Checked In!

I left Adalia's at 8 a.m. this morning for the King Solomon Hotel.  Altho check-in for my group was not until 2 pm, my room was ready and I was able to check-in right away and unpack!

I was greeted with a lovely welcome bag from the GEM AISH team filled with candy, notepad, books, and maps. 

The King Solomon is in a great location, across the street from Yemin Moshe, to the right is Liberty Bell Park, and to the left is the YMCA and the King David Hotel. 

If you walk a little further, you come to the new Mamilla Mall, which is a walk-thru magnificent pathway of shops, cafes, and art that lead right to the Jaffa Gate!

From the Jaffa Gate I was able to walk leisurely through the familiar stone paths past the Cardo, the Hurva Synagogue which has been completely and beautifully restored and rebuilt, the Rova, the Old Quarter Cafe, the Moriah Book Shop and to the AISH Center where I took a free "Essentials" class on Torah and Science.  Then I made my first visit to the Kotel.  It was bustling today, Monday, since this is one of the three days that we read Torah.  There were many Bar Mitzvahs being celebrated on the men's side, and women were camped out on their side with babies and strollers and children, talking, praying, and standing on chairs peeking over into the men's side.  My first prayers today were for my father and my three daughters.  

I walked back through Mamilla for my first delicious latte in an outdoor cafe enjoying a view of the walled city and the warmth of the sun, and then back to my room to get ready to meet our group for the first time at 6 p.m.

Our group leader is Necha Golda Dubinsky.  This is her 11th time leading a GEM trip.  She and her husband live in the 'Rova' which is an old neighborhood around a beautiful plaza right in the Jewish Quarter by the Cardo and the Hurva Synagogue.  We have a small, intimate group.  Sara and Sara are from New York, Esther and Avigail are from Miami, and me.  We had a wonderful getting to know each other dinner at the Ticho House learning why we came on this trip, why study is important to us, what we hope to gain.  Each of us had a very interesting story.

After dinner we walked up Ben Yehuda and all the shops were bustling, down King George and back to our Hotel.  Tomorrow we have a very full and exciting day!