Announcement: The Video of the Week section is taking a summer vacation starting tomorrow! The reason for that is that I am entering the last part of my degree’s exams and papers. Very exciting! It usually lasts for about a few months (!) at this time of year. The videos uploaded until now will still be available on the Travel Videos page here on the blog.
When we finally made it to Jerusalem’s ice festival, my friend, Maytal, and I were thrilled to see THE monster. 
Maytal, who’s lived in Jerusalem all her life, says this sliding craziness represents a real one that has existed in Jerusalem for years. We planned on going there after visiting the ice festival, yet didn’t end up having time after all the mishaps and surprises we encountered along the way (stay tuned). Therefore, we “settled” for the ice monster. Even though the line to enter the ice festival was nonexistent, once there, we were followed by two or three groups of kids and teenagers that ran rampant between icy exhibitions. They ran up stairs, pushing us, sliding down on top of one another. It was completely unsafe.
Before
After. And this is one of the easier-to-watch moments! The kids literally landed on top of each other later on.
We decided to wait, and as we waited we took in other icy sights the festival had to offer. Pretty soon, they were gone – and we had the place practically to ourselves. 
So we indulged.
Thanks to Maytal for taking this video – and for such a fun day!
Have you ever encountered an ice monster?
: Sliding Down an Ice Monster in Jerusalem){kind=link}
That looks like fun
It must have been a blast – and a relief – to be amongst so much ice in the middle of the heat!
Sabina recently posted..Ever Yearned for Your Own Bed While Traveling? Me too.
Hahaha, it was bliss! For that bliss we had to put on all the layers after wandering around Jerusalem for a few hours. So putting on the layers in midday heat was torture, but once we got inside, the temperature was spectacular. I wish I could find a place with -10 degrees Celsius today!
Wow, this is really interesting. I never heard about the ice festival in Jerusalem. It is amazing they can do this. After all Jerusalem is not a cold place.
Tom recently posted..Overpowering the Sun
It was the first one ever! Hopefully there’ll be a second one in 2013. It was inside, there was a place they froze up so that the creations won’t melt. I was there in May (in the summer!) and I was blown away by people’s abilities to carve in ice. I wish they taught lessons there