Good February Signs in Jerusalem

The sun is shining.

The sky is blue,

and it is warm enough to open the windows.

The snow has melted and it is history,

except for some ugly piles of plowed black stuff

and fallen branches that need to be removed.

February used to be the “quiet” time,

down time between holidays and peak tourism seasons,

but not this February,

and it was hard to keep up with all that is much happening.

Jewish Agency

This week the Jewish Agency for Israel had a meeting

of its Board of Governors, with delegates coming

from around the world to Jerusalem, Israel.

chess sign in Hebrew

The International chess championship may not be a great photo op,

but a tour with 500 tourism professionals from India certainly was.

image woman taking photo of Old City

Starting with the view from Hebrew University on Mt Scopus,

this tour went to The Old City.

Within a few minutes while standing outside

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

image foreign tourists.

 were other groups of Indian tourists,

image European tourists

a large orderly group of Estonians,

image black tourists

and these Christian pilgrims who left too fast to ask where they were from.

Another great view and new to me,

image Jerusalem marathon

was the Jerusalem Winner Marathon 2105  launch,

image Nir Barkat and Rami Levy

on the grounds of the St. Andrew’s Guest House.

image nir barkat

Mayor Nir Barkat, holding his official run shirt for the March 13 race,

was all smiles that morning.

Ilanit Melchior

But so was Ilanit Melchior,

Tourism  Director at the Jerusalem Development Authority.

Though many residents resent the street closings and inconvenience,

 this event has brought thousands of tourists

from all over the world each year.

There are signs for things as diverse as

App contest in Jerusalem

a contest for app developers,

children for Islamic Museum

and special programs for children at Islamic Museum.

But, Purim is a week away.

Inbal Hotel

Perhaps, this sign for Shavuot holiday is a joke.

sign for Purim

There is to be a Purim Spiel at the Train Theater,

purim sign in Hebrew

and a sign for reading the Megillah at First Station–

purim sign

Happy Purim.

Then,

time for that other “P” word – Passover!