Walking the maze of streets of Jerusalem's old city today, I was assailed by an intoxicating array of competing smells: tamarind and thyme mixed with the sweetness of peach and pomegranate, unfamiliar but delightful tobacco from the narghiles,(an activity permitted to women as well as men) all of which are inevitably blended with the characteristic smells of any city: diesel, human sweat and sometimes, sewers. A great day.
Today has been a little cooler: around 28 degrees as opposed to the 32 of yesterday. This morning, rising at 5.30 am, we made the 400 metre ascent to the top of the Mount of Olives, mainly in order to get the unquestoned best view of the old city encased in its imposing walls, built by the Turks, improved by the crusaders and finally manicured by the Israelis. We are only just in time to catch the limestone glowing golden in the early morning light before the sun rises in the sky and bleaches everything a dazzling (and less photogenic) white.
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