On Monday, October 10, Rafi and I decided to take a short bus ride over to Mount Herzl in order to go to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum. We wound up getting a bit "lost" when we got off the bus. We did not know how far away Yad Vashem was and ended up errantly getting back on a bus (for a block!) because we did not exactly know what we were doing. It all ended up the way it should have though. We walked to Herzl's grave and around the memorial gardens in the area. The day was hot and the sun was shining brightly. The area was very peaceful and quiet.
We stopped by Herzl's grave and took a few pictures. His tomb is surrounded by these flowers and a large walking area. The brick area you see is a huge platform. After that, we went to the front vendor area and both bought watermelon popcicles to help us walk in the heat to the museum. We found the museum easy enought after asking for directions.
The Yad Vashem memorial museum was one of the most well laid-out museum I have seen. Entrance is free and if you want to, you can pay for an audio guide with headphones to take with you. Rafi and I both got the audio guide. Mine did not work very well toward the beginning of our visit, changing into an audio guide in Hebrew instead of English. After two mishaps like this, I asked for a new one altogether and enjoyed the commentary without a hitch after that. As a museum guest, you walk into the museum and come across different themed sections containing a plethora of information, photographs, and stories, all arranged in chronological order. The museum made a huge effort to include and research names of the actual Jews whose things were shown on exhibit so that they were regarded as the people they were and not some abstract thought. It gave the exhibit so much more meaning. Throughout the museum we watched videos, first-hand accounts of the war, as well as saw real objects such as Torah scrolls and other Judaica that were plundered by the Nazis. Rafi and I spent around 3 hours in the museum, absorbing it all. We could have spent much more time there, but the museum closes at 4pm and the staff were herding us out gently. As we were leaving the museum, I snapped this picture of the entrance.
Immediately outside of the museum, we exited to this lovely sight. After learning about and watching/listening to primary sources about the suffering of our people during the Holocaust, this was a beautiful and calming sight to see. 
A group of Orthodox men were davening (praying) immediately outside of the exit of the museum (in front of the pretty view I just showed you).
They davened with a calm intensity and focus, shuckling gently.
On our way out, we decided to take a different, more scenic route through the cemetary. Little did we know that the gates would not be open at this time. The cemetary had apparantly already closed to the public. We found a wall that we decided we could jump down from. Rafi jumped first and walked along the wall on the outside, locating the area with the shortest fall for me. He helped me down from this. I was nervous because it seemed high, and I was wearing a skirt. It went well though and we safely went home afterward.
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