Friday 13th October 2017
By 8am this morning, Mike and I had checked in with the excursion team and had our bus numbers for our big day in Israel. We began by flying at 11am (Israir) to Tel Aviv. It was a quick 45 minute trip. We boarded a coach and were driven to Jerusalem for a huge buffet lunch, after which it was close to 2pm. For the next 8 hours we saw the sights!
First it was to see Mount Scopus and a panoramic view of the old city of Jerusalem. Then it was on to see the Mount of Olives with the garden and church of Gethsemane. This is the site of the Garden of Gethsemane.
And this is the sign in front of it…
We then went to the building that contained the room that was believed to be the space where Jesus and His disciples had their last supper together.
What you do need to know about Jerusalem is that while it is the place on earth that so much Biblical history unfolded, including where Jesus walked and ministered and died and rose again, it does not have any original Bible times buildings or sites. They were all destroyed over the last centuries and those that are there today were largely built during the Crusades (12-13 centuries) so our knowledgeable guide told us. Significant sites have massive churches built over them and along with thousands of tourists, it makes it difficult to imagine how it would have been in Jesus’ day. That having been said, it’s hard to miss the significance that this is where Jesus lived.
We visited Mount Zion where the original temple was believed to have been built and we walked around inside the old city walls through each quarter including the Jewish quarter where life carried on as usual….
We were taken to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (said to be where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected). It was crazy busy and difficult to get a sense of where each event took place.
We ended the tour at the Wailing Wall. This too was an incredibly unique experience. We were there at sunset on a Friday and to see all the Jewish families coming down to pray was just so very interesting. As we left, we exited through the Dung Gate.
Rebuilt more than 1000 years after the time of Christ, it has retained its name from many years before Jesus came.
Nehemiah 2:13
By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
These are just tiny nuggets that we got to see today. There are thousands of others that can be seen but we just didn’t have the time. Mike took loads of photos which still need to be downloaded to my laptop.
The long trip back to the ship took more than 4 hours. We stopped for half an hour at the Dead Sea. The lowest place on earth. The sea was warm and left a greasy layer when touched. It’s an amazing place.
We arrived back at the ship at 11-30pm. The ship has just pulled out of port and the internet is picking up, so hopefully I will be able to get this up!
# 445 of my 1000 thanks is that everything went off as planned today. That was my prayer this morning. We are grateful!
Tomorrow we go to Jordan and again need to check in with the excursion team at 8am.
Bed time!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂