Beep beep! Honk!

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OK, today is Ride to Work Day, but this is ridiculous!
A guy was riding a horse, without a saddle, in the middle of one of Jerusalem's noisiest and most congested intersections, during evening rush hour!

Actually the annual Ride to Work Day was started by some Americans and refers to motorcycles, not equines.

I have done four motorcycle posts in my four years of blogging.
I love both motorcycles and horses, but riding either on Israeli streets these days is too foolhardy for me.
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(Hoping this quick look at the corner of Agron and King David Streets will qualify as a tour for Our World Tuesday.)
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Girl soldiers on a safety island

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Good girls, go in peace!

(For G Day at ABC Wednesday.)

Seen today clustered on a traffic island at the busy Jerusalem intersection of Agron and King David Streets--green (as in, new) recruits, going on a tour of the capital as part of their compulsory army service.
Enlarge the photo and see that the gun of their sergeant leader is about half as tall as she is.
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That 5-star hotel is the David Citadel.
The Citadel/Tower of David in the Old City is visible just a few blocks to the east.
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These 18-year-olds look so young to be defending this country, no?
God be with them!
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A monastic mirror

. I suppose part of an old mirror at the washstand is better than none at all when a nun has to tidy up and hasten to the communal prayer after a morning's work in the garden. . We saw the vegetable garden and the quiet sitting garden of the Congregation of Rosary Sisters here and I posted about their round church here. The church, convent, school, and guest hostel are on central Jerusalem's busy Agron Street, hidden within a surrounding wall.
This photo is joining many others at James' Weekend Reflections. 

UPDATE Dec. 2022:  A nice article about the Rosary Sisters: 
https://www.lpj.org/posts/portraits-of-sisters-in-the-holy-land-final-chapter-the-rosary-sisters.html

Destruction, reconstruction, and construction

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In 1928 Arab entrepreneurs financed the construction of the Palace Hotel on Jerusalem's Agron Street. The hotel was the most luxurious in the Middle East, with elevators, a central heating system, and even private bathrooms – practically unheard-of at the time.
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From 1935 it was leased to civil and military units of the British Mandatory government.
Later, the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade used it.
Eventually it was closed down.
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Now it is being turned into the Waldorf-Astoria Palace Jerusalem Hotel.
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It was gutted and the historic and beautiful facade was preserved.
Enlarge the photo above and marvel at how they dug the construction pit under the outer shell!
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I have been following its progress since 2008.
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See how the shell wraps around three sides and the new construction starts in the middle?
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This shot from last March shows how the old and new walls have been joined together.
The original Arabic inscriptions, intricate stone carvings, and decorative arches are being fully restored.
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For the nitty-gritty on the Palace then and now, read here.
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A similar project is going on for the old Saidoff Houses. See http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/10/where-history-meets-luxury.html
and
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/10/saving-old-stones.html
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And for more about the ubiquitous construction in Jerusalem you can click on my label "construction."
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For ABC Wednesday, T is for Theme Day.
Yes, it is our monthly City Daily Photo group's Theme Day, today about "Under construction."
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
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An enclosed garden in the middle of new Jerusalem

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Come, step through the (almost always locked) little door in the big gate, enter a hidden garden.

The monastery wall separates you from busy Agron Street, the big hotels, and modern Jerusalem.

The church was built from the 1880s until 1927.

The convent, school, guest hostel, and church belong to the Catholic Arab women's order called the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters.

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More about them in my earlier post.

Sit in the shade of an old olive tree

and enjoy the lovingly-tended gardens.

A scarecrow in a keffiyeh guards the sisters' vegetable garden!

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Hope you enjoyed today's visit in the secret garden for That's My World Tuesday.

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Mysterious stars in the reflection

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Except for the mirror image writing and the little "stars," you would hardly guess that this is a reflection in a store window.
But it is, and it was snapped for James and his group at Weekend Reflections.
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The buildings are the FUCHSBERG JERUSALEM CENTER of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
There is a synagogue, a yeshiva, a learning center, a guest house, a residence hall, and who knows what else.

A Swiss German missionary group built the first building in 1897.

After 1948 the Hebrew University library moved from the Mt. Scopus campus to this building (and also to Terra Santa, right across the street).

In 1972 the Conservative Movement in the U.S. bought the houses and created a compound. But in Israel Conservative Jews prefer to be call Masorati, meaning traditional. They have 50 congregations in Israel.

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A heavenly sky

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I was outside the entire day on guided walks in Jerusalem and the Judean Hills.
Can't believe I came home without a sky photo for SkyWatch Friday.

Instead you can enjoy the heavenly dome of a church!

A round church!

Our guide was able to arrange a visit inside.
 Most people have never seen what lies beyond the high stone wall and locked gate. We were lucky today.

The church was begun in the 1880s and completed in 1927.

The convent, school, and hostel belongs to the Catholic Arab women's order called the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters. It is the only native congregation of the Holy Land.

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The order's cofounder, Mother Marie-Alphonsine, born in the Old City in 1843, was beatified just a few months ago.

The sisters went to Arab countries in order to educate girls and raise the "dignity and nobility" of women.
By now they have one million graduates.
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The place is a beautiful island of tranquility in the middle of busy west Jerusalem's Agron Street.

I don't blame the sisters for not opening their gates very often.

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UPDATE Oct. 8, 2014:   See a short video about the Rosary Sisters in the Holy Land.
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UPDATE Dec. 22, 2022:  An article from the Latin Patriarchate Jerusalem about these sisters: 
https://www.lpj.org/posts/portraits-of-sisters-in-the-holy-land-final-chapter-the-rosary-sisters.html
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