Still Monday 9th

Hello.

On the right here is liz modelling the division between east and west Jerusalem... to the left of the middle of the road, west; to the right east. We haven't gone left yet.
but nobody is fooling that Israel isn't permeating the east too, in the deprivation, in the 2000 lost hotel rooms and in the occasional blue flags in the souk, another house bought up for Israel.

This is our last day in Jerusalem for a while and we are in fine spirits and feeling very at home here in East Jerusalem. A fine day yesterday- although when we finally got around to getting on the net and checking through our photos there was a spooky lack of images form the ultra orthodox quarter - other than the tshirt we posted... It was a weirdly quiet maze of acres of brand new simulacra of the rest of the walled city. the difference was not just the spic and span new hewnness of the stone walls. The place was deadly quiet. when we finally found our way out my pulse was raised and my hackles too... We did not feel welcome in this area at all, the atmosphere felt a bit oppressive - people did not seem to acknowledge our presence, no smiles or greetings... the community seemed insular by design.

The wailing wall was the liveliest place (liz has just remarked she is not sure that lively not entirely the right word, maybe 'busy' is more exact.) It was crammed to the gunnels. Lots of extraordinarily large furry hats which were brought here a century or so ago and are still clamped firmly to heads. Jolly practical in this climate.

we crossed through an arch and were back in the warm lively souk, full of soul and such a mix of people... cultures and religions and styles. We have seen a few IDF types meandering about, although what exactly they are policing I do not know as this place has one of the safest and friendliest vibes of any inner city i have been in...

We are going for a wander soon - we have more administrative details to attend to. Won't bore you with the grisly details.

We have been lucky to meet the man who can and his partner from the Jerusalem hotel - helpful, well connected to useful things and people and a lovely spot to sit and drink beer and eat (we were magicked a table in the very busy restaurant, and even more amazing had a travel hitch which was starting to seriously stress us out sorted out...)
bye x