On Thursday I had the great pleasure of spending a rollicking evening in the Old Town with the fabulous woman responsible for introducing my brother to his wife in NYC. We hit it off immediately when she suggested we eat at the American Colony Hotel (formerly an Arabic palace), and I said "Oooo, maybe we'll see Tony Blair -- he sometimes stays there!" and then confessed: "I gotta be honest with you here, I have a huge crush on the man's intellect." To which she laughed and said "Oh, we are going to be besties*!"
*Grandparents: "besties" is a colloquial term of endearment derived from the phrase "the best of friends"
Several champaign flutes of Prosecco and a feast of Arabic Mezzas (=tapas) later, we headed out arm in arm to see the 3rd Annual Jerusalem Festival of Lights -- the Old City is decked out in gay glittering spheres and ropes of different colored lights for one week each summer, and artists from all over the world design pieces made of light which are then set up in each part of the city and at the gates. It was pretty cool. Have a look:
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| New Gate |
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| Jaffa Gate |
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| Jaffa Gate, with Throng |
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| Christian Information Center becomes a toy shop with light projections |
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| The Haredim ponder the Christian Information Center display |
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| Lightbulb Tree. |
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| Interactive Art! |
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| Rope lights and decorative lace-lanterns guide visitors through the Old City from exhibit to exhibit |
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| The Lutheran Church |
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| You can't see it here, but the face cards all had names of (in)famous Jerusalem Rulers |
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| Pink Elephants on Parade near Zion Gate |
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| A Warhol-esque Jerusalem Skyline created using commercial product packaging |
But of course I save for last the true pièce de résistance: a 3-minute light-show projected onto Damascus Gate. Very, very cool -- especially with a full moon rising above the Old City! I capture a minute of it here; unfortunately it's rather low resolution:
All for now!
