January 1, 2001

Today, "The Situation" (as the Intifada has come to be known) put a damper on our plans. "Ramparts walks" on top of the Old City walls (reputed to be a fantastic way of seeing the city) have been forbidden indefinitely. The Haram as-Sharif (Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque) is closed to non-worshippers (actually, it appears to be closed to non-worshippers and to worshippers below the age of 40 or 45) - the Israeli soldiers who were preventing entry tired of Marthame's persistent questions as to why it was closed, and replied rather ominously, "It's closed forever."

A clergyman outside St. James Armenian Orthodox Cathedral in Jerusalem.

As we left their post, we were handed a flyer explaining the significance of the Temple Mount to Judaism. Bolitics, bolitics. We took solace in the fact that it's a big, big city, with no dearth of things to see, and so we became tourists again, doing some shopping (the pleas of desperate shopkeepers are depressing - as we walked the Via Dolorosa, we wondered if the crowd shouted "50% off" to Jesus, too).

Pearl inlay detail from St. James Armenian Orthodox Cathedral in Jerusalem.

We took a wonderful detour through the Armenian Quarter, arriving in time to be waylaid by the smells and bells of St. James' Armenian Orthodox Cathedral. The church is covered in beautiful carpets and icons, with lanterns hanging from every available ceiling spot. Novices and youth joined with hooded priests in intoning the service. It is built on the site believed to be where St. James' head was interred following his martyrdom.

St. James Armenian Orthodox Cathedral in Jerusalem is crowded with beautiful crosses, icons, candles, and more.

On a roundabout meander through the Armenian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters, we returned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and its unending nooks and crannies (at the holy sites it's the desperate tour guides who depress you). Completing our circuit by way of the Christian Quarter, where our wonderful hotel was, we caught a taxi for our (hopefully) regular Jerusalem get-together with some other ex-pats.

Worshipers at the top of Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Conversations here are often limited to re-hashing the difficulties of The Situation, but these friends give us a welcome respite.