When my daughter and I visit Israel, the Kotel [Western Wall] is always on our itinerary. So despite the torrential rain and cold weather in late December, we went to the Old City. Once there, we ate just-baked pita fresh from the oven, took a quick look at the shops in the Cardo [marketplace] and prayed at the Kotel.

This time we had the extra pleasure of visiting the just-opened museum at the Southern Wall excavations.

Although only the Hebrew version of the audio guide was available -- given the number of English-speaking tourists, this was probably a calculated decision -- we were able to enjoy the exhibits and the museum's two videos.

The Davidson Exhibition and Virtual Reconstruction Center in Jerusalem's Archeological Park at the Old City's Southern Wall excavations is a brightly lit and well designed museum suitable for visitors of all ages and all levels of knowledge and interest.

The Center currently focuses on the Roman period -- 63 BCE to 4th Century CE -- since most of the archeological finds are from that period, but as work continues the Center's focus will expand. We watched a short video about the archeologists involved in the digs and then looked at the displays from the Roman period. The video is presented alternately in English and Hebrew.

Our favorite part of the exhibit was a realistic computer-generated film of a young man visiting the Second Temple to offer a sacrificial lamb.

After leaving the Center, we quickly went through the excavation discoveries outside but the rain prevented us from taking in very much of what we saw. Reluctantly we left the Old City and headed for our next stop -- an art gallery opening in Tel Aviv.

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Our previous tour was a walk on top of the Old City wall, from the Tower of David to the Zion Gate. We now return to the Tower of David from the Zion Gate, walking along the base of the wall.