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After Lunch in Northern Israel

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(In real time, I just got back from a trip to Chicago where my sister and I saw the play Hamilton and I had jury duty. But, on my Holyland pilgrimage I am still on Friday, January 19th, the eve of the Sabbath, shabbat.)

After our St Peter's fish lunch we all got on the bus again for a ride to the far north of Israel.  I am guessing this is the least populated region. It has high mountains and wild areas.  Most of my photos came while riding the bus, but I want to remember what it looked like even if the photography is less than good.

The northern part of the Jordan river extends north from the Sea of Galilee.
Our guide told us that many birds migrated through the area.  I saw a flock of cranes fling by, but couldn't get a photo of them.
In this wild region I also saw wild donkeys which had been reintroduced.
I seem to have gotten a street light in every picture.
January is winter and the rainy season, so there was lots of greenery.
And there were occasional villages.
And lots of empty wild regions.
And finally we reached Caesarea Philippi where the gates of Hell that will not be prevailed against is said to exist.
But, since it was about 2:30 on Friday afternoon, the site was closed early for the sabbath, shabbat, so the workers could get home to prepare.
Our guide had hoped that it would be open, but since the sun goes down early in winter, closed. As you might notice it was chilly and rainy up north.
The town was built by one of Herod's sons, who was not the one who beheaded John the Baptist.  His wife who had gone to be with his brother is the one who demanded that.
Archaeologists are unearthing the site which was wet because of the overnight storm we had.  So, they weren't working that day, and it was almost sabbath at any rate.
Lots of rocks in Israel and not that many trees makes for a lot of stone houses in ancient times.


There is a cave back against the hill were the town was built.  According to our guide the cave was made as a temple were the "gods" were worshipped.  It was called the Gates of Hell.  When passing this town, Jesus referenced the gates of hell while teaching His apostles.  But the gates of the national park on Friday afternoon prevailed against us.

So, after that, we drove back toward the Sea of Galilee to Tabgha, the site of the loaves and fishes.

There was an old church there.  The site is maintained by the Franciscans.
The reason why traditionally this is thought to be the site of the feeding of the 5,000 is the 7 springs on the hillside. Besides bread and fish, the people would have needed water and this is the only hillside in Galilee with so many springs.
The spring where the church is located has been made into a pond.  Koi have been introduced.  It was hard to take a picture of these these.
All I could think of was living water. It was so peaceeful.  The day and time of year meant that there were few other tourists or pilgrims at this site when we were there.
And I am not sure what kind of plant that is. I suspect if it wasn't bundled, there would be no room for the fish eventually.
The fish were getting big enough to eat.

The church was very old.  It had a lot of old mosaics.  I had seen this bird in some book before.
The church was rather dark and we couldn't walk on the mosaics, as was correct, but it was hard to get any decent photos.
My recollection is that the dark lower walls are basalt, and older.  The limestone was built on top because the older church was destroyed in an earthquake.
The altar and church were very plain.  All the ornamentation was on the floor in the form of the mosaics.
The stork mosaic was amazing.  I was still wowed by the mosaics this early in the trip.  We have amazing mosaics at our "new" cathedral in St Louis, but they are glass pieces, not rock, so they can produce any color.  These mosaics were made of stones.  The artists had to look for stones the colors that they needed for the picture.
It was mid-January and Christmas was still up all over the place.  There was still the lighted tree in this church.
The display telling about Tabgha which I didn't have time to read.  Tabgha sits near the Sea of Galilee. Note to self, photograph closer if you plan to try to read the display.
The church of the Seven Springs.
Looking toward the hillside were the people would have gathered.
On our way around the Sea of Galilee in the sprinkling rain.
Clouds and sun over the sea or lake.
Our guide told us that all the trees in Israel are planted.  There is one day a year when everyone goes out and plants trees.  They are restoring the land. This tree is probably an olive tree.
All the palms are date palms.  Israel is an exporter of dates.
Because Casaerea Philippi was closed we were too early for dinner at the hotel.  We had a little time to kill and not much was open because of the impending sabbath.  Our guide knew of a little kibbutz store that luckily was open.  Some of the group got Israeli wine to take home.  I got some fruit infusion which is like fruit flavored tea.

Our dinner that night was shabbat, sabbath.  There was bread and wine to share at the table.  We got to pick from the buffet line, so all the foods were not traditional shabbat foods.  But, I am told that all the servers were Arabs, not Jews.  Hotels hire non-Jewish people so that they have workers for the shabbat. The elevators are set to stop at every floor during the shabbat.  Pushing an elevator button would be considered work which is not premitted for Jews on shabbat.

Heading South on Saturday Morning

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Saturday,shabbot. Our pilgrimage group left Tiberius on Saturday morning.  We were ultimately headed for Jerusalem, but we had many stops on the way. 
After breakfast I had one last look at the Sea of Galilee.  Such a beautiful lake, every time I looked at it.  The Golan Heights are on the other side.
Our hotel had a "beach." These are the beach chairs.
They look like a baby stroller to me.
The  beach was closed.  This is probably the only beach on the Sea of Galilee.
I was trying to take pictures of birds.  I think I could paint this.  The Sea of Galilee. (I a not much of an artist.)
Our first stop was Mass and a visit to the home town of one of Jesus' friends.
First thing on Saturday morning we headed up the road to another lakeside town, Magdala.  Home of Mary Magdalene.
The work on digging the place up is newer than some of the other sites.  This was the synagogue.  Probably a place Jesus taught.
Synagogue in the morning light at Magdala.
Imagine how it must have looked.
Good that they built out of stones, because there was a lot to dig up.
Probably houses in Magdala.  I saw too much of this to remember specifics.
An olive tree at Magdala.
This is the inside of the church where we had Mass. The altar was a boat. And the window beyond looked out at the Sea of Galilee.  And as was pointed out to us, the ceiling of the church also looked like a boat turned upside down.
The marble used for the floor looked like water.
After mass we got to walk around behind the altar.
I have never seen marble like this.  It was amazing.
Around the church were illustrations of the apostles.
The altar boat had a cut out for the priests to say Mass.
In the basement of the building was this amazing painting.  See the bleeding woman touching Jesus clothing?
The stone floor was supposed to be from Roman times.
There was an Irish priest who showed us around.  He said that the site was dedicated to the genius of women.  There were pillars with names of women from the Bible.  One pillar was left blank for us to imagine all the women in our lives.  This photo is part of the mural on the ceiling.
If we had more time, I would know something about the site because they had some display signs.
Magdala was famous for smoked fish.
They are building a hotel and conference center.
Someday there will be meetings there in Magdala.
And like the most famous resident, Mary Magdalene, we were headed south to Jerusalem.
The hills we passed had caves where the Jews worked to try to overthrow the Romans after Jesus' day.  But these hills also were where Jesus walked when traveling between Nazareth and the area around Galilee.
See the caves?
Our guide told us that it was about 40 miles between Nazareth and Galilee.
On our way to Gideon's spring we saw Mount Tabor in the distance and to the far left, Nazareth.
This spring is associated with the scripture about the dry bones that came to life.

And this was the spring, back in a park which luckily was open on the sabbath.  It wasn't yet lunch time.....and we were on to the next site.

Beit Shen and Jericho

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Our next site was Beit Shen or Scaropolis (or something like that).  It was a Roman city, one of the Decapolis, the ten Roman cities in the Holyland region.


This is a model of the city.
Looking out over the city.
The hill overlooking the city is a tell.  Civilizations built one on top of the other.
The ancient mosaics were still there from 2,000 years.
Our guide told us that although this city existed in Jesus time, He probably never walked in it.  Observant Jews would stay out of such places.  They were dens of sin.
Another mosaic.
These pillars have been put back in place. They all fell down in an earthquake.
This was below the floor of the bath house.  Hot water was directed in here.  The stumpy pillars held up the floor.
The bath house from another angle.
The dark stones are basalt.
Roman public bathrooms.  Use your imagination.
More 2000 year old mosaics.
I don't know what this says.
If I make it bigger, is it easier to read?
I wonder about the blue and the red stones in the mosaics.
More pieces of mosaic.
This was the red light district.
The Roman road looked as good as when it was built.  The rise in the middle directed water and kept the traffic apart.
These columns were not yet set up.
Some of the guys on the pilgrimage in the know told me that the tree at the top of the tell on the left is on the cover of the Jesus Christ Superstar album.
All the columns fell the same way in the earthquake.
When we left Beit Shen it was still Saturday and things were still closed.  Shabbat.  The fertile valley was a place where much of the food of Israel is produced.
There were fish farms, vegetable farms and bananas.
The bananas and vegetables were covered in plastic to preserve the moisture.

Date palms in the valley.
Vegetable farming in a region of very little water.
Because it was shabbat we had trouble finding any place for lunch.  The landscape became more arid as we headed farther and farther south.
We saw Bedouins raising goats and sheep along the way.
We tried to get lunch at this  petrol station.  No food, but camel rides were offered.  We took pictures.
Sitting down the camel doesn't look so mean or large.
Finally we went to Jericho, part of the occupied territories.  The restaurant had some peacocks out in front.
There was yet another camel.  It was offered for rides.
We were not the camel riding type of pilgrims.
This was all we saw of Jericho since it wasn't really part of our pilgrimage.
And it was still Christmas season there.  Jericho with a Christmas tree.

And that was only lunch.  We had another stop before we were done for the day, even though it was shabbat and most things were closed.

Baptism of the Lord

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It is still Saturday in Israel, shabbat.Things were closed. But we had one more appointment on the way to Jerusalem. We drove through the desert from Jericho to get there.


This is no man's land between Jordan and Israel, the occupied territories.  Israel maintains security for a small swathe.  Along the Jordan River. 
It happened that late Saturday afternoon was a holiday for Ethiopian Christians, the Baptism of the Lord.  We had already celebrated that at home.
Luckily for us, they celebrated a later date because the shrine was open for them and so we were allowed to go to the Jordan River with these pilgrims.

There was much dancing and celebrating this Baptism for this group of people.

Across the river are these churches in Jordan.  There were Jordan security guards with rifles on the other side of the river.
The pilgrims were not there to try to get into Jordan.  They were here for Baptism.
Our guide said that the Jordan River was little more than sewer water and we shouldn't touch it.


These Ethiopians hadn't gotten the word.  They were in it all the way.


There was music and shouting and cheers.  It was a gleeful celebration.

The people  being Baptized wore white.

I wanted a picture of the Jordan River without all the people, I took one looking up river.  There had been a lot of rain recently, so it was higher than it usually is, so I am told.
And soon and very soon, it was time to leave.  We still had to get to our hotel in Jerusalem this evening. We went past signs warning of live landmines. I heard in the news that Israel is working to clear away the mines.  There was evidence that once there were schools and other buildings on the road to the Jordan River, the site near Bethany where John the Baptist is likely to have Baptized Jesus.
I tried to get some photos of Bedouins and sheep.  If you squint, you can see them.  These, however, seem to be goats.
I wonder if they eat goats?  Not all of those could be producing milk.  Goats don't have wool.  But, what must goat meat taste like?
And finally we reached Jerusalem.  These next three pictures may be from the following morning, but they fit better at the end of the shabbat. 
Jerusalem is a city on hills.  All the buildings by law have limestone skins.  That makes the city look light.

As we came into town that Saturday night we  caught a glimpse of the Temple Mount.  It is occupied with mosques these days.  We never got on the Temple Mount.  Israel has ceded it to the Islamic people for peace.

Masada at the Dead Sea

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Sunday morning we headed back to the desert. It was the rainy season even at the desert and there were some green bushes along the way.  I didn't get a photo but out in the desert I saw a Bedouin riding a camel and directing a herd of camels through the desert.  They were running.  It was really something to see.
The desert headed to the Dead Sea region. I think the white spot on the mountain is the reflection in the bus window.
The ever present lamp posts even in the desert.
lots of rocks are in the desert.
But, finally we arrived at the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is the lowest land site on earth.  The sea is 33% salt.
No life is in the Dead Sea. It is important to Israel because they harvest  chemicals from the water.
The mountains across the way are in Jordan.
Morning over the Dead Sea.  Blue fading into blue.

The Dead Sea is shrinking about a meter a year.  Our guide told us that these hills used to be under water.
The desert had very dramatic hills.  These were on the other side of the road from the Dead Sea.
And finally we arrived at Masada, our morning destination.
This is a model of Masada.  It was a palace/ fortress built on top of a mountain in the desert by Herod the Great.  I read that there was no evidence that Herod was ever there. He was big on building palaces. After Herod died, it was still a fortress. In the uprising of the Jews against the Romans in about 70 AD some of the last survivors fled to Masada.
And then we were headed up the mountain.
The Romans built a wall around the mountain to prevent escape. They also built fortresses in the valley below Masada.
We rode a cable car up the mountain.  I suspect the Jewish rebels didn't have it so easy. The Dead Sea is visible in the distance.

But even at the end of the cable car ride, we had some climbing to do.
There has been a lot of digging and discovering at the site.  I am sure it was relatively undisturbed because of the location.
The palace built by Herod was elaborate.  I can't imagine how hard it must have been to build such a fortress in such a hot dry climate. The big rectangles in the center of the model were storage for food and other needed supplies.  They were huge.
This is one of those storage rooms as it stands today.  The blue line shows where the original standing structure was and the part above is a reconstruction.
This is an explanation about how they survived on this mountain top for years.
Everything that was needed was stored up there.
They even decorated with mosaics.
This piece shows how the rooms were decorated.
And the bathes where hot water ran below the floor were built up there in that palace.
This was like a steam bath.
Looking out at the Dead Sea from Masada.
The line below shows the fortification that was built around the mountain.
This model shows how Herod's Palace draped down the mountain.
The center shows another Roman fortification as the Romans patiently worked to defeat the Jews.
And a closer look.  Someday the archaeologists will get around to constructing this.
The lines of trees show where springs went along the valley.
Not an inviting mountain to climb.
We stopped at this point to discuss what happened at Masada.  The Romans patiently attacked the fortress.  They realized that they had to get up there to defeat the Jews.
The Roman Legions had a earthworks built up to the fortress.  When the Jews realized that they were defeated, they chose some of there group to murder the rest of the group.  A small handful of survivors hid and that is how the story is known.
This was the roof of the room where we listened to the story.  It doesn't rain much there, so most days that is probably enough roof in the desert.
You might be asking about water up there.  There were several cisterns.
The cisterns were hewn out of rock and lined with plaster.
This is just one of the cisterns.  It was huge.
And while we were observing the cisterns and water system, this little bird decided to join the group.
He looks like a cowbird, but I am not sure.
He acted almost tame.  I suppose he survives off tourists because there can't be much in the desert for him.
This demonstration of how water was collected  for the fortress is what we were looking at when the bird joined us.  I bet he has heard the story many times.
Water was collected from rainwater and channeled to the cisterns.
Meat was provided by dovecotes. Which is what is in the photo above.
Explaining the dovecote.  But, much too small to read.
This is what defeated Masada. Over a period of years the Romans had their Jewish slaves built this earthworks up the Masada.  Because Jews were building it, the people at Masada didn't attack them.
Eventually the earth was piled up the the fort and the Romans broke through only to find almost everyone dead.
This is a display of the projectiles that were hurled at Masada and were still left up there.
This is one of Herod's palaces.  It is still decorated with mosaics.
The mosaic almost looks like a rug.
The line shows where the original ends and the reconstruction begins.
We walked back over the plain to catch the cable car back to the bus.
The cable car station was hanging over the side of the mountain.
Down at the bottom we waited for the bus to come up from the parking lot to get us.
We we off on the next destination.  While Masada was interesting, it had little to do with Jesus or Christianity.  If it were up to me, I would skip Masada on a Holyland pilgrimage and spend more time in Jerusalem.  But, if you like old places and visiting history, you might like this place.

Dead Sea Scrolls and the Dead Sea

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For the second half of the day we stayed around the Dead Sea. Picture from the bus of the wilderness.  This was the rainy season.


Our guide told us that the Dead Sea is shrinking.  The hills were once the edge of the Sea.
At a meter a year, it will soon be gone if something isn't done.
I am glad this was the rainy season in the desert.
We stopped at an intersection and there were a herd or is it flock of ibex.
He was sniffing the trash rather than waiting for a bus, I think.
Our guide said there is a spring around there, and so the ibex stay around there.
They didn't seem bothered by the cars.
It looked as though the grazing was slim pickings.
Israel is re-introducing these wild animals.
The hills were rough and dry. They stop the moisture from the Mediterranean from reaching this desert.
The hills are riddled with holes that as often caves.

We reached our next stop which was the Dead Sea Scrolls, Quram.  We had lunch, shopped in the gift shop, and toured the Essene community.


These pots were dug up in the area.  I wonder if they were used by the community for ink holders?
This is a piece of one of the scrolls.  Only this one is rules for the community rather than sacred scripture.  But it is the genuine item
It is made of animal skins that are joined together in a roll.
The scrolls were found in caves inside of pots.  The Essenes apparently hid them to protect them from the Romans.  In the middle of the 20th century a shepherd looking for a lost sheep found the pots containing some of the scrolls in one of these caves.
The scroll passed from one hand to another until someone recognized what they were. The search was on and many many scrolls were found.  They are the books of the Old Testament.
Looking up the hill we could see one of the caves.  I can only suppose that the entrance was widened as the area was explored.  Because that cave would have invited everyone to come looking in it, in my opinion.
Still it was up pretty high.  Can you spot the entrance in this picture?
And another close up.
On the valley floor, the remains of the Essene community is being dug up.
They are trying to piece together how this society lived and worked.
Cisterns, I think.  Water would have been a big deal out there in the desert.
The restaurant was in there and well as the gift shop. They really pushed cosmetics with Dead Sea minerals.
But, we were not done with the day yet.  We were going to experience the Dead Sea up close and personal.
Some of our party wanted to go in the water, even though it was winter and warm enough, but not hot by any means.
The Dead Sea region is the lowest place on earth.  Hence, this is the lowest bar.  It wasn't open on that Sunday.
Because the Sea keeps shrinking, the bath house was way up a hill and we had to climb down and down the muddy bank to get to the water.
It took a while to get down there.
Despite the not hot day.  Several people were game to try the water.
I was not one of them.
The thing you are supposed to do is rub the mud all over your body.
Then rinse it off in the Sea.
You just float in the 33% saline.
The water feels thick and oily.
These ladies were getting a sample of the water. I brought some home with me.
Testing the waters.
Gathering samples.
And finally time to head back to Jerusalem.  I continued to try to get a photo of the Bedouins.
Difficult to see much from a speeding bus.
And we came back to Jerusalem for the night.  We had Mass at the Olive Tree Hotel where we were staying.

Navitiy of the Lord

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Bethlehem is in the Occupied Territories, under Arab control.  Our Jewish guide could not travel with us to Bethlehem.  We picked up an Arab guide once we got there.
On the way out of Jerusalem for the day our bus was in a tiny fender bender that involved much shouting between our driver and the injured party. VP Pence was expected in town the next day.  The posters across the street were welcoming him.
We got our first view of the walls of the old city.
Not the best photos from the bus, but the only view I had.
As we headed toward Bethlehem, I took a view of the city in the morning light.  All the buildings are covered in limestone, giving the white appearance.  The apparent puff above the tall building was a reflection off the bus window.
We went into the Occupied Territories which have only a small Christian population these days.  We went to a factory store that sold olive carvings.
The owner told us that the hand carved pieces were expensive, thousands of dollars, but the machine carved pieces were more affordable.
I bought the machine carved pieces, avoiding the ones made in China.
Nativity scene was thousands of dollars.  No way could I afford any of that.
After an hour we got back on the bus.  We passed a familiar sight.  The Colonel was smiling at us.
There were looks of fences around things in the Occupied Territories.
Our first destination was the Shepherds' Cave.  This is a fountain of the shepherds. Those are not real sheep at the bottom of the fountain.

Mosaic at the entrance to the cave.  I know that Latin phrase.
The shepherds cave is a church.  We had Mass there.
I don't usually take photos during Mass, but this was such a touching scene, I couldn't resist.
I feel like this picture is titled--The Miracle of Salvation.
The floor of the cave was covered in ancient mosaics.
The colors of the stone is amazing.
Little displays were set up around the edges of the cave.
These are obviously artifacts.
But there were no labels to tell us what they were.
More little displays around the edges of the cave.
More mosaics.
Up above the cave was a modern church of the shepherds.
We didn't have Mass there, but we went in to see it.
This was our guide.  He was an Arab but he had been to a Catholic college.
Inside the church were murals.  The shepherd's joy!

The nativity.
The angels announcing to the shepherds.
Shepherd;s fountain again.
This was an Our Lady's Garden.  I couldn't recognize all the plants.  I think one was lavender and another one rosemary.

Still Christmas in Bethlehem.  They took down the tree that day.
We went next to the Church of the Nativity.
The church tower of this old, ancient church.
The very top. I am not sure about the flag.
And right in the area a mosque.  It seemed like all my rooms on this trip overlooked mosques.  I heard the loud call to prayer early every morning. No way would I miss the bus.
Our guide giving us instructions before going into the church.
To get into the church we had to duck down.  Once the door had been large enough to ride a camel through it, but it was made smaller to prevent looting.  These days you would need to be a hobbit to walk in without ducking.
It is called the humility gate.
Our guide held our heads to keep us from bumping on the door frame.
We got in to see an ornate Eastern Orthodox church.
I can't even imagine all of this silver and candles.
We had already had Mass in the cave which was really special, but this would have been a great place to have Mass also.
The various religious orders have disputed restoring the church so not much restoration has occurred. But recently there was an agreement, and restoration has begun.
This is a very old mosaic picture that is being restored.
We got in line to see the cave of the Nativity in the basement of the church.  A procession was going on and we had to wait on the stairs.
I happened to be in the front so I got to observe it.  I wish I could have been part of it.
It lasted about a half hour.  This pushed back our schedule, but church is church.
This silver star is the spot where Jesus was born according to tradition.  The spot.
I had seen pictures of it before and the skeptic in me would say, really, the spot.  But, I can't explain how overcome I was to be there.
The blue arch is over the spot.
Across the hall is this spot which is where the stable, the manger was by tradition.
The manger was here.
In this cave, under this church, Jesus was born.
Some of our tour touching the spot.
And back up in the church, looking at the mosaics.
Ornate church of the Nativity.  It was so big I can't even really show it.
In part of the church as they were restoring it they discovered these mosaics.  They were covered for some reason I didn't really understand.
We waked on the wood floor above these beautiful mosaics.

Collecting and organizing stones in these colors is still astonishing to me.

See these elaborate designs.
And close up.
Plans for restoring the church.
The restorers were up on scaffolds.
They were doing touch up painting on these pillars.
It was a big restoration project.
An angel mosaic was up by the windows.
And more angels.
As we left, I tried to show the various versions of the doors to the church.  The big door could have let a camel rider in. The arch could have let a horse back rider in. and the current door isn't big enough for a person to walk in without ducking.
A street scene in Bethlehem.
Street scene in Bethlehem.
More fences in the Occupied Territories.
Looking out over the hills of Bethlehem as we left the church and headed for lunch.
We ate at the Shepherd;s Nai (pipe).
It was up the stairs.
I ordered the traditional pita faefel which comes with fries.


Israel Museum

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After the profound experience of Bethlehem we headed back to Jerusalem and picked up our Israeli guide.  This bridge support was lighted up in different colors at night.  Hard to get a decent picture driving by on the bus.
We went to the Israel Museum.  But our time was limited, so we mostly just looked at this model of Jerusalem. Our guide told us that a restaurant owner had this model built of the old city in memory of his son who died.  It was at his restaurant for many years.
Toward the end of his life he donated the model to the museum.
Our guide used the model to show us proposed sites where Jesus was tried and crucified.
This in the center is the model of the temple.
Jesus would have been crucified outside the city walls.
Looking at the model from the other side.
She showed us where the pools to ritually wash the sheep and goats were.
This picture shows the raised walkway that enabled us to see the model better.
Looking at Herod's palace inside the city.
This city walls which have been in several different places over the years due to earthquakes, invasions, and time.
All the buildings were built of limestone, as they are today by law to keep the city looking the same.
Anyway, now that I have been in the walled city, I would have had better questions for the guide looking at this.  We went here first and it was hard to understand.
But, bricks and walls, some of which are indifferent locations today.
From there we went to the Holocaust Museum.  It was very moving.  I had already been to Dachau and to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  I had also read quite a bit about the Holocaust, so the museum wasn't brand new to me.  We weren't supposed to take pictures inside and the memorials closed before we could see them.  They were getting ready for VP Pence who was visiting there the next day.
My room at the Olive Tree at the end of the day.  I am surprised that I am not the pile of coat and clothes on the bed.  I was exhausted every night.

Mount of Olives on Tuesday Morning

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As we loaded on the bus Tuesday morning I took a picture of the mosque tower that woke me up every morning. This was our second to last day of touring in Israel.
We were headed east to the Mount of Olives..  See the store?  It labels the Mt of Olives.
We were headed to a high point on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city of Jerusalem.
We went to the church of the Pater Noster, the Lord's Prayer.
There are versions of the Lord's Prayer in every language.
There is a cave where tradition holds that Jesus taught the disciples.  One of these teachings was the Lord's Prayer.
We had a few quick minutes to go into the cave.
I am not sure why I took photos of the the Lord's Prayer in different languages.
But, I took several.  It was early in the morning, cold and spitting rain.
Old English?
This was the inside of the church.  It was plain.
We were all photographing many of the versions of the prayer.
The simple design had its beauty.
We were the only pilgrims there that chilly morning.
I thought the fish planters were a novel idea.
Looking back toward Jerusalem.  In the center if you look closely you can see the Temple Mount.
From this location we were looking over the Kidron Valley toward Jerusalem.  There is apparently a way to walk through the narrow lanes down the Mount of Olives, but given the rain and the slippery streets the decision was made not to walk down.

We stopped at an overlook to have a group picture. Nobody road the camel that was offered for rides.  Most camel rides cost about 50 or 60 dollars.  Seemed a bit pricey.
We looked over to Jerusalem.  Flowers were being planted for the spring.
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are in the back center of the photo. Then below in the wall around the temple and old city. Then there are Arab graves across the valley.  The green is the valley.  Closest is a Jewish cemetery.




This photo is with another camera of the same cemetery looking from the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem.
All the Jewish graves had little doorways.  Our guide couldn't explain why.
Using my camera lens, I took a closer look at the mosque.
The clouds were gathering overhead.
The guide told us that Jews wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives because the Messiah is supposed to return there.
There is still room in the cemetery for more graves.
This is looking back up the Mount of Olives.
And again the Mount of Olives.
This destination was down the hill quite a ways.  We were looking up at the wall of the temple.
And this destination was the Garden of Gethsemane.  There were very old olive trees in the walled garden beside the church.
Our guide said that the olive trees were tested to be about a thousand years old.  Not from the time of Christ, but not modern.


She told us that olive trees did not die and were usually not cut down.
The leaves of the olive trees look like silver.  When we were in Bethlehem at the olive wood factory they said that they did not cut down the trees for the wood, but only took branches that needed to be removed.  Olive wood is very sturdy, it is said not to crack or shrink.
This is looking up at the city wall from the gate outside the church at the Garden of Gethsemane.
The inside of the church was dark and ornate.
The ceiling looked like the night sky.

Mosaics on the floor again.  I would say that I wonder why we don't do mosaics on the floors of churches these days, but they would be so expensive to do.

Sonia our guide was very knowledgeable.  As both a Christian and a Jew she had an unusual perspective.
This rock is traditionally where Christ prayed while his disciples slept.
Another look at the ceiling.
Another look at the stone where Christ prayed and wept and sweat blood.
I felt really empty there.  I had no desire to stay and pray, and I thought that I should have.  I just wanted to leave that place.  The church was so dark and cold.
But the dome of the ceiling was beautiful, just not attractive to me.
There were also alcoves with some pictures.
And floor mosaics again.
Another view of the rock.
And close up.  I like the dove on the sculpture.
It seemed like they put things in the way to block the little light coming into the church.

Outside the church was a display that this site has been cared for by the Franciscans for 800 years.
There was a fence around the olive trees. beside the church.
There was a walkway that went through the garden, but it wasn't open to us.
The flowers had taken a hit from the cold weather.
I am not sure what the red flowers are.  I think below the red flowers might be lavender.
The old olive trees, with the word peace written in rocks below.
See? Peace.
If only there was peace in Israel and the Middle East.
This is an example of the Jerusalem cross.
This is the outside of the church where the stone that Jesus prayed on was.
The mural on the top makes it distinctive.
We left the Mount of Olives and went to the other side of the valley, but that church is in the center of the picture. It is easy to pick out.
Another view of the Mount of Olives.
The Mount of Olives.
A barren hillside on the Mount of Olives?
On closer look it is a cemetery.
Besides all the churches and monasteries on the Mount of Olives, a lot of citizens of Jerusalem live there as well.

Our guide told us that most people live in multifamily flats because it is so expensive to live.

It was mid morning and we were arriving at our next morning destination, Mount Zion.
From there we could still look back at the Mount of Olives.

Mount Zion

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After the Mount of Olives we had to hurry over to the Jerusalem side of the valley, to Mount Zion which was above the old city of David and against the walls of the old city.
I believe that the picture above is the Teaching Steps as we drove by.
I think I showed this photo before.  It shows a rooftop overlooking the city of David in the valley.
We were in a hurry fr the things we visited that morning.  We had been scheduled to have Mass in the afternoon at St Peter in Gallicantu.  But, the Vice President of the United States put a crimp in our plans.  We had to be off of Mount Zion by 11:30am and we had a couple of places to see.  The bus parked and we had to walk through the lanes by the old wall to the Church of the Dormition of Mary.
Our guide told us that this wall of the old city has the mark of gunfire from one of the wars in recent history.
I think I had read that somewhere in this vicinity was a traditional upper room site.  Our guide and priests never mentioned that and I had to check with my guidebooks when I got home to be sure that I remembered that detail.  Lots of places are not very authentic in the Holy land and our guides decided that this was not a place we would be able to see.
Instead of the Upper Room, we concentrated on the Dormition of Mary.  In the basement of the church was a representation of the Blessed Virgin Mary's falling asleep or death.  It was a very dark basement.  I don't like to use flash for a variety of reasons, but to see anything the flash was necessary there.

So, with the flash we can see the dormition of Mary.  There is a tradition that Mary lived the rest of her life in Jerusalem and died there.  But, I have also read about Ephesus in Turkey with a little house that was where Mary lived with John.  So, here or there, Mary lived somewhere.
Even with a flash this picture is dark.   There were beautiful mosaics on the ceiling.


Around the room there were alcoves with icons of Mary and Jesus.

Above on the ceiling where the representation of Mary was there was a beautiful mosaic of Christ.
I was finally able to get a picture of it.  Jesus eyes speak to me in this icon.
I don't know what this is, but it looked old and was behind a fence.  I have not been able to find out, but I will keep looking in books.  It was in the lower level of the Church of the Dormition.

And hurry, hurry, we had to get to another place before the Israeli Army kicked us off Mount Zion because of the Vice President's impending visit. I think he was visiting the Western Wall which we were close to.  At least he was our vice president, if it had been some other country, maybe it would have been more upsetting.
And another look at the wall of the old City.
We weren't headed far.  It was sort of across the street and down the way a bit.
We were headed to this church. St Peter in Gallicantu.  The rooster crows for St Peter.  You know the story.  The courtyard of the High priest Caiaphas.
We got to take a quick look in the modern church where we should have had Mass at 1:30.


It was a pretty church.  Our priest told us that there was a display about forgiveness, but I didn't get to see it.  We had some stairs to climb.


We looked down this covered hole.  It went down to an ancient cistern.  This was traditionally the cistern of the house of the High Priest, Caiaphas.  The dry cistern was where Jesus was traditionally said to have been held after he was scourged. In those days there was no escape from a cistern unless a rope was lowered.
Stairs have been carved in the rock so that pilgrims can climb down to see the place..

So we climbed down into the pit.  The pit where Jesus was held before His crucifixion.
It was a finished surrounding to this stairway to the cistern.  It seemed surreal.
This was a place along the way down. 
And at the bottom we gathered, got quiet and prayed.  This may have been the actual place where Jesus was held the night before He died.  And even if it wasn't this exact place, it was a place like this.
I had an inspiration while I stood there praying.  This was a place to leave the hurts, pain, sorrow over the mistakes in my life.  This was the pit where these bad feelings belonged.
So, I make a practice of mentally climbing down all of these stairs when I am confronted with bad feelings over things that have hurt, that still hurt.  I can leave these in the pit.  I can't carry them back out.

We climbed back up and went to the courtyard of the High priest where Peter denied Christ.
The statue portrays the story.  People who live around there know the church and the story and they have roosters.  I heard the roosters crow at least 3 times.
I am not so sure what this plaque shows, but it was also in the courtyard of St Peter in Gallicantu.
Apparently there was an earthquake or I was leaning as I took this picture.   Forgive the lean.  I want to say to him, think, St Peter, think!
It was spitting rain on us and time for lunch since we had to get out of there before the vice president got there, so Our guide gathered us and loaded us up to head through Jerusalem to find a place for lunch.
There were some graves along the way on Mount Zion. 
I think I stuck this picture in with the Mount of Olives in an earlier day, but this is where it belongs. Either this or the picture below is where I believe Schindler of Schindler's List is buried.

The guide told us, but I can't remember anyone else and I didn't write it down.  A cemetery.

That building is dedicated to prayer.  I am not sure which religious group is connected with it, but our guide identified it as a place of prayer.  And we drove and drove though Jerusalem traffic to find lunch.




Tuesday Afternoon in Jerusalem

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As we drove to get lunch it seemed that we went to the other side of Jerusalem.  I was glad to be able to get such a nice shot of the windmill.
Our guide told us that a rich man had paid to have the windmill erected in the early days of Israel so that settlers of the new land could have a cheap way of grinding grain. Unfortunately, wind direction was not considered and the sails do not pick up the wind.  Several years ago some politician thought that the windmill should spin and put a motor in it. So, if it is ever spinning, a motor is doing it.  Not an efficient use of energy.  But the windmill is a landmark as you drive around Jerusalem because it is built on a high hill
Then we went past a patch of ground in the city with nothing on it.  Our guide told us this land is owned by the US to build an embassy in Jerusalem.
It is an large as a park. The guide suggested that either the embassy would be built there or the land would be sold and the proceeds would be used to build the embassy.
Then it almost seemed that we were going out into the countryside.  We were going to a kibbutz for lunch.  In kibbutz the trees were covered to keep them from getting sunburned or dry.  We went past lots of banana plantations, but I think this was something else.
These trees were across the road.  The bus was either slowing down or had stopped because we reached the kibbutz.
The kibbutz where we ate lunch was the Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. I think there was a conference center and hotel.  We ate in the cafeteria like dining room and shopped in the extensive gift shop.
From the kibbutz we could see Jerusalem old city in the distance.
The ever present light poles to remind us that it wasn't a thousand years ago.  It was cloudy and rainy in the afternoon.
And so we looked back toward Jerusalem while our leaders decided what to do with us for the rest of the day.
We drove to the Haas Promenade which is on a hill looking over the city.
It is easy to forget all the overlapping Bible history.  That the Temple Mount was the same Mount Moriah where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him.  The hill where the Haas Promenade stands is thought to be where Abraham stood looking up to the hill with Isaac.
There are hills and valleys all over Jerusalem.  For a very modern city, it looks so old from a distance.
The display has a map showing where all the valleys are.
Some of it was in English.
Then we got into rush hour traffic and headed toward the Garden Tomb.
The Garden Tomb was not far from our hotel.  It was near we were told but not permitted to see the church marking the place where St. Stephen was martyred.
The Garden Tomb is one of the few places not run by a Catholic or Orthodox religious community.
This is at least partially because this is not a traditional site that has been marked for more than a thousand years.  It is fairly modern.  The garden is well kept and there was a nice gift shop.
A man who lived there dug around the hillside and found ancient tombs.  Some things I read have said that these tombs predate Jesus, but regardless, it was a beautiful site.  By seeing how they have constructed their theory of Christ's Crucifixion and burial it is easier to understand what the site under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre might have looked like before they built a church around all of it and dug out parts to accommodate that.
Cyclamens blooming outside in January.
Our guide explained to us how the theory was that Golgotha was the limestone hill by the parking lot.
There were photos from many years ago showing the "skull" shape of the rocks.
I could sort of see it.  I could see how limestone formations look like that.
The garden was walled around in limestone.
As I may have mentioned, it was cold and spitting rain.
Eventually we wound around the garden to the tombs.
The empty tomb we went into was two rooms carved in the rock on the side of the hill.
It was winter and there weren't a lot of people there, but there was still a little line.
As we waited. It feels different to be in line to see a tomb.  Our guide and the guides of that site were very enthusiastic that this may really have been the pace where Jesus died and rose.  Later at Mass our priest pointed out that the best way we know about these things is that the sites have been venerated for over a thousand years because the Christians in Jerusalem would have known where these events happened and would have reverenced the places.  This place was not one of those.
There was no sign that a church had been built over the site.  There was no mention that St Stephen was martyred near the place Jesus was crucified.
But, on the other hand, this was a way to imagine how it would have looked without a huge church built over it.  It was interesting, and moving in its own way.
A cross had been painted on the wall of the empty tomb.
We were permitted to go into the outer chamber and to look at the tomb.
We were to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the next day, so this place helped prepare us in some way to see the holy site.
The tomb or actual burial place was in the back.
I am not sure what I was taking so many pictures of it for. 
He is risen, he is not here.

Wednesday Morning, Old Walled Jerusalem, Way of the Cross

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Wednesday was our last day in Jerusalem.Some of our tour was headed back to the States that evening.  Some, including myself, were headed to the country of Jordan on Thursday morning.

I had received news from home that my friend L had passed away in the overnight hours for me on that other side of the world. L and I had said our goodbyes before I left because we both knew it was likely she would not be dancing among the living by the time I returned.  The news of her passing and all the details that were updated to me made me feel older and move slower than normal.  It was a hard day for me.


Our bus could'nt take us into the walled city.  We were brought to Herod's Gate.  These walls were not here at the time of Christ.  But, they are old.  There have been conquests, earthquakes, and wars that have changed the old city over time.
But it isn't like things were completely started over.  Things were built on top of old sites.
As I mentioned, I was old and slow and I brought up the rear during most of the trek.  There were these outdoor shops all over the old city.

And cats.  There were lots of cats.  Our guide told us that the Romans brought the cats.
We came in one gate, but the Way of the Cross started at a different gate so we had to travel through the old city to arrive at the start of the Way.
Some of the lanes were very narrow.  Motorcycles and carts were whizzing by from time to time and we had to scurry for the sides of the lane and doorways.
I had so many questions about the architecture and the way people live there.  But we were in a hurry.
This is how the lane looked without us on it.  The carts and motorbikes went up the center.
This building went over the lane.
This is the road.
And older sections looked like this.
A few cars came by us in the wider spots.
The Lion's Gate is where the Way of the Cross began.
Someone in our group recognized some of another group that was viewing the Lion's Gate.  Many a Bishop or a Cardinal?  Anyway, men in black with Roman collars.
This is Lion's Gate or Stephen's Gate. I believe I remember that it was built by an Arab conqueror.
They did a lot of wall building back in the day.
And decorated with lions.
The slits were for the archers.


Soon inside that gate we came to the first site.  The pool of Bethesda.
On the way into the site of the pool stands the church of St. Anne.  She is the grandmother of Jesus.
The church is one of the few Crusader churches still standing.  The Arab conquerors used it as an Islamic school
There had been several churches and temples built on this site in the past.
This is where the pool was.  They washed sheep before taking them to the temple for sacrifice.
Remains of the Roman pillars are visible.
And this Bethesda is where the crippled man begged for Jesus to heal him because he didn't have friends to lower him into the pool when it was stirred up. 
Parts of the pool were really deep.
It is interesting ruins today.  But we didn't stay long.
We went into the church of St. Anne.  It had great acoustics.  We sang a couple of hymns there at the encouragement of the French Priest who welcomed us in.
Even our voices sounded like the angels in there.
When I saw the statue of St. Anne and her daughter Mary it hit me, I would be a grandmother soon.  St Anne was my patroness.  Some Legends say that Joaquin and Anne lived there in Jerusalem when Mary was young.
It was very plain, but a beautiful church.
We walked past the garden on the way back to the Way.
We came back past Herod's Gate as we picked up the Way of the Cross, the road Jesus walked on carrying the cross.
The Church of the Flagellation was one of the first places on the Way of the Cross.
A very pretty church on the Way as we went through Jerusalem.
These churches and sites on the Way of the Cross were often inside a courtyard entered through a gate in the lanes.
More mosaics on the church floor.
Most of the churches were very dark.  It makes sense that electric lights weren't kept on for all the pilgrims all day.
I don't like flash photography very much generally, but it enables me to see the church.
More floor mosaics.  I am thinking that these mosaics weren't all stones, they may have been ceramics.

The Way of the Cross is portrayed on the stained glass windows.
These are obviously not old like the old city, but I am not sure when they were made.
And a beautiful depiction of the crown of thorns on the ceiling.





















Jesus accepts His cross, I think.  As I mentioned I was old and slow and sad that day.  Our guide was hurrying us through the Stations so that we could get to Mass at the appointed time.  One of our members of the tour read the Way of the Cross Prayers at each of the Stations, but because of the hurry and because the reader did not speak in the mic, I wasn't always sure which station was which.
This was the altar inside the church.
Flash makes it visible.
In the courtyard was a blooming rose.  Takes my breath away.
There were shops that wanted our business as we hurried n our Way.
We went into a convent and down into the basement where there was a cistern.
But down there we could see the old Roman road where Jesus may have carried His cross. This part is below the city now because over the years things have built up and up and up.
This section was covered.  It is carved with  something from Roman times.  It might have been a game of chance.
Then back up on the street, we walked on the Via Dolorosa, or Way of the Cross.
Station 3 was here at the Armenian Catholic Church.
Another courtyard with a church.
And further down, Simon the Cyrene helped carry the cross.
Several of the stations were just outside along the lanes.  Finally we could see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the distance.
Our guide tried to get in from this side.  Shops and more shops.
We trudged through archways and up stairs but we couldn't get in from that side of the church.
Finally we went around and reached the way into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The church doesn't look so impressive in photos, but it is huge.
Our guide told us that the various religious orders were beginning to cooperate to do repairs on the church.  She indicated that nothing had been done in a long time, because the various groups could not agree.  They are finally starting to agree.
When entered through the door on the side we came from the first thing we encountered was this slab which traditionally is the site in the eastern rite where Christ's body was anointed.  Our guide told us that the slab had to be replaced several times a year.  She was obviously not impressed, but I was struck by the reverence and love that these pilgrims showed as they rubbed the stone with oil.
Looking up at the dome.
And then it was time for us to get to Mass.  We were scheduled for the Blessed Sacrament Chapel within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It is one of the Roman Catholic Chapels. (I am not sure if there are others.)  This chapel is also called the Chapel of the Apparition.
The lamb on the tabernacle.  Although our priest did not know of my loss, he began his homily by saying that this was a fitting place to preach his funeral sermon.  He began speaking of how someone who died is not gone, they just changed address.  We can have confidence of this because of the events that happened in this place.  I can't even express how moved I was.
This was on the door to the chapel.
And the zig zag on the floor.
Out in the main church it was huge.  Massive.
Evidence of the repairs.
 And more evidence.
Then our guide took us downstairs in the church to the site that St. Helena claimed to have found the true cross.
There was a chapel down there.
We came back upstairs and past this which is an exposed piece of the side of the hill that was Golgotha.
Along the stairway there were little cross carvings that were left by the crusaders.
And up above that the site of the Crucifixion.
Details up on Golgotha.
It was another dark place.
These pilgrims were waiting to touch the site of the Crucifixion.
There is a place where you can reach though and touch the site, but we didn't have time then.  The steps were really tall and I didn't climb up again so I never touched the site of Golgotha.
Another view of the anointing site.
Then, although I was not done with the Holy Sepulchre, we had to go to lunch.

Our guide had arranged a lunch deal for us.  Pita bread with fries and felafel.  And after lunch we had some time on our own for the first and only time on the tour.



Finishing Off Israel

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After lunch on Wednesday we had some time to ourselves.  I still had things to see at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so I joined the people going there. The alternative was going shopping in the old city and trying to bargain.  I had already purchased the things I wanted and I knew whatever I bought I would have to carry, so I didn't want to shop.
This is a repeat photo of the Church of the holy Sepulchre.  Since I had used a lot of flash that morning and forgotten to bring extra batteries that day, I tried to be  a little frugal with photos and I really wish I had taken more.  Also, I know that late in the day, I am less interested in the job of photography and more just trying to keep up.
This was an archway by the church.
Inside I most wanted to see the empty tomb.  I had told my friend who had passed away and another person that I would pray for them there.  And I wanted to pray there.  The holiest place, where Christ's body was not.  He is risen.  It was really dark.  I wasn't sure if the Orthodox priests that were controlling the site were into flash photography.  They were a little bossy, those priests. They did not allow photography and 6 people went into the tomb room at one time. 
Here is a little better picture of the empty tomb.  It was carved into a hillside originally and the rest of the hill has been dug out, so it is hard to imagine how it all looked in Christ's time.  And then all of the church fancies have been built around it.
This is a terrible photo, but I tried to get a picture of this candle offering just on the other side of the tomb.  There were these braided candles that some people got, maybe they were buying them?  Because they were braided the light was bright.
But obviously it was a photo fail.
As we left to meet the group, I got another picture of the church. Then we met the group.  I got a piece of baklava with the group while we waited.  Because we had another trek around the old city.
We went through the Cardo, the center market to get to the other side of the city.
We didn't have time to buy any of the spices or the breads or other goods offered.  We just feasted our eyes.
And finally we had another airport type security to go through because we reached the Western Wall.
And this is the Western Wall.  The tube looking thing toward the top right goes up to the Temple Mount where we did not go.  The Arabs wouldn't let our guide come and there were pieces of literature like the Bible that could not go up there and our guide said that tourists were discouraged from going there.  I think there were a couple of times a day when you could go, and we had missed that anyway.
The day we went to St Peter in Gallicantu when VP Pence was there instead was the day we were supposed to have gone to the Western wall, teaching steps and a museum by the wall.  Instead we packed it into this day. The men's and women's sides were separated and like most good churches, the women were packed and the men had lots of extra room.
As part of a peace treaty in one of the wars with Israel, the Israelis gave the whole of the top of the Temple Mount to the Arabs in order for there to be peace.  The Jews had long worshipped at the Temple Mount, Mount Moriah.  This was where Abraham had taken his son Isaac to sacrifice.  The Islamic religion shares Father Abraham.  Herod the Great, who was not so great, according to our guide, was a builder.  The Temple Mount was created by building a wall around the Mount Moriah and filling in dirt and then building the temple there.  There had been other temples there, built by Solomon for one, but Herod built a grand temple.  Herod the Great was not Jewish.  He had some connection by marriage to Judaism, the favorite wife he murdered, I believe.
The Jews leave prayers in the western wall and go there to pray because it is the closest they can get to the temple.  The January day we were there was relatively quiet.  We saw pictures of Holy Days when this square is packed.
On the woman's side you had to wait a push a little forward as someone left to get up to touch the wall and leave your prayers in the cracks of the wall. 
I prayed and left a prayer in the wall.
This is looking away from the wall, back at the city.
There were obviously guard towers secreted up there on top of the buildings. 
Then we went on the the Museum and teaching steps.  This part of the wall was here at the time of Christ.
And flowers bloom in January in the Holyland.
The gray dome is the Al Acba (spelling?) Mosque on the Temple Mount.  Straight ahead in the distant center is the Mount of Olives.
In the Museum this map showed where the ancient cities were.  Jerusalem on the right and Joppa and Caesarea on the left where the Sea was.
These display showed how Israel is the center of three continents.

Thought this showed what the Temple looked like, but as I study this, it doesn't look right.  Something from the Museum.
These are Widow's mites, the smallest coins.
And we looked at the wall.  This was part of the old wall, but not at the temple.  Our guide told us amazing things about how heavy each block of stone was and how it was an amazing feat to built this wall.
She told us these things from down below, but several of us refused to climb more steps than necessary.  I wish I had been younger in Israel.
And I think there may have been a moat down there, or maybe I am making that up in my mind.
But building the walls of the temple and the city in ancient times or even today was amazing.
And these builders knew how to add touches like the part that jutted out.
 But really ancient building.
If I remember correctly, one block weighed something like 20 tons.
Then we went on to the Teaching Steps.  This is the place where St Peter is thought to have preached to thousands and they were all Baptized then.  The reason why this has been identified as the teaching steps is the pools that were there to purify people before they went into the temple.  There were enough pools there that thousands could have been Baptized.  This is one of the pools.
And then we went and had a sit down on the Teaching Steps.  It was a large enough area to have been an outdoor church.
I imagined those Apostles with us as we climbed up the steps.
We could see the Mosque from there.
The steps were rough and uneven from the many years, but steps over 2000 years old!
Looking out at Jerusalem with the other camera.
And another look.
And we passed this mural perhaps showing what the steps were like back in the ancient day.
And this wall was not explained to us, but it was old and carried on from Jerusalem.
And we passed it on the way to the bus to head to our hotel for dinner, and some of our party packed up and took a bus to the airport and some of us packed to leave for Jordan the next morning.
Looking out the window of my room at Jerusalem that evening.  I believe where the green light is is the mosque that I heard several times a day and night. I wanted to say, wait, I am not done with the Holyland, or take me home tonight, but my path was set and like it or not, I was going to Jordan the next day.

Jordan

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My pilgrimage to Israel offered an extension to visit the country of Jordan.  It was a few more days and a little more money to go to Jordan.  I jumped at the chance because it fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine, to see Jordan.

An unusual lifelong dream you might say.  I would agree.  Here is the back story--When I was in 6th grade one of the traditions was that the 6th graders put on an international fair at the end of their 6th grade year.  We learned dances from other countries, sang songs, ate food, costumes, the works.  And the one of the major elements of the fair was a display of a different country made by each one of us.  I had toured those displays throughout my elementary career.

And for reasons that confuse me now, I ended up with the country Jordan for my year long study.  We were encouraged to pick countries we knew nothing about so I randomly picked Jordan because I knew a lot about other countries.  I had never heard of Jordan as a 6th grader.  There is a reason for that.  In the early 1960s before the Internet, encyclopedias were a main source of information for such things as reports.  My encyclopedia at home had only a very small group of paragraphs about Jordan.  I struggled to find any information at all for my display.

And what I remember from my study of Jordan was that it was a desert, with Arabs, and nomads.  Over the years I read about Jordan whenever it came up in the news and I knew more things about Jordan than most people because I was interested.  I thought I would never have an opportunity to see the real country.  And then this Jordan extension thing was offered.  A chance to see this country that I had studied throughout my life.

But, first we had to leave Israel.  I took one more shot of the corner across from the hotel.  That was the mosque tower was below my room.  I stayed at the Olive Tree Hotel which seems like a place that a lot of pilgrims stay.  Little raindrops kissed the bus, even though the sky was blue.
Light poles, traffic, street lights these were things so evident in Israel.
Even though they travel on the right side of the road, I am glad that I didn't have to drive in Israel.
My eyes wanted to eat up the last looks at the Holy land.
Jerusalem in the morning was a familiar sight.
The hills were turning green from the rainy season.
The food was grown in many different ways in Israel to protect the plants from the sun and to maximize production.
These crops were covered in plastic to hold in the moisture.  This kind of food production makes it possible for Israel to produce most of the food necessary to feed the people.
And the ever present date palms.  They raise a lot of dates in Israel.  We were approaching the border.  I put my camera away.  I had heard horror stories of people arrested for taking pictures of the wrong things or all of the photos destroyed. I decided not to have my camera out at all.  At the border crossing our Israeli guide left us and we had to change buses.  One of our ladies on the pilgrimage lost her ticket to enter Jordan, she apparently dropped it and it was stolen by someone.  She had to pay another $60 for a permit to enter Jordan.  We sat around until our bus came and then we loaded up.  Our luggage was loaded for us.
In Jordan things were less neat and tidy.  I tried to get a picture of the stop sign.
Things were not close to the road.  They had had some rare rain in Jordan that day.  The desert fields were muddy.
Those may have been Jordanian date palms in the distance.
It was a dry brown desert in Jordan.
Sheep in the field.
And still desert.
And desert.
At the far left side you can perhaps see a camel.  Poor photography for sure.  But hard to take pictures from a moving bus.
We were aiming for lunch because even though we reached no where in particular, half the day was gone.
So we stopped in this little town and went to this little restaurant buffet.  The cook was Indian, from India...a sister on our pilgrimage was from India and she was delighted by the food.
We went to a town that was far up the mountains or hills.  We were headed to a church. Madaba, Jordan has the oldest map of the Holy land in a mosaic on the church floor.
We parked and walked up hill to the church.
The sign explaining that this is the Church of St George.
This is a reproduction of the mosaic map.
Look at the potty symbol.  I had never seen one doing a potty dance before.
And the mosaic.
Ancient mosaic in a Byzantine church.
Some of the parts of the mosaics were missing.
It is beyond imaging who would make a map out of little stones and place it in a church way up in Jordan.
Our Christian guide told us that the Christian community wanted to build a church, but the Islamic authorities would not permit a church where there had never been one before.  Finding the mosaic proved that there was a church there, and allowed this church to be built.
The church was decorated like this above the mosaic.
I wonder if this is the Baptismal font.
Walking back to the bus, we went through part of the town.  I would have liked time to shop.  But, I had no Jordanian currency.  See the dolls?
At the top of the three story building see the pillars?  Our guide told us that houses were taxed by stories, and since land was expensive, families built floors on top to accommodate new family members.  But until the money was saved or the story was needed, the pillars were left on top of the buildings.
I like dolls.  As a 64 year old, it is silly, I know.  But, I like dolls.  I would have tried to buy one of thee if i had the money.
Instead I took pictures.  Probably better than buying one because what would I do with it?
They were jazzing up the parking area for the buses.
They had a mosaic reproduction on the walls surrounding the bus.
Fascinating to look at signs completely beyond any understanding by me.
Baby strollers!  And words in English.
And Coke is everywhere.

An old military display. and we still had miles to go and things to see and Mass to celebrate before we slept.

Update on all things busy

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Sorry, I once again let the end of the trip go hanging.  Usually when I am not here it is a good thing.  Life is busy and I just don't have reflection time.  I hosted a Mother's Day luncheon for my mom, my sister, my son and daughter-in-law.  I attended a shower for daughter in law and first expected grandbaby (soon and very soon).  I am making curtains for that baby's nursery.  And Mom turns 97 soon and very soon.  My phone and my computer had issues.  And it was spring and I had a garden to plant.  And there are friends coming over this very night, so I had best get off here and vacuum.  And maybe eat dinner.

Jordan--Mt Nebo

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So, I left off, still January on a bus in Jordan. We viewed a church with an ancient mosaic that was a map of the middle east.
 The signs were in Arabic which looked very strange to my eyes.

Most buildings were cement blocks or pured concrete.
The above was a baby store with some kind of stroller or tricycle.
See the Coke.
And a display of the jet.
Interesting entrance to some place up a mountain.  We headed to Mt Nebo.
We headed up and up and up the mountain.

Christians manage or own the site at the top of the mountain that has traditionally has had a church.
With all the earthquakes and pillages and sackings that have gone on in this region over time, the old church is gone, but mosaics are preserved.
There was a tent over the mosaic that is being preserved.
The guide told us that the tent top was like the Bedouins use for their tents.
I don't remember how old this mosaic is.  And as old as everything was there it was hard to wrap my head around the age of things.
This circle is an actual example of the stones that were rolled over the entrance to tombs.
It would show why the women at Christ's tomb needed someone to roll the stone away.
Mt. Nebo was Moses last stand so to speak.  He saw the Promised land from there, but died on the mountain and never entered.
Obviously in Moses day the pollution was not as great and maybe it wasn't the rainy season.
It was sprinkling rain on us and cold. No one knew where Moses died on the mountain and where his final resting place was.
From a distance this looked like a light pole.  But it is a modern cross.
My understanding is that there was an old church that is no more.  Today there is something like a tent/ building over the remains of the old church.
Where the old church was there are mosaics.
These were covered up at some time because they have images of people and animals.  Some religious leader wanted only patterns.

Like this, so the oldest mosaics were underneath.
Parts of the old building were there.
The church over the old church is More than a tent.  It had stained glass windows.
I think this was a Baptismal font.
A beautiful cross mosaic.
These were designs and I think under them were other mosaics.
Very imaginative patterns.
And the colors were natural stone, not glass.
This describes the whole thing.  Unfortunately, I can't read it.
And camels on the mosaics.
  This is in the church where we celebrated Mass. We were not originally scheduled  for Mass there on Mt Nebo, but one of our party found one the priests who lived there.  Because we had our priest with us we got the okay.


This was a little old chapel off the to the side.
The chalice, look at the chalice in a mosaic form.
It was a very touching place to celebrate Mass.  Where Moses and the Israelites looked over Jordan.

Mosaics in Jordan

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On the way from Mt Nebo to Petra where we were spending the night we stopped at one of the workshops sponsored by the queen of Jordan.  This was a mosaics workshop and sales room.

I found out later that perhaps I was not supposed to take photos there.  I apparently missed the sign.  Or maybe it was just the showroom, where I did not take photos.  But, in case you are more well to do than I am and you are going to Jordan, bring money for the mosaics.
I loved the tree design.  Someone said they are pomegranates.
The artist is in a wheel chair. The guide told us it takes about 3 or 4 months to make a small mosaic like the one she is working on.
Intricate patterns and beautiful.
Another version of that tree.
The part of the workshop for pottery wasn't being used that day.
This is not an example of that, but they had some beautiful patio tables with mosaic tops that they would ship to the US, but I didn't have an extra couple of thousand for that.

And after this stop we took off across the country headed for Petra in the mountains. It was raining and the snowing on our trip and the windshield wipers didn't work properly.  So, it was a little scary, but the angels were with us and we arrived at Petra in time for dinner.

Petra Jodan

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I have to confess that when I signed on for the Jordan extension to the trip, I didn't do my homework.  I always wanted to see what Jordan was like, so I didn't really care what we saw, or so I thought. I didn't do any research into it either.  And for Petra that was a mistake.  Indiana Jones fans will recognize Petra. I am not an Indiana Jones fan.  Or an expert on ancient cities or civilizations.
Right across the street from our hotel was the entrance to Petra, So, we walked across the street and went in.  The priests advised another old woman and myself to pay for the ride to the bottom.
So, despite torture for the poor horses, that is what we did.  And most of the rest of the party was jealous of us by the time they got to the bottom of the site.
It was an extremely cold day. Our driver who spoke only a little English welcomed us by saying "Welcome to Alaska.:  I think it may have been about as cold as it gets down there.  My app said it was 17 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, it was cold in those open carts and there were no shock absorbers.  Bumpy, the ancient road to Petra was bumpy.
It was about 2 miles down and two miles up, so we got a 4 mile carriage ride.
At first it was hard to imagine what the big deal was about this Petra place.
It just looked like a hilly desert.
Then we started to notice carvings in the rocks.
There were cut outs in the sandstone.

Apparently this place was lost for a long time until some German explorer got the Bedouins to show him where it was.  Even today we were told that about 70% of the site remains covered in sand.
The wind whipped through the sandstone canyon.
Parts of the road were smooth and parts were completely rough.
I felt sorry for the poor horses.

As we went lower the sandstone was red.  Our priests who had been there some years before told us that the last time the day started cold and warmed up to about 70 degrees as the day wore on.
If anything, we just got colder.
The canyon was carved by water, like the Grand Canyon and then was dry and the Namibians built a civilization there in that canyon.
Considering that this was before the time of Christ, it is amazing to see the carved buildings.
Still traveling on the horse cart to the bottom.
And still.

There were carved niches and various carvings.
Sometimes the canyon got pretty dark and cold.
Then it would open out to sunlight.
When it got so narrow that it seemed like we were going to be no where, it opened out to a large plaza.
And here is the Treasury building.  It was really a tomb with small rooms inside not a large hall as was I am told shown in the Indian Jones movie.
it looks rather impressive.
And there were Bedouins offering camel rides for 60 dollars.
The camels looked youngish and not as big as I expected them to be.
And there were wild dogs and cats roaming around.

They were throwing rocks at this poor dog who had puppies.
We sat at a little hop and took in the scene.  Mind you this was a cold January morning and look how many people were already there.

Looking back at the last crevice we had come through on the horse cart.
And a larger view.
The guide told us not to patronize the Bedouins because they would trick and cheat you. So I didn't.
He said buying things encouraged them not to send their kids to school like this boy.
There was a little outdoor cafe that no one was eating at.  We listened to a Bedouin man tell us his life story inside one of the buildings.  Mainly to warm up.
And I didn't go any farther in.  I decided that I was too cold and too tired and I wanted to go back to the hotel.  Even though I was missing a once in a lifetime opportunity to see more of Petra.
It is an amazing place, but no Apostles were there.  I think I heard that Herod the Great's mother was from this civilization and he wasn't so great.
old old buildings and a lot of them were tombs.  And that is what I know about Petra.
Amazing that they carved the sides of the canyons.  I wonder if they used ladders?
A civilization within a canyon was great for defense I suppose.
And my friend and I had to wait for the cart to take us back.
This was the police station at the bottom of the canyon.
This was a tomb and then we caught the ride back and had lunch.

Heading forJeresh

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I had a nice cosmopolitan experience in Petra. I had stayed in places with bidets before, but not recently.  So, potty pictures.

There was a nice display above the fridge.
The morning after we saw Petra we had to get up early.  It was foggy and frosty.
It had snowed in the night. And I tried mightily to get pictures of it.
But the snow wasn't above the bus windows as it might look in this picture.
And if you use your imagination, You can see the snow.
And more snow.
A whole field of snow, I kid you not.
We were quiet going through the snow after our two nights and one day in Petra.
The driver and the guide were not saying too much.
Maybe you can see a little snow here.
And here.  And this isn't much snow for the Midwestern US, but for a desert country without snow plows and such, it was a lot of snow.
But as the guide eventually told us, it wasn't too much.
As we came through the snow, our guide told us that sometimes tourists were snowed into Petra and could not get out for quite a while.  He told us that some years ago they helicoptered people out of there.  It was something that was good not to know as we were headed in to Petra.
Eventually we were back in the old dry desert.

I wanted to get pictures of Bedouins and sheep and i did not succeed.
Our windows on the bus just got dirtier and dirtier.
The roads got wider.
And I think this is IKEA.
More scenes of Jordan.  Desert with buildings blending in.  That is my impression of Jordan.
I have no idea what city this is.
But it was some sort of city.
Closely meshed apartment buildings.
And more buildings.
A mosque, I think.

And the scenery changed from the fairly flat desert to the mountains.
We arrived at Jaresh and had lunch before touring the Roman city, our last stop in Jordan.  This was the sink in the restaurant.
Outside the restaurant was  a man who was making bread for the restaurant.
He rolled it out and kneaded it there and had an oven behind him.
He was a tourist attraction in and of himself.
This was the round oven in which he did the baking.  He threw the bread against the oven ceiling to bake it.  See the one at the top of the picture?
Before he threw it in he shaped it.
One member of our party got a special bread from him in the shape of a heart.
This was looking out toward Jaresh.

Jaresh, Another Roman City

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The last touring site we went to in Jordan was the Roman city of Jaresh.  Our guide told us that the city was still there because the area was not populated.
This is Hadrian's Arch.  Only the emperor could walk through the middle arch.
It had rained and the arch entrance was muddy.
The Romans kept soldiers in shape by having them build cities when they weren't fighting.
The Jordanians don't have a lot of money to restore or dig up these sites.
The arch was very dramatic.
Right inside the city was a hippodrome for chariot racing.
Strong building with lots of arches from thousands of years ago.
This is the plaza looking back toward the Arch and beside the hippodrome.
Inside the hippodrome.
A big open chariot racing place.
Part of the racing field.
Looking back at Hadrian's Arch.
Roman ruin.
And more ruins.
This is headed toward the Cardio or the city center.
I am not sure whether the arches have been left standing or whether archaeologists have put them back together.

A Roman temple is at the top.
We headed out over this filed which would have had buildings and houses in Roman times.
This is the entrance to the  theatre that every Roman city had.
The paving was still Romans.
This is the stage.
These are the seats where the audience would have been.
These pipers played for us.
A few of the seats were marked which would have been the pricey seats.
There was a sweet spot in the middle of the theatre where you could whisper and be heard in every seat.
The stage.
The seats were like a modern day sports stadium.

The pipers were working for tips.
I think we were told they had played at one of the Olympics.
And this is a pepper tree.  The brown things really were peppercorns.
They smelled just like pepper on the table.
Looking down at the Cardio.
We walked on to visit 3 churches that were not very near the Cardio.
This was one big city.
Remains of buildings.
And we got to the remains of the three churches.  We asked why three were built together.  The guide told us that back in the day Mass could only be celebrated once a day in a church.  So three churches would enable there to be three Masses.
There were still mosaics at the floor of the church.
The roof was gone and we could not go down to the floor.
We could look over the side at the mosaics.
There were animals and figures.  Clearly a bear.
And a camel.
This was the patron.
And words explaining who the patron was.
The mosaics were intricate.
Other animals
And if you look closely you can see a swastikas cross.  This was a sign of prosperity.
Looking at the churches.
More Roman columns.
And More
I walked all over Jaresh.  It took a lot out of me and perhaps I would not have pushed myself if I had known how little sleep I would get on the journey home.
This was on the crest of a hill looking at the ruins.
Temple of Diana.
A pool inside the temple.
A better view of the temple.
We climbed down these giant steps.
Those Romans were good climbers because there were not little steps.
Everything was built big.
Even after 2 thousand years the decorative details were still in evidence.
And more details.
Amazing.
This tub still had mosaics in it.
This was a tub.
And here we are getting ready to go back to the bus.  It was a lot of walking.
And as we left you can see the modern city on the hill in the background.
And the Roman road.  I have one more post about Jordan with only a few pictures.

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