Jerusalem

What a city to have changed politics and religions so many times and still remain fairly functional. Okay, there were years when the place was abandoned and lay in ruins, but she always seems to come back. And because of it's location and religious importance to the Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, there is quite a paper trail to document all of this.

The old city is broken into four main sections: Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian, each with distinct characteristics. The Jewish section is mainly new since it was all blown up in the 40's, The Armenian section is quiet and fairly tourist free. The Christian and Muslim section are filled with souqs (markets or bazaars) selling all types of tourist trinkets, clothing, shoes, meat, spices, and food with smells that come at you from all angles, including hot baking bread, fresh ground coffee, sweets, pizza, everything.

The streets are narrow and perhaps give insight to why these people may never get along. The Jews walk fast, run actually, often with a book in their nose, or in deep debate of some religious importance, as they blaze trails through the crowds. The Arabs walk slow, like you do in the desert, and especially the women who can't see their feet and are most likely wearing unpractical shoes, the cobblestone roads are taken with care. Both the Jews and Arabs are toting along a horde of children, and the Arab kids all seem to have pop guns and rifles and they shoot at everyone with equality as they run about. The Jewish kids are very orderly and follow their parents, don't have guns and don't run. But the youngest kids are in strollers, sometime holding four at once in limousine fashion, and have to take each step (and there are a lot) at a snails pace, despite what quarter they hail from. Now, the Armenians and the Christians seem to walk at a medium pace and blend into the souq like they blend into the politics: invisible. But add into this a thousand tourists who zig-zag through the streets from shop to shop looking for that perfect Jesus Icon or silken scarf, and you have a walking disaster. It's impossible to get anywhere at any speed, fast or slow. I'm not sure if it's a lesson in patience or a recipe for disaster.

But the city is large enough to have empty side streets, and if you can manage to not get twisted around, you might eventually get to where you want to go, unless you are just wandering, in which case, you are already there. It's a great place to get lost in, and you can't get too lost because you will eventually hit one of the ancient walls and follow it to one of the five gates and find yourself free and clear of people. Then, you have to deal with traffic.