Friday in Jerusalem

Last Friday I was in Jerusalem...

Everybody told me I shouldn't go, that there was lots of tension because of the ramp going into the grounds of the Dome of the Rock.

The only tension I saw was from the very few people dashing rapidly through the square by the Wailing Wall. Prayer sayers were in the minority - a thing that I have never seen before. There were reportedly 3000 police and soldiers in the old city. I think I must have seen about 2897 of them, mostly lining the ramp or positioned at the entrance to the square. The other people who were out in force were the media vultures, waiting for a violent clash that never happened.

Any tensions I had were assuaged by lunch at the American Colony Hotel. Actually it was hight tea, complete with crustless whitebread sandwiches with cucumber, tomato, smoked salmon or lettuce all, of course, with butter. There was a very flat, very sweet scone, strawberry jam, sweetened whipped cream, and a date biscuit that would have been very nice with a sharp cheese. Beginning of season strawberries were the finishing touch.

The location was wonderful, but the service was pretty awful, and not at all up to a hotel that is under the Relais Chateau label. We had to ask to give our drink order and only ever received part of it, and I had to make 3 requests for milk to go with my tea. This is not up to the standards you would expect of a 5 star hotel. The worst of it was the waiter who laid the table and threw the napkins down... And when I say threw I mean just that, mine slid all the way to the far edge of the table.

Maybe he was suffering from local tensions too...