i'm back in boston after a day filled with traveling and security. jerusalem still has me overwhelmed, and i'm not sure if i can really add anything of value to the entire jerusalem thing. yes, huge mix of cultures. yes, filled with history. yes, gorgeous. so, let me just cover my personal two favorite things in the old city:

1) the wailing wall is an intense experience. it feels a bit intrusive to go near the wall and take pictures and walk amongst the intense praying. however, it was awe-inspiring to see, and i would recommend a trip to jerusalem for this alone. of course, you should go to jerusalem, and not only for this, but if you could only see one thing...

2) the bazaar that runs through the city is cool, even if it has turned quite tourist-y. the stuff they sell is all cheap souvenirs and it seems as if the layout was ripped straight from a movie - but, maybe all bazaars in movies are modeled after this one? anyway, getting the hard sell, negotiating with these guys, experiencing the sounds and the bustling and everything... man, it was awesome. nothing is quite as satisfying as getting a tshirt for $5 after your boss paid $12 and another co-worker paid $33 for two.

not a lot to add to that, but i took a ton of pictures and will have them in the gallery sometime this weekend. of course, the best ones will be on the photoblog, which you should be visiting daily.

day 7 was minimal - lots of security, because of the events in jerusalem the previous night. the security was niv-centric, similar to my experience entering israel on saturday, but this time i was ready for it, and i was patient, and it went fine, even if it took a while. also, the duty-free stuff in the tel aviv airport is absurd. like, you can buy a washer/dryer or dishwasher. pretty silly stuff.

so yeah, that was my 7 days in israel. look for the photos coming soon. i liked it overall, especially the work, and i would recommend a trip there for sure - it's worth seeing for almost everyone. especially jerusalem.

back to regular scheduled programming now (i.e. nothing).