Monday, October 15
We rose early this morning to visit the Southern Wall Excavations site. We walked on the very stones where Jesus trod to Herod’s “second temple.” The Temple area was next, The Dome of the Rock Mosque is huge! We walked through the Old City to the Crusader Church and the Pool of Bethesda. We visited Bethlehem and while there had lunch at a small family owned restaurant where they served us stew simular to what Rebekah would have made for Jacob when they tricked Isaac and Esau. After the interesting lunch, we went to the Church of the Nativity for a very long line to see the cave of Christ’s birth, as well as the Shepherd’s Field and the plains of Boaz. We visited one of the best olive wood shops in Bethlehem for a little shopping and then back to the “Dan Hotel” for the evening. Best time of the day was just seeing so many spots where our guide Saliba was able to share with us in depth history.
Tuesday, October 16
Another early morning but well worth it! Some of the group opted to miss this part, I am oh so glad that I did not!!! We went to the Western Wall Tunnel down under the Western Wall through some wide tunnels and some very narrow tunnels. Saliba showed us ancient areas where the people lived, shopped, we could touch the Western wall structure underneath the area where the men and women were praying literally on top of us. Layers of cities are build right on top of each other with passage ways and tunnels, and cisterns, and shops. Oh my, I think this morning was one of my favorite spots. One could see the inner workings of many years gone by. We walked through the restored Jewish Quarter, visited Saliba’s childhood church, wavied to his mother’s cousin as we walked through his childhood neighborhood. Saliba was raised here so it has been a real treat for him to point out various places he played at as a kid, where he worshiped, went to school, etc. Tomorrow is our last day in The Holy Land. I am so very thankful to have had the opportunity to visit.
Since I can’t seem to post pictures here, I will try to post some to my Facebook page.
Tuesday, October 16
Another early morning but well worth it! Some of the group opted to miss this part, I am oh so glad that I did not!!! We went to the Western Wall Tunnel down under the Western Wall through some wide tunnels and some very narrow tunnels. Saliba showed us ancient areas where the people lived, shopped, we could touch the Western wall structure underneath the area where the men and women were praying literally on top of us. Layers of cities are build right on top of each other with passage ways and tunnels, and cisterns, and shops. Oh my, I think this morning was one of my favorite spots. One could see the inner workings of many years gone by. We walked through the restored Jewish Quarter, visited Saliba’s childhood church, wavied to his mother’s cousin as we walked through his childhood neighborhood. Saliba was raised here so it has been a real treat for him to point out various places he played at as a kid, where he worshiped, went to school, etc. Tomorrow is our last day in The Holy Land. I am so very thankful to have had the opportunity to visit.
Since I can’t seem to post pictures here, I will try to post some to my Facebook page.
No comments:
Post a Comment