After having first, second, third, fourth and fifth post about the old city of Jerusalem, here are some views of the new city from the old city.
Jerusalem (जेरुसलेम) is the capital of Israel and also the largest city in the country. Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown up outside the Old City. The history of the city goes back to 4th century BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
The city is full of hills and dry valleys and a crisscross road drive is interesting. It is about an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, takes little less to reach the airport and half-hour away from the dead sea. Going to Palestinian areas such as Bethlehem or Ramallah or Jerico is facilitated by an Arab bus network that connects these places to the city. The rest of Israel is also well connected since Jerusalem lies more or less at the center of the country.
Jerusalem stone is a name applied to a family of pale limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem, that have been used in building since ancient times. The city looks very ‘pale’.
Jerusalem is considerably conservative compared to Tel Aviv – be it the shutdown on Shabbat or the presence of night life. Ofcourse if you want to know, you would know of the right places to go 😉 My interaction was limited mostly to the old city and I did not venture out to explore the new city.
As I wrote in my Peru travelog, something should be left unseen for the next visit 🙂
Great going dude!!! I think I would like to travel with you sometime in your next adventure…
Swapneel:
Thanks, we can definitely try that!
Great pics and story again, have you ever thought of going on a Total Solar Eclipse tour? I could live vicariously through your blog trip, hey you could pick up some Solar Eclipse souvenirs for me as well,lol.
Hi Bob,
Someone did ask me about the July 2009 solar eclipse. It is going to start in India and end in the Pacific, right? You should go 😛 See India and Nepal and Bhutan. I prefer to visit your blog for astrostuff… lol
Its interesting how these Biblical towns that you read about look so different in real …sometimes imagination is better I guess 🙂
Lakshmi:
The bibical towns (Old cities of Jerusalem, Akko, Jaffa etc) still look pretty much the same. But the new cities surrounding them dont 🙂
Priyank, I’m so glad that you’ve added the missing posts to your amazing trip – I was really waiting for them, having enjoyed the first few so much. I must say that they were worth waiting for !!
As for the new Jerusalem, I’m glad you left it for next time, and since you’re going to be in Tel Aviv for a whole semester in 2009, we expect to you come and visit us in person 🙂
Debi:
For sure, a visit is must 🙂
Thanks for your sweet comments, I admit though, the travelogues shouldn’t have draggged on for this long!
I think you mean Jerusalem is about 4,000 years old, its history going back to about 2000BCE. There are of course towns much older – Jericho [to date the oldest of all], Megiddo and Hatzor for example, just within Israel; then towns around the south-eastern Euphrates are much older as are most of the ancient towns within today’s Iraq, Egypt, Anatolia and Syria.
Jeff:
Thanks for the informative comment. I posted here the pictures of Jerusalem that hs grown and is growing beyond the old city, that’s why “new” Jerusalem!
There is a “New Jerusalem” in Russia which I visited too 🙂
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