Sunday, February 5, 2012

Making history come alive in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter

This past Friday I had the privilege and good fortune to snag an invitation to a fantastically fun event - a scavenger hunt through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

The event, organized for a group of bloggers by Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts, was run brilliantly from start to finish - the routes and stops were fascinating and Tali Tarlow and her crew didn't miss a thing - from the way they made history come alive with Tali's beautifully researched (and laminated! and spiral bound! and so so so well organized!) information packets and route clues to the stories they told to the directions so easy to follow that even someone as directionally-challenged (umm, that would be an understatement) as me could follow them. Heck, after the rainiest January in Israeli history (29 out of 31 days people - no wonder I was so miserable last month!) Tali even managed to rustle up a gorgeous blue sky and shirtsleeves sort of day!


The scavenger hunt itself was such great fun - and the company so stellar - that my group sort of, uhh, forgot that we were meant to be racing and took our time along the way (quality over quantity, right guys?), making sure to soak up every visual, mental and historical treat that was there to be found and finishing up a very respectable third place (out of three, shhh, don't tell...).

The scavenger hunt makes a great day out for an extended family group (I'm already thinking of the family coming over for Itai's bar mitzvah two years from now),  company fun day, or even just for something new to do with a group of friends - even those who've been to the Old City many times will be sure to learn something new and enjoy themselves in the process. Right now the scavenger hunts are conducted completely in English but will soon be available in Hebrew too, and Tali promises that there will be some great new routes added over the next few months as well.

Thanks so much for inviting us Tali, I had a fantastic day and this is definitely going into my "things to do with visiting relatives" file!

(Whoa, when did blogger start letting us format photos in line with the text? Cool stuff...) Oooh, I just realized that there are reds in the second image - perfect for this week's RT2 contribution, and windows and doors for Toby too!

PS If you're in Beit Shemesh tomorrow evening be sure to stop by the AMIT Mid-Winter Fair (Monday evening, February 6th; 7-10PM, Yeshivat Reishit/Genesis Center, 21 Rashi St.). Around the Island Photography will have a table at the fair - come by and say hello :).

24 comments:

Dina said...

Jerusalem rewards all who love her.

Leora said...

Sounds fun! Already pinned your post.

mhie said...

i never been in Jerusalem, hope i can visit one day there...thanks for sharing

Handmade in Israel said...

Great post and a great morning! Um, we were a little slow weren't we? We had fun though and it was great meeting you :)

Fábio Martins said...

It's like a postcard :)

Mimi said...

Sounds like a brilliant idea, and certainly one to put on the list foro visiting relatives.
Jerusalem is such a beautiful place, and your photography does it great justice.
Have fun at the Fair!

Mimi said...

p.s. I cannot believe you had rain 29 days in January! You must have thought you were back in Ireland!!
On second thoughts, no, it's much warmer with you, isn't it?

toby said...

Oh, there's no place like the Old City. Gorgeous!
Have a great time at the fair - I'll come if I can :)
And thanks for participating in WWDD!

VioletSky-Sightlines said...

That sounds like a great way to find out about your surroundings!

Daryl said...

What a lovely post .. maybe someday I can be one of those visitors you take there

Lesley said...

After 29 days of rain, I probably would have been soaking up the sun and that beautiful blue sky along with the other sights.

Liz said...

Beautiful photos.

My Rubies:
Liz @ MLC
Liz @ MCN

Ralph said...

With all the great scenery, anybody on such a scavenger hunt just might be forget their list of things they were supposed to find. Too many ancient and cool sights to be distracted with!

Patti said...

That sounds like it must have been a lot of fun! I've never been on a scavenger hunt.

The architecture in the Old City looks so interesting.

I imagine you were considering building an ark, after 29 days of rain. Yuck!

Anonymous said...

This sounds like it was great fun! Love your pics...particularly the first one!!!

Kim, USA said...

I wish someday I could visit this place.

What A Sky

Dianne said...

how cool to have a space at the fair, enjoy that
I'm sure all will love your work

I would so like to visit Isreal

Chubskulit Rose said...

Love that second shot.

Come see my RUBIES when you get a chance.

Willow said...

You have whetted my appetite to renew my push to visit Jerusalem!

Unknown said...

Lovely arches in the alleys!

Come Away With Me said...

That sounds like great fun, Robin. And of course, Jerusalem has the best and most photogenic windows and doors and arches...all that beautiful golden stone too. I really enjoyed this post and your photos.

mary said...

beautiful photos, sounds like you had a great time, thanks for sharing...

Leah H. said...

Wow, that was so cool and so amazing!

Visiting for RT 2- hope you can stop by:)

http://www.cassandrasminicorner.com/2012/02/caterpillar-stuff-toy.html

Jessica said...

wow! this is very interesting and educational, thank you for sharing
:-) Visiting from Ruby Tuesdays 2, hope that you can return the visit too.

http://www.adventurousjessy.com/2012/02/thank-you-mommy-ruby.html