East Jerusalem

Today, because my dad went off to a two day meeting, my mom and I were on our one. We wandered to East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is the Palestinian side of Jerusalem. Tourists, such as ourselves, typically shouldn't wander to far in, so we didn't. My mom knew where to go because she and my dad had gone to this part of East Jerusalem a few days ago. We walked along the main street for a few blocks. This street was alive and crowded with people everywhere trying to sell us stuff. We walked past one store called St. Georges Bazaar. We went in, because it said they bargain, and my mom loves to bargain. We saw prices on stuff and they were high if they were in dollars but very low if they were in sheckels (Israeli money). So we asked the man who was following us around the store trying to get us to by stuff if the prices were in sheckels or dollars. He was astounded that we thought the price of his treasures (JUNK) could be so low, and then we left because we didn't like him following us. We walked a little farther down the main drag and then turned because my mom wanted to take me to see The American Colony Hotel. The American Colony Hotel is an amazing hotel. It is super luxurious and the gardens are amazing. It is not your typical kind of luxurious hotel but in my opinion, even nicer. It is mostly made out of stone. Even though I didn't get to see the rooms in person (I saw them online), I'm sure that they are spectacular. Once we left The American Colony Hotel we walked around looking for a lunch place. We found a little restaurant called Flavours Grill Restaurant that looked very clean. Lots of places here aren't very clean. We asked for a menu and shortly after loving what we saw, sat down. I got chicken teriyaki in a pita with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. It was delicious! My mom got the same thing but with a lamb kebab instead of chicken teriyaki. I also got a fresh squeezed apple juice. It was so good! It had apple foam on top which was also really good. I don't know how good Treetop apple juice will taste anymore... The really nice people who owned the restaurant we named Mo and Elona. After lunch we started to head back to the Damascus Gate. The Damascus Gate is a gate to the Old City. To get back to the Damascus Gate we had to walk along another busy street. It creeps me out how wherever I go guys always stare at me. But today, at least eight guys asked me "do you want to go with me?" I didn't even answer and just kept walking with my mom. It scares me and I don't like it. Overall, I had a great day with my mom!