I walked where Jesus walked (while drinking an orange slushy).

Argh, still lousy sleep, and I awoke this morning feeling absolutely horrible and with a raging headache. I pulled myself together and Haim drove me by a pharmacy on the way to rehearsal so I could buy some Advil. I was obviously not in the best mood when I began rehearsal, and for some reason it really worked out well. Their response in yesterday's rehearsal to my American niceness was marginal; Today when I really started badgering and occasionally being somewhat short they seemed to really improve much more quickly.

They're still much different than an average American orchestra in the realm of discipline. For example, at the end of the break there are always stragglers. So today I went back into the rehearsal, they tuned, and there were several chairs still empty. I announced that I would be waiting until every player was seated, crossed my arms and sat on the stool. Over the next two or three minutes the stragglers came rushing in, some of them seeming a little embarassed (I think they're used to the rehearsal just having begun without them). As soon as they were all seated I asked the oboist to sound another 'A,' and then resumed the rehearsal.

After rehearsal I came to the hotel and took a brief nap, then got out my guidebook and decided to head out and see a few things. I decided that today would be a good day to get a good perusal tour of the old city, as it wasn't too terribly hot and then I could kind or orient myself so I'll know where other specific things are. So, I went to the Jaffa gate and bought a ticket to walk the "ramparts," basically on the path that tops the walls of the city.


I walked about halfway around (the old city is much smaller than I originally thought) until I got to the Western Wall Plaza. I decided since I was there to go ahead and go in, so I went through the metal detectors, picked up a little yamika that they provide for those not already owning one, and approached the wall. I immediately noticed that the wall was very littered with little pieces of wadded or folded up paper. I decided that since I had a little extra time I would help out. I grabbed a nearby trash can and started to grab up the paper by the handfulls...just kidding.


Following my visit to the "wailing wall" I walked through the Muslim Quarter to the beginning of the Via Dolorosa and followed it through all the stations of the cross. It's nice and some of them are very beautiful, but it's really difficult to sense any kind of mood when you're constantly being asked by vendors if you'd like to come into their store, or by every third person who expresses their interest in being your tour guide. Nevertheless, my orange slushy and I soldiered on, warding off all aforementioned advances.


After walking the Via Dolorosa I left the old city and walked up to the Russian Compound area, found some dinner and came home. Off to bed early-ish tonight, as I'm tired and determined to actually sleep!