Sunday- Carillon Bells, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and a Bomb

On Sunday, which is not the Sabbath for members of the Church in Jerusalem we headed out to play the Carillon bells at the YMCA in Jerusalem.  The organist for the Jerusalem Center has arranged to play the bells every Sunday for an hour.  The bells ring out over Jerusalem.  She is able to take students or in our case visitors, to help her play.  Sister  Clayton was a great instructor and helped each of the kids learn a song well enough to accompany her.  It was fun for the kids to learn about carillon bells and how they are played, as well as have their music heard by others.  We played church songs as well as other pieces.  Good subliminal messages since there is no proselyting in Israel.

 View of the Jerusalem Center from the YMCA.  It was zoomed in, it wasn't that close.

 Tight winding stairs up the tower.

After playing the carillon bells we followed their tradition and walked down the winding narrow stairs to the bottom and went outside and took a picture in front of the YMCA making the letters or course.  We then went across the street to the King David Hotel and looked at all the famous signatures of its guests.  Security is tight at the hotel, their was a bomb set off there once.  We had to have permission to enter the lobby of the hotel since we weren't guests and then we walked the long corridor and looked for signatures we recognized.  The kids were not familiar with most of the names, but they did find a few they recognized like President Bush.

 Our group.  The young couple with the baby were Brother and Sister Clayton's son and daughter-in-law that were visiting the same time we were.

 We then headed off to explore Hezekiah's Tunnel.  Hezekiah's Tunnel is a tunnel that was dug underneath the City of David in Jerusalem in ancient times. Its popular name is due to the most common hypothesis of its origin, namely that it dates from the reign of Hezekiah of Judah (late 8th and early 7th century BCE) and corresponds to the waterworks mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20 in the Bible.^[1] According to the Bible, King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians, by "blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David".  

 

You can see the little measurement under Benjamin's elbows showing how deep the water in the tunnel was.  It was that deep when you first entered the tunnel and the water was a little fast moving, but it quickly dropped down and was only to about the knees.

It was definitely a highlight for the kids, especially the boys. We watched a short video on the tunnel and then headed down into the waters.  Hezekiah's Tunnel is part of what used to be the City of David.  Because, it was winter and a little cooler outside, there were not many tourists that were willing to walk in the water.  In fact, we were the only ones.  However, the water was a nice temperature and did not feel cool.  Since we could walk at our own pace and did not need to wait for people in front of us we were able to walk through the tunnel in about 20 minutes.  Once inside the tunnel it is pitch black.  We used head lamps to light the way.  

Under ground excavations.  This would have been the ancient City of David.

When we came out we had some beautiful views of East Jerusalem.  These are Palestinian neighborhoods.  The sun was starting to get low in the sky, which made for some beautiful light.

Palestinian kids playing.

After we exited the tunnel we needed to walk back to the beginning to retrieve our things as well as walk to the car.  When we got back the the entrance there was a large group of military men and women assembling.  It is near the entrance to Jewish Quarter of the Old City and seems to be location that the military uses to pick and drop off soldiers, since I remember from my days on the Semester Abroad program that you would always find military over there. Didn't think to get a picture.

As we walked back to our cars, the street was blocked.  We were in two different groups.  One on one side of the street and the other group on the other side of the street.  My mom, Kevin, Anne Marie, and the girls got to the police barricade first.  The soldier told them that they couldn't pass because the street was closed.  My mom explained that our car was just up the street and that we would get it and leave quickly.  The soldier kept trying to tell my mom that she couldn't pass and she kept trying to explain that she would just get her car and leave.  He had a thick accent and she wasn't understanding that he was telling her there was a bomb.  Finally, Kevin broke in and told her, "Linda, there is a bomb.  That is why you can't pass."  Linda, "Oh, a bomb.  OK we will wait."  We got a kick out of the story.  

We waited in a little store on the side of the road.  Bought some cookies for the kids to keep them occupied.  After about 20 minutes they had cleared the 'unattended bagg', all was fine and we were able to continue on our way.  That is a pretty typical scenario in Jerusalem.  No one seemed overly concerned, so neither was I.  They take security very seriously there, which is partly why you feel so safe.

We made it back to the Center safe and sound.  I love this City! Another fun and eventful day.