Thurs 17 June: Shrine of the Book

This afternoon we took life into our hands and walked out of Damascus gate on a quest to find a taxi to take us to the Museum of Israel, to visit the Shrine of the Book. It was a very very hot afternoon, and I was feeling ok until I got there, then of course felt a bit queasy again, telling me that my starvation diet hadn't really fixed me after all. Or maybe it was the heat....who knows!

The taxi drivers didnt' want to work in the heat either, so gave us a ridiculously high price, enabling us to walk off, heads held high, in search of a better deal. Sure enough, Tim got us a deal in a sharute (no idea of spelling: like a mini bus, 10 seater...)for 15sheqels each, which was a bit of a bargain we thought, especially as the bus had air conditioning!

Cars park here wherever they want, on the kerb, on the side of the road, in the road, wherever there is a spare inch or two of space. So the taxi's exit from the taxi car park could be described as 'interesting', 'challenging', rally driving or just plain skilful. Whichever term you use, we got out of there, and it was nothing short of a sign that miracles do occur in the modern world.

The Shrine of the book: a great place to go on a hot Jerusalem day as it is underground and very very cool, designed to keep the Dead Sea Scrolls and other artifacts well and happy: the spin off for visitors = they remain well and happy, and just a smidge cooler, also. I was grateful to the architect, the planners, the electricians and the government for the thoroughly thoughtful construction! Underneath it looks a little bit like the Jetsons, or a submarine; tunnel type corridors of display cases, leading to a central hall with a few levels, with a 'torah scroll' as the centre piece. The largest fragment of scroll is in fact the Isaiah scroll, and the replica of this is kept in the middle of the circular hall. It is quite awe inspiring: almost as much as the sign at the entrance that says 'Please check your weapons here'.

One of the girls, Mary, organised us all to go out for a group dinner this evening: to a restaurant called 'cynthia's cave', which served us delicious meals and provided us with our own special spot; the whole floor of their restaurant, which was in fact a cave. It was a big deal for the restauranteur: he and his wife came down to chat to us, and I think he may have had to outsource for the quantities of food needed to feed the lot of us (about 29 people went) We had a great relaxing and fun evening...and many many photos were taken, so I'm sure we'll remember it well!