, buy our tickets, make a quick stop, and then board the bus for a 1 hour/40 minute ride down to Masada. It was an uneventful ride, and I was so excited to have figured out the bus system thus far and actually be on my way!!

We arrived at Masada a little before 11am, watched a short video of its history, and then rode the cable car up to the top. From there, we spent 3 hours walking around the plateau (it measures about 1800 x 900 feet). We had brought some snacks for lunch and bought ice cream when we returned back down to the entrance center. Ken and Judith treated me to my ice cream! :-)

By the way, Masada has quite an intriguing history, check out wikipedia for an overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada.

Masada is a plateau on the west side of the Dead Sea; these cliffs are about 1300 feet high.

One of the new things I got to see was this enormous water cistern, built during King Herod's reign. It is 64 steps below ground, and the steps are quite uneven and steep. Given my past history with stairs in Israel, I went down and up these steps extremely carefully! :-)
Can you believe how huge this cistern is? It doesn't rain often in this region, so Herod took advantage of what little rain does fall and built a complex water system. If this cistern were full and water was used judiciously, it would last quite a while!

Herod built a three-tiered palace on the northern end of Masada. The bottom two tiers are built on the side of the plateau and offer incredible views of the Dead Sea region. This is looking down from the top floor at the lower tiers.

The lowest tier of Herod's northern palace. I had not had opportunity my previous three visits to climb down here, so it was one of my priorities this time! This is looking back up at the top of the palace (the place where I took the previous picture). The columns and paint are original from Herod's time.
A look at the stairs I had to climb back up from the third tier of Herod's northern palace to the top of the Masada plateau. I definitely got my work out this day!
Looking east from Herod's northern palace . . .

After touring Masada and eating ice cream, Ken, Judith and I caught the 3:20pm bus back to Jerusalem. We got off at the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem's New City and I opted to walk back to Christ Church rather than wait for the bus to come and then make twenty dozen stops along the way. Ken and Judith took the bus back, and I think they did beat me back. It was about a 35 minute walk back for me, but it was quite pleasant as Jerusalem is higher in elevation than Masada and cooler. I got back to Christ Church about 6pm--just in time to clean up for dinner!

My traveling companions from Masada--Ken and Judith (from Australia!).

I started celebrating my birthday on Tuesday by sleeping in! The original plans for that morning fell through, but I happily substituted sleeping in for those. After a lazy morning, I had morning tea consisting of pita bread and a cup of hot chocolate made special for the day by Rafi. (silly computer turned this picture sideways; I can't get it back around, but Rafi made a flower on the top!)


For lunch, I walked to Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter to enjoy a falafel in their busy "Food Court."


Following lunch and a little bit of shopping, I decided to treat myself to ice cream on Ben Yehuda Street. This is in Jerusalem's New City; it's a good 15-20 minute walk, so I had to earn my cold treat. :-) There is a great ice cream shop that offers all kinds of flavors; I stuck to my favorites--a waffle cone with chocolate and cherry ice cream (two separate flavors, not mixed together!).



Following that sweet treat, I had one more treat planned for the day. I have walked past a flower shop many times since I got here 3 1/2 monts ago and often been tempted to buy some flowers. I have resisted temptation, thinking that would be my treat to myself on my birthday this year. Finally, the day had arrived! I got to pick what flowers I wanted; of course, I picked all purple and white. The bouquet is quite large and only cost me 50 shekels (about $13.50)! I think this bouquet is absolutely gorgeous and am enjoying it immensely!



I finished out my birthday by watching a movie with a friend. We stopped it in the middle to go have dinner and my sweet friends here had planned a little birthday surprise. Michelle had worked late to make a birthday cake! After dinner, they turned out the lights in the dining room while she brought out the cake (complete with candles), and everybody sang Happy Birthday. It was a chocolate chip cake with chocolate/cream cheese frosting--absolutely delicious! Michelle had even made up purple frosting with which to decorate it!


While we all enjoyed this fabulous cake, Michelle asked where I was on my birthday last year. As I stopped to think and remember, it was interesting to realize that one year ago, I had absolutely no idea I would be celebrating my 2010 birthday in Jerusalem. It just goes to show one never knows what a year will bring! In my case, this past year has brought some fabulous opportunities and I will never forget my Jerusalem birthday!

Thank you to all my friends who made my birthday so special!!!