Our guide was NOT into shopping, so he wanted to "get it out of the way" early in the day so people wouldn't keep asking him about when they would have free time to shop! We stopped at a large souvenir shop adjacent to one of the entrances to the Mount of Olives. I slipped away from the group and snuck into the Mount of Olives for a brief time of prayer. There was a HUGE group of Coptic Christian Egyptians who had traveled to Jerusalem for Holy Week (100 buses) so it wasn't terribly quiet but I was able to find a relatively quiet corner and spend a few minutes talking with our Lord in this very special place. I returned to the souvenir shop before anyone realized I was gone.
We reboarded our bus and drove down the hill (Christie and Chuck, it was a lot easier than climbing down like we did last summer - remember that REALLY steep hill we walked down to get back to the old city? Thank goodness the bus picked us up and drove us to the gate of the old city)!
We went through the Zion Gate, which sets on the top of Mount Zion. We made a stop at Dormition Abby, which is one of the possible sites where Mary, mother of Jesus, died. There is a tomb in the Abby dedicated to Mary. There is another possible site of her death in Ephesus, Turkey, where her son John took her to live in the latter years.
We spent some time in the upper room which is the traditional site of the Last Supper. Also, it is traditionally believed that this is the room where the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles on Pentecost. Even though we don't really know that this room is where either of these events occurred, it is a very special feeling to spend time here. Even a remote possibility that this was the setting for the Last Supper is very meaningful. It reminds us to take time to thank Jesus for giving his life for us.
We continued to walk on Mount Zion and passed a statue of King David. The nose was missing and some old paint was still visible on part of the statue. Our guide told us that someone had paid to have this large statue erected in this location. However, the Jews do not include statues in their worship. God instructed us not to worship any graven images or idols so this statue of King David is unacceptable to them. Often, people deface it and have broken off his nose painted him, etc.
We walked through the Muslim Quarter where vendors were very persistent in trying to get us to purchase their wares. We had learned on our previous trip not to make any eye contact with them and to keep walking, even when they step out in front of us as we pass forcing us to walk around them. We continued walking the Via Dolorosa, following the footsteps of Christ. Always an incredible experience, but particularly during Holy Week.
As we walked through the Jewish Quarter I expected it to be rather quiet, however it was still quite busy. All the vendors along the Via Dolorosa were open, trying to entice us to enter their shops. We weren't able to stop since our guide kept walking so we marched on.
Our next stop was to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The lines were fierce here with thousands of people trying to crowd through the doors to touch the rock in some way. It's so interesting to watch different people's reactions in this place. Some people start crying hysterically, others bow their heads to pray, some folks just elbow their way quite rudely through the crowds to see what the fuss is all about, and some people just want to snap a picture of themselves and the rock. Some people actually lie down on the floor to get closer to the small opening to try to touch the rock. Once again, I just tried to block out the mass of tourists and appreciate the fact that so many people were here to remember our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We DO know that these events happened somewhere in the vicinity. Extremely humbling to be even remotely close to the actual site.
Just after we exited the church our guide told us to look up a second story window. There was a ladder setting there, leaning up against the church. It's been dubbed the "immovable ladder". That's because it's been standing there for decades. Six different faiths have to agree to move it and none of them can agree - so here it remains!!!!
Our final stop of the day in old town Jerusalem was at the western, or wailing, wall. Men and women have separate entrances and areas in which to pray. People from all over the world come to pray at this wall, write their prayer requests on a piece of paper and wedge it between the cracks in the wall. The area was quite busy today so we didn't wait to actually get up to the wall - we said our prayers from a distance as we overlooked the wall.
We exited through the Dung Gate to climb aboard our bus for our return to the ship after another incredibly long and exhausting, but wonderful day of sightseeing. I will be a bit sad to leave Israel again but the feelings and experiences are etched indelibly into my brain and I will carry them with me forever. Having the privilege of spending time in God's Holy Land is one of the greatest blessings ever and I am so thankful for the experience.
When we returned to the ship we learned that a small group of our passengers who had visited the Dome of the Rock earlier this morning (about 8:00a.m.) witnessed some violence at the church. Evidently, a riot broke out in the morning when hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and firecrackers at Israeli police who had opened the site for Jewish worshipers marking the Passover holiday. Police officers responded with non-lethal riot methods including stun grenades and tear gas and the site was closed briefly in an effort to restore order. Dozens of Palestinian protesters and one Israeli policeman were wounded. We didn't visit the site until later in the day so we missed the entire event. Now, it's off to Cypress.
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