Nachlaot Finding Past and Future

Sir Moses Montefiore, a great benefactor to Israel in the 19th century,

is perhaps best known for the Montefiore Windmill.

However, in 1882 he was also involved in building

the Nachlaot section of Jerusalem.

This cluster of small Jewish neighborhoods was one of the first

Jerusalem homesteads outside the walls of the over-crowded Old City.

Stone walls surrounded Nachlaot to protect its residents.

Sir Moses Montefiore

Today one of the openings still displays a testimonial to Montefiore 

and the Mazkeret Moshe neighborhood is named for him.

 Nachlaot is across from the Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk.

Nahlaot street, Jerusalem Street, J Street

After getting lost too many times on the narrow twisting streets,

I made it a habit to walk around Nachlaot

and not through it on my way to the shuk.

So when the Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts offered a hunt to Nachlaot, 

I made sure to be one of the first bloggers to sign up for the special event.

mayaan fogel art, street art, Nahaot

In Nachlaot, you can see interesting street art

street art, J Street, Nahlaot

painted on the walls,

street art, J Street, scavenger hunt

but you never know what you will  find hanging out on its streets.

Old stone street, J Street, Jerusalem old street

Old stone streets

Nahlaot house, J Street, new Jerusalem building

and beautiful new homes,

street art, J Street, Nachlaot art

combine to make walking the Nachlaot streets a real adventure.

Nahlaot, J Street, Jerusalem street photos

From ancient stones on the left to modern cable receivers on the right,

it can all be found in Nachlaot.

We followed our map, and not only did we not get lost,

but our team won!

And thanks to the Village Green Restaurant on Rachel Imenu Street,

we enjoyed fresh bread with a cup of soup at the end of the hunt.

There are many tours to Nachlaot, 

but this scavenger hunt is fun and educational for all ages.

 We found it as good an experience as the hunt last year

in the Old City.

To find more photos of Nachlaot and our winning team see:

The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook Page.

Snow in Jerusalem

I have waited for snow and snow pictures for so long,

snow in Jerusalem

 it seems that everyone wants to see Jerusalem covered in snow.

snow  Israel Museum

After several recent failed predictions…finally on Friday morning 

snow was coming down hard enough to obscure the Israel Museum.

Nachalot, snow on roof

The red roofs of the Nahalot neighborhood were covered with white.

Knesset in the snow

The Knesset high grounds were coated with a little bit of snow.

Taxi companies did not answer their phones

and the buses stopped running.

water on steps

Icy water tumbled down steps like waterfalls.

 (Sorry I did not use video for this one as the sound was incredible).

traffic

Around Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, police came to direct the traffic, 

as hundreds of people came out for the white stuff.

cotton candy machine

White cotton candy sold near the entrance was popular, 

snow, snowman

but it was the snow that attracted the crowd.

small snowman

It was a chance to build 

boys making snowman

a snowman in the center of Jerusalem.

snow in park

OK, Gan Sacher is not the same as the Golan Heights, but

sledding

 kids of all ages managed to slide down the wet grass on makeshift sleds.

child splashing in puddles, flooding in Jerusalem

Children could not play in the flooded playground,

but they had a great time splashing in puddles.

flooded sidewalk

Walking was difficult and dangerous for everyone.

snowman

The finish line for the Jerusalem Marathon, as seen in the background,

was a soggy mess, but people were smiling for pictures.

Others were happy to put a plastic bag over their hat and go for a walk.

Palestinian family in Israel

All around Gan Sacher, people were happy for snow in Jerusalem.