Palm Sunday 2011, Jerusalem

Yesterday, Sunday April 17th 2011 was Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We started off the day with an early mass and then watched some of the scouts march through the streets of the Old City. On top of the weather being so hot, it was absolutely packed... like there-is-no-room-to-walk kind of packed!!! It was quite a sight to see and I've got much of it recorded and in snapshots. The streets were a mix of well-dressed Arab Christians, tourists and cart-pushing young kids trying to deliver their goods through the narrow and packed Christian quarter. My uncle said that this is the last week that Jerusalem will be seeing so many people; after Easter it will go back to being quiet... 

After, we drove to a Jaffa restaurant near Tel Aviv, where we absolutely stuffed ourselves with fish yet again (since Palm Sunday allows for fish consumption). It was also quite refreshing since the restaurant had a view to the sea, which was my first time ever seeing the ocean here!!! After, we went for a short walk down to the boardwalk and to the water. Walking under the scorching sun, I must say dipping my feet in the ocean water had never felt so good... if not slightly cruel for tempting me to throw myself in the ocean entirely (LOL!!). 

After a long, warm sleepy ride back to Jerusalem, we went once again to the New Gate/Old City to watch the scouts yet again. The streets were closed off to let the scouts pass through and I was able to get pretty much the whole thing recorded (at the cost of my arm feeling sore today, LOL). It was really quite a sight to see the whole area so packed. Of course the majority of the people were Arab Christians, but there were some tourists and I think even Israeli reporters fully equipped for taking pictures of the parade (for newspaper articles perhaps?). Seeing that many people, I was reminded why I had wanted to come this year; because this year all Christian denominations celebrate Easter on the same day. Apparently it will be another 11 years until this happens again. As a reminder, Catholics usually celebrate Easter 2 weeks before the Orthodox do. It was definitely memorable and I'm glad to have witnessed it. My cousin did make me laugh by asking me "if I was enjoying the fashion show," which was entertaining to see. I must say I'm always surprised to see women able to walk in stilettos on uneven, ancient, cobblestoned streets!!! I was never a fan of flats until seeing the streets of Paris and Rome, and they are definitely my go-to shoes here as well. Perhaps less religious areas like Tel-Aviv have flatter concrete pavement to walk on, but in these here parts, I have no choice but to go the safe route...=) All around a unique and enjoyable experience. +

What is planned for the days leading up to Easter:

Friday 22nd: to the Holy Sepulchre 

Saturday 23rd/Sun 24 in the AM: to Mt. of Olives' Russian Orthodox Easter mass

Monday 25th: to Yafo for Christian festival

Apparently I won't be getting much sleep that week-end since some of these will entail spending the night in places consecutively, but I'm not one to complain. I'm actually very excited to see it all... When is the next time I'll get to do this?! Off to the religious sites I go!!! +

The following are a few pictures I took. I mostly got all of it recorded but due to the large file size, I'm having a few issues uploading it right now... but soon, soon!!