Prague Journal

Sunday, April 17, 2005.

We took the morning train to Jerusalem and Rick’s cousin Ronnie greeted us at the train station. This line was just opened a few weeks ago, and both the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem stations are still under construction. Ronnie and Yaffa have a new apartment in Bet Ha-Kerem, a bit smaller than their pervious flat, and closer to Ronnie’s office at the Hebrew University. They have two balconies with lovely potted plants and overhanging gardens. The weather has been cool, so most flowers are still in bloom.
Yaffa took us to the Old City, and we spent the afternoon walking around the Christian and Armenian Quarters, and visited several old churches including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the cisterns below St. Catherine. We peeked in to a Messianic service, which was strangely conducted in Hebrew, with familiar Hebrew prayers, followed by a communion ceremony with wafer and wine representing the body and blood of Christ. As we walked through the Christian Quarter, we saw several groups of pilgrims carrying crosses, singing, and praying at the various stations of the cross, along the Via Dolorosa from the Muslim Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter.
We didn’t see Elad, Ronnie’s youngest son, until dinnertime. School is out this and next week for the Passover holiday, so Elad spent the day with friends. Elad is now 16, and quite changed from five years ago when we last saw him during Ronnie’s sabbatical year in Boulder.

posted by JWinn @ 11:01 PM