Today was one of those long days where you forget what you did in the morning by the end of the day. I will do my best to remember. We started out super early, 7:30 am, but with the time change it felt like we were leaving at 8:30 (yeah!) We took a van to the top of Mount of Olives where we got some beautiful views of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock. We then followed the Path of the Palms down the mount. We then stopped at a Jewish cemetery where the guide explained why people were buried there and why there are so many stones on the graves. When the Messiah returns the stones will be used to create the Third Temple.
Continuing down we saw the place where Judas is said to have betrayed Jesus. It is marked by a column that you can touch. Towards the bottom is Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus wept when he felt alone when three of his disciples fell asleep when he asked them to pray to avoid temptation. Apparently my catholic education is coming in handy! Next to the garden is the Church of All Nations where there are 12 domes (one for each country that provided funds for the church.) I was the first to find the Canadian one! It also had a beautifully stunning fresco-like painting on the front of the church.
We then got in the van and headed to the Old City and walked to the Western Wall. We were able to approach the wall on the women's side and touch the wall. I was very surprised on how moving it was. It is amazing to be surrounded by people with such strong faith. It was an emotional moment for me.
We then walked through the Suk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the upper area is this where the rock of the crucifixion is held. Part is for Catholics and part for the Orthodox. You could wait in a very long line if you would like to touch it. Both Sue and I took a pass but we got a few photos. You then come down to the main level and you can see the rock where Jesus was washed with oil after he died. Around the corner is Jesus' tomb. And while the rock had a long line this was a very large and impressive line.
From there we headed out just as several tour groups where coming in. Our guide warned us that there were 40+ large tour buses that would be arriving from Russia to visit many of the same sites.
We then left the Old City and headed to Bethlehem in the West Bank (don't worry Mom, Canada says it's save to visit) the boarder crossing was smooth but I could tell from the arabic that when asked they said we were all Canadians (when there is really only three, they said it is easier to be grouped as the same nationality... just so happened that they picked Canada.) The first on the list was the Church of the Nativity. It had a beautiful mosaic but most of what is on the main level is for the Orthodox religions (i.e. Greek, Russian, Armenian). The line-up for the Birth Place of Christ easily rivals the line-up to see the tomb after a quick discussion we decided we did not want to spend all afternoon in line. We were about to leave without seeing the nativity or the Catholic area when the guide asked a guard if we could watch from a certain area and he said it was for Catholics only. So our guide asked if the Catholics in our group could watch and he said then could join the procession if we went around to the beginning. Swinging quickly around to the beginning we all joined (although I believe we had some spur of the moment converts.) Apparently they all share this space (Catholics, Greek, Russian, and Armenian Orthodox) almost like a time share where each group gets 10 minutes. Our guide said the Orthodox time is off limits to anyone except for the priests and monks, Catholics are encouraged to follow and they often do not have many people who participate. While entirely in latin it had the same intonation as parts of mass so I had a feeling of what was going on. But we go front row view (incense and all!) as the catholic priests and brothers (forgive me, they were wearing robes I have never seen before) said prayers over the spot where Jesus was born. At this time no tourists are allowed it, we could actually see them waiting. We then followed the procession down into Chapel of the Innocents where the priest blessed us and we proceeded out of the Church. It was very moving and I feel really blessed that I was able to visit and participate in the procession.
We then headed to a Shwarma lunch. I had the chicken this time but I got to tell you, I really miss the garlic sauce... no garlic here (or at least not yet.) We then stopped at a shop that does carvings where I got a Jerusalem cross and a small nativity for my small Christmas tree.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon at Yad Vashem the holocaust museum.
We decided on a low key dinner at the restaurant where I had the inferno pizza which had some heat but an inferno it was not and a very delicious Palestinian salad all washed down with some Palestinian beer. Very delicious meal which was very reasonably priced.
Another early morning tomorrow!
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