JERUSALEM

April 13, 2015 -- Jerusalem

 

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I entered the most holiest of cities, but I can say with certainty that I was little disappointed. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. When I was in Rome I really felt the holiness about the place;  Jerusalem just didn't have it.

But it was an interesting day.

The panoramic view of the city was beautiful. You could see the Dome of the Rock, towers and minarets, the old wall in the new Jerusalem built wall around it.As we were driving towards the old city our guide pointed out the black and white drums on the roofs of the houses. These drums hold water and the black drums represent Muslim homes and the white Jewish.

Our first stop was the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before he was arrested. The church on the site was very dark inside and it was difficult to see much but our guide to point out  the rock where Jesus prayed.

We continued on to the old city, and walking through curved, narrow streets through the Muslim quarter and then the Jewish quarter. Shop after shop after shop trying to get you to come in and buy their "junk".

We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was flooded with tourists and those that were on pilgrimage. The church itself is huge and is taking care of by several different religions, since Judaism, Catholicism, and Muslim all claim right to the site. So with the Catholics take care of one part of the church, the Jews another, and the Muslims another. There's a small ladder between two windows on the outside that has been there for years and no one will remove it because they can't decide which sect put it there.

When you walk into the church there is a huge mural which depicts the death of Christ and on the floor in front of it is this stone where he  was laid when he was removed from the cross. Upstairs the last five stations of the cross are depicted, in the Franciscan room is the 10th station, which is very plain, and the next room, which is run by the Byzantine, the 11th and 12th are depicted. This room is very ornate. I was not able to get over to the last because there are just too many people.

We had lunch at a kibbutz which was very interesting and even though we were unsure what kind of food were going to get it was very American... Fish, roast beef, vegetables, hummus, bagels, the usual American fare.

We then continued on and saw the room where the Last Supper was in the tomb of King David. We then walked down, thank goodness, 
 

because I climbed more steps and walked over rough stone and put my foot through such pain, to the Wailing Wall. We were divided men on one side women on the other and of course I place my prayer in one of the cracks of the wall. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with this I really expected more.

One of the tour guides told me that he had a woman in his group that went up to the wall and started crying and wailing and carrying on that everyone was looking at her. She thought that's what she was supposed to do with the Wailing Wall...duh!

Our guide was one in 1 in a million too. She was getting more information from the driver than she knew herself at one point she left her backpack somewhere and had to go back and find it. That took 20 minutes and then she was so flustered that the rest of the day was shot.

It was a long day; nine hours; got back to the ship listen to some music, two glasses of wine, room service, shower, and bed. Tomorrow it's the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights… Another ten-hour day. Good night.

"Every hundred feet the world changes." – – Roberto Bolano