Disruption in Jerusalem

Most people reading the title of my post might wonder if another terrorist incident might have taken place. It has not!

But today, our group--along with hundreds of others--struggled through a severe disruption in Jerusalem. And the cause? The Jerusalem marathon!

The municipality laid out a course that took thousands of runners through some of the most historic parts of Jerusalem. The only problem was that the circuit produced a large area within the center of the city that was totally closed to traffic. Any buses or taxis inside the circuit were trapped from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. They couldn't leave!

Our driver was very smart. He drove his bus outside the race route last night. We had to walk to the Old City for our morning tour, but we connected with our driver at St. Stephen's Gate for our afternoon tour to the south of the city. A friend of mine was not as fortunate. His driver had received word that the part of the route near their hotel would not close until 7 a.m. Unfortunately, that information was incorrect. Their bus was trapped, and they were forced to "improvise" for much of the day.

I took the picture above showing the marathon in progress. This was taken just inside Jaffa Gate and shows the runners as they entered the Old City of Jerusalem.

Another amazing day!