Tranquility

Crowds milling around the Dome
of the Rock

It's Eid el Fitri and our Quarter has never been so magical .... it was empty ... shops closed and no one in the streets. Once a year our neighborhood because so tranquil and quiet. Going to work was an unbelievable pleasure. But of course all this comes with a price ... last night the cannons fired 5 shots that shook our building. Ramadan was over and literally tens of thousands of muslims flooded the  Muslim Quarter. Food vendors were everywhere. The festivities went on almost all night. Then in the early morning they all went into the mosques for Fitri prayers and then left en masse for home ,,, which is throughout the country. And then by 7.30am all was quiet. It was bizarre but thoroughly

Bibimbap lunch

I had to accompany some people through the Jewish Quarter and what a surprise ... there was a bazaar at the ancient Cardo ... like what it was 1700 years ago. Very quaint. Around the corner from the Cardo is a very small korean kosher restaurant. The owner and cooks are korean ... and the bibimbap I ordered was great. It was all vegetarian though. But it was good to eat something hot for lunch once in a while.

The heatwave has picked up and wild fires have broken out again throughout the country. And the strong winds are flaming the fires to a very dangerous level. Residents of many areas have been evacuated.

Meantime I hope to have flushed out all the chemicals injected into me yesterday. I'll need to rest a little more this evening and tomorrow. But like always .... fat hopes