On the day after Christmas, four Van Heuvelens, one Sherburne, one Harrison, one Ridder, and one Shoemaker set off from Newark to Tel Aviv for a ten day trip through Israel and Jordan centered around a long stay in Jerusalem. We arrived on the morning of the 27th and spent that evening wandering among the streets and alleys of Jerusalem's Old City. Over the next few days we explored the ancient city, visiting the Western Wall of the old Jewish Temple, walking through the maze-like Muslim Quarter, shuttered and desolate in protest of the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and spending a wonderful day in and around the Armenian Quarter with friends Albert and Arsen.