Mount Zion Parking Lot

Entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem has been nigh near impossible as of late due to the changes in the traffic rules. The Jerusalem Municipality decided that private cars (except for local residents) could not enter the Old City.

Whether this is a good idea or not is up for debate.

This of course made things very difficult for drivers in Jerusalem, as there was no where near enough convenient parking for people trying to get into the Old City or to the Kotel.

The Givati Parking lot is lot smaller these days ever since they discovered the palace underneath it.

And the Mamilla parking lot is excellent, but it can be a long walk if you are trying to reach the Jewish Quarter.



The Jerusalem Municipality finally did something very smart to handle this problem - they rezoned the Mount Zion parking lot.

For years, the Har Tzion parking lot had space for about 20 cars, and the rest was designated for buses. Lot of buses.

Archive Photo

Yesterday when visiting the Old City, I decided to chance it and see if I could find parking on Mt. Zion. To my surprise, there were no buses parked there at all, and the entire parking lot was converted to parking for cars.

Rumor has it they are planning on building a multi-level parking lot on the site.

While 100 new parking spots may not be much for convenient access to the most important city in the world, it's better than the 20 we had before.

I'm happy to see that the Jerusalem Municipality made a positive change for Jerusalem drivers - something they haven't done in a long time.

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SL

Herod's gate to be re-inaugurated

Herod's Gate, more commonly known as Sha'ar haPrachim (the Flower Gate), will be re-inaugurated tonight (June 28, 2010) as part of a larger conservation plan of the Old City.

The gate was first inaugurated in 1539 CE.

The gate was was named Herod's gate either due to a mis-attribution, or alternatively in Herod's honor.

(Picture courtesy Wikipedia)

SL

Inauguration

The Great Toothpick in the Sky was officially inaugurated yesterday in Jerusalem.

Here are some pictures from the Jerusalem Municipality site.

If they keep the Bridge of Strings regularly lit up like that at night, it will actually look nice.

SL

Bridge of Strings

Don't look down up.

This is the view of the Bridge of Strings from directly under the bridge.



Here you can see a closer view of the overlapping strings.



Here is where the strings connect to the base of the bridge.



And here the bridge stands alone.



You would think that if they were building something so tall, they would have also built an elevator and allowed tourists to go up to the top for a fee.

But when they rushed this project through they didn't really consider all the potential possibilities.


SL

Sponsored by The House in Ein Karem

Sponsored by The House in Ein Karem

Out with the Old, In with the New

For as long as I can remember the Terem Emergency Clinic, founded by Dr. David Applebaum, was located on HaMem-Gimmel Street, sharing the building with Mada (Magen Dovid Adom).



Mem-Gimmel is equivalent to 43, and it is named after 43 people who drowned making their way to Israel.

But, Terem outgrew the building a long time ago, and now they recently managed to find new, more suitable housing just up the block on the corner of HaMem-Gimel and Yirmiyahu Street, still at the entrance to the City.



I haven't had the opportunity (or need) to check it out yet, but I hope to see visit and see their new digs soon.



Across the street is the Center-1 mall.



Once this was a failing mall, with a decent movie theater. Management turned it around, shut the theater and turned it into a very successful Chareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) mall.

Behind Center-1 is the Gates of Jerusalem (Sha'arei Yerushalyim) Hotel.

And of course from HaMem-Gimmel street you can see the bridge (lots more closeup pictures on that next week).




SL

Sponsored by The House in Ein Karem

Sponsored by The House in Ein Karem

Cracks in the Bridge

Cracks have been found in the Jerusalem "Bridge of Strings" currently being built at the entrance to Jerusalem.


My recommendation is that the first people to ride the train over that section be the engineers themselves.

SL

Sponsored by The House in Ein Karem

Facing the Future

As you probably heard, Arcadi Gaydamak recently won a tender for the purchase of the Bikur Cholim Hospital (I'll put up pictures of the hospital tomorrow or Sunday).

The hospital was sold in order to save it, and it looks like Gaydamak actually will save it.

But in case you didn't hear about this, then surely you saw the poster hanging at the entrance to the city.The sign says:

"Jerusalem, you deserve more.
The Renewed Bikur Cholim Hospital - With a face to the future."

Does anyone recognize the face of the 4-story tall doctor in the photo?


SL

Sponsored by Colony Real Estate Professionals

Bridges to the Sky

Everywhere you go in Jerusalem you see construction and building.

At the entrance to the city they are building a cantilever bridge for the light railway.

Here it is, reaching skyward, in the process of being built.

SL

Sponsored by Colony Real Estate Professionals