First trip to the Old City...

After checking into the hotel, I made my way via bus to the Damascus Gate on the North side of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Crossing through the gate was a bit like traveling back in time.  Once you cross inside the walls, the city becomes eerily quiet (despite the fact that entering the city through the Damascus gate dumps you straight into the middle of the Souk).

It is incredibly easy to get lost in Jerusalem.  There seem to be very few good maps of the city.  This isn't terribly surprising given the way each layer of the city builds up and around the previous layers.  It is the closest thing the wandering through an actual maze that I have ever experienced.  I wandered around the Souk for over an our trying to find a way through to the temple mount and ended up crossing over my path at least three times!

Surprisingly, despite wandering through the Souk for several hours, I managed to not buy anything except a new set of chess pieces. 

I spotted a couple of nice looking antique Bedouin coffee sets, but I need to do a bit more research (and practice my haggling skills before attempting such a serious purchase).  More blog posts to come tomorrow...it has been a long day of lectures and I need to get a bite to eat and get cleaned up for dinner.