Israel Day 4: Tuesday Morning

Gotta make this one quick, as the tour overlords want us to deliver our bags down in the lobby in fifteen minutes.

Yesterday was a whirlwind...we met with some incredibly interesting folks--started out with breakfast with a guy who has spent a great deal of his life negotiating with the Palestinians and others.  Probably one of the smartest, most interesting guys I've ever met.  Then it was off to the Old City to tour--Mount of Olives, Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, etc.  I've seen it all before, but it remains a meaningful experience.  You could spend days in Jerusalem--I have--but a few hours was all we got. 

The point of even going was to demonstrate the confluence of the three great monotheistic religions--they are all there, right on top of each other.  Within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, there are probably three or four different Christian denominations who can't even seem to get their act together with respect to who is in charge of what.  A mess.

After lunch in Jerusalem--we headed over the the Knesset--the Israeli parliament. More on this later.

Dinner was at a restaurant in town with a duel Israeli/US entrepreneur who gave us a great talk on "Start-Up Nation"--the serious revolution in high tech going on in Israel.  The guy was fascinating.  Probably more on this later too--gotta go.  Luggage guys will be pissed...