The Sights

Here's the street my hotel is on in the Talpiot neighborhood:


And here it is, the only hotel in Talpiot:

This isn’t really a vacation for me; it’s a working trip. Not much time for sightseeing;just work most of the day. Today was my second day in the archives and it was much more routine.

The weather was much cooler last night and there were no more bugs, so I slept well (though I still woke up earlier than I preferred)and made sure I came down for breakfast after 7:30, when all the food was out. After that I left for the archives.

Now, I feel like an old hand in the archives. I went right to the computers and started going through the holdings, looking for files. Then I started going through the files I hadn’t finished going through yesterday. One thing I’ve been struggling with is that my Hebrew isn’t bureaucratic. I have a pretty good vocabulary for everyday things and for historical texts. What I don’t have, though, is a vocabulary for government affairs. Sure, I know the words for “minister,” and“ministry,” but all the other language of government documents is new tome. Since I left my dictionary at home,I just try to figure it out from context. In any case, I’ll do my translation work when I get home.

Staring at page after page of onion-skin carbon copies (you wondered where those end up? Well, now you know, they go to archives) makes bleary eyed after a while so I look forward to lunch. Today I tried a foccacia sandwich at Hillel Café. It was much better than yesterday’s pizza, but too much food. I need to find a cheaper place for lunch that doesn’t overwhelm me with giant portions. I found two bakeries a few blocks away under the Pardes School;they both have sandwiches and bourekas (Moroccan knishes), so I will try one tomorrow.

After a whole set of files that were just dry wells (nothing relevant), then I opened one of four files I ordered with the same title (just different and distinct files on a related theme): “Plans for the Teaching of History, 1939 to1966.” Lots of good stuff. Not that I’m sure how I’m going to use it,but still good stuff. I stayed up until they rang the bell for last call (so to speak) at 3:50 pm.

Instead of going to Aroma cafe, I went to the bakery by my old apartmen

I went back to the industrial section of Talpiot for dinner.

I went back to the “skewery”(it’s official name is Tsiyon Hagadol) and had a kebob in pita.

(my kebob is one of the ones on the grill)


It comes with a choice of toppings:


The dining area is a little nicer than I remember it from 12 years ago; then it was just a big tent:


Then I walked up to the promenade, to see the Old City sky line at sunset. It's a ten minute walk from the hotel:


At that point, it’s clear enough to make out the mountains of Jordan. You can also make out the separation barrier:


I decided to treat myself to some ice cream and then it was back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow’s work.