Wailing Wall

While you can see many photos of Petra, Jordan from the Geocacher group in Israel today, I took plenty of time to visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

As it happens when you have a lot of time, I left much too late and so I could already feel the midday heat when I left the hotel.

I tried to walk in the shade of the houses for the few meters from our traditional accommodation to Damascus Gate, one of the four entrances to the Old City.

It noticeably got cooler after entering the Old City. And unlike yesterday's Saturday, there were significantly fewer tourist groups around. Today, strolling along the stands was cozy. But that wasn't my goal today.

I took the path from the Damascus Gate straight ahead to reach the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall.

After a brief security scan, I was already on the large square in front of the Wailing Wall.

There were significantly more tourists here than I expected. And the piece of wall that men and women share for their suffering is much smaller than I thought.

I stood somewhat undecided on the square. There is little instruction on how to behave. I had obtained some information from a sign before the security check. No eating or smoking, appropriate clothing, no cellphones, and no photos on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Okay, today is Sunday, so am I allowed to take photos?

What always helps is looking at what locals do. Or other tourists, in this case preferably of the same sex. And it really helped. Taking photos, even of police or people up close, seemed to be no problem. I could have even stepped forward to the women's side towards the Wailing Wall. But that wasn't my intention at all. So I found a spot on a ramp, opposite the Western Wall. The spot was in the shade, slightly elevated, and hardly anyone passed by there. I actually endured there for about 2 hours and observed the colorful bustle on the square.

As I said before, I had imagined the piece of wall to be larger, i.e. wider. And I had imagined it to be more lamenting. It is anything but quiet on the square. Not surprising with so many people, visitor groups with guides, etc. But I couldn't even hear loud wailing at the wall up close.... Everything is calm and relaxed. The police officers present everywhere are also relaxed. Yes, there are many female uniformed individuals with machine guns in hand. Still relaxed, even when they walk across the square in large numbers. I didn't feel insecure for a second regarding safety. Rather, I felt uncertain about how to behave.

I once again had to realize that I started this trip with too little information.

Since I am also a geocacher, I tried to solve the local Earthcache on the square. As always, I still need to do some research, but the direction for the answers is clear. The main focus of the Western Wall Earthcache, GC6F370, is on the plants growing out of many cracks in the wall.

I left the Western Wall square with many, many colorful impressions. It would be a shame not to have visited this place.