an update

The husband and I got the case of the terrible common cold. So that means we have stayed indoors, with a heap of blankets, and eating plenty of soup (not to mention the 20 gallons of tea we each drank). I put a little too much pepper into the soup, so it sure helped to clear those sinuses:) The weather, like us, has also been kind of lousy (of course not as bad as the subzero temperatures that Europe is experiencing), but its been dreary nonetheless: rain, wind, and chilly to the bone. However, today we decided that the 4 walls of our living room were becoming a bit too common and that we needed to see the world again, no matter what the thermostat says.


We set out for a 30 minute walk that turned into 3 hours! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, I believe close to 70 degrees! It felt great to be out again. We had no plans as to where to go so we followed where ever our feet would lead us. First we stumbled upon the most delightful, little gated neighborhood. The streets and steps laid with limestone, all the houses wedged closely together with adorable balconies and porches, ivy running up and down the brick buildings, various fruit trees growing, and all this overlooking a great park. The scene was simply blissful. Vadim and I decided we would live there in a heart beat! That is, if this little town could be moved to the U.S. with ease.


Next we ventured into a few hotels, one of them being the King David Hotel. It is such a charmer! The building first served as a British administrative building of some sort, but then got transformed into a beautiful hotel that is considered to be one of the top hotels in the world. Famous people from all over have stayed there. Names such as: Winston Churchhill, Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev, The Dali Lama, many U.S presidents (Ford, Obama, Roosevelt, Bushx2, Carter, Clinton), and stars such as Sting, Black Eyed Peas, Metallica, Wolf Blitzer, Jean Claude Van Damm, Harrison Ford, and many others. I assume that this crowd likes the "cream of the crop," so you can only imagine how beautiful this place is.
Next we went into the YMCA. Boy, does this place look like a museum more than anything else! It was designed by Arthur Louis Harmon whose firm later architected the Empire State Building in NY. The YMCA actually resembles the Empire State Building, I guess it was Mr. Harmon's guinea pig before the 'real project' :) The inside is very romantic, with a cathedralesque and a pinch of a gothic feel to it. I didn't have a camera with so please look at a few pictures here.
That pretty much wraps up our day. We do feel better and we better be better because tomorrow (Sunday) we wake up at 5:30 am in order to start our 12 hour class period. Our professor is hard core!  We will be walking from 7 am-7 pm as he teaches us about the history (both Biblical and geographical) of Jerusalem and perhaps beyond. I will report on this on Monday, that is if my body will be able to stand or crawl.
Have a great weekend, y'all!


-Natalya


Some information obtained from Jerusalem Insider. Other information obtained from King David Hotel and the YMCA.