Jerusalem! Where do I start? - Sunday - Oct. 28th

Our day started here, at the central bus station. Although there are many tours to Jerusalem we decided to try to explore the Holy Land on our own. For 18 NIS (New Israeli Shekels) or about 4.50 dollars we bought a one way ticket per person to Jerusalem. The trip takes less than one hour.

The bus was packed and there were people travelling standing or sitting on the bus floor. Mostly young people going back to work, because even though it's Sunday, their week starts today.

I haven't seen so many real guns in the same space in my life! A soldier sleeps in the bus holding to his gun AND his cell phone. Should I feel safe? 

There is a check point with metal detectors at the entrance of every bus station in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. People seem to be used to it, but it does take time to have everyone checked. And there is no proper line up. People push around to get through as soon as possible. By the way, I almost got in trouble for taking this photo. The security guard asked me to see my photos and told me to delete this. I said no, and he just decided to let me go.

We arrived at the old city of Jerusalem at about noon. This is the entrance with tons of tourists, locals and people from different religions.

Basically the old city looks like this. Little shops and narrow streets for pedestrians to go up and down. It's really hard to locate yourself in this maze, because you don't see the outside too much. One side is Jewish and the other Arabic (there are also the Armenian and the Christian quarters), and even though they are right beside each other, people like me, who don't really know this part of the world really well, still can tell the difference.

The spices are colourful and exhale a wonderful perfume.

In the middle of everything is the holiest place for the Jewish, the Western Walls.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is arguably the most sacred site recognized by the Jewish faith outside of the Temple Mount itself. Just over half the wall, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, commonly believed to have been constructed around 19 BCE by Herod the Great, but recent excavations indicate that the works were not finished during Herod's lifetime. The remaining layers were added from the 7th century onwards. The Western Wall refers not only to the exposed section facing a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, but also to the sections concealed behind structures running along the whole length of the Temple Mount, such as the Little Western Wall–a 25 ft (8 m) section in the Muslim Quarter.

It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dates back to the 4th century. From the mid-19th century onwards, attempts to purchase rights to the wall and its immediate area were made by various Jews, but none were successful. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish community and the Muslim religious leadership, who were worried that the wall was being used to further Jewish nationalistic claims to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. Outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace and an international commission was convened in 1930 to determine the rights and claims of Muslims and Jews in connection with the wall. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the wall came under Jordanian control and Jews were barred from the site for 19 years until Israel captured the Old City in 1967.

There is a fence dividing the place for men and women to pray separately.

Julia and I in front of the Western Wall.

Back in the narrow streets of Jerusalem, we were looking for the greater Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock. Although we found it easily, it was not possible for us to visit it because of a Muslim holiday. The temple was opened today just for Arabs. Still we enjoyed walking around on the Arabic quarter. 

From there, we decided to walk on the Via Dolorosa, the most important Christian path here. It retraces Jesus last hours just before his crucifixion. The stations were not well marked, so it was really hard to find them. A tour guide or a book explaining what to look for is helpful. 

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the Antonia Fortress west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet) — is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross; there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century, with the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On the way it's common to see pilgrims carrying crosses, like Jesus did. Mike carried Julia in her stroller up the stairs. By the way, this is a not friendly stroller/wheel chair environment.

This was for sale on many of the Christian little stores on Via Dolorosa. Maybe some believers really want to experience the historic event to a full extend! Hard to imagine!

The Via Dolorosa on the Church of the the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, or the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan.

The site is venerated as Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said also to contain the place where Jesus was buried (the Sepulchre). The church has been a paramount – and for many Christians the most important – pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus. Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. Today, the church is home to Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Anglican,Nontrinitarian and Protestant Christians have no permanent presence in the church – and some regard the alternative Garden Tomb, elsewhere in Jerusalem, as the true place of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. 

These women are praying (and crying) over what is believed to be the marble slab covering the rock bench on which the body of Jesus lay.

This is believed to be the place where Jesus was put to rest, in the cave.

After walking all day learning about Jewish, Muslims and Christians faith, we came to the conclusion that our stomachs needed a bit of attention too. We picked a nice cafe on top of one of the roofs in the old city with a fantastic view of the markets and the Dome of the Rock that unfortunely we didn't have the chance to visit today.

 

We were done with the old city, but there was one more place we wanted to visit in Jerusalem before the sunset: the Mount of the Olives. For 70 NIS (less than 20 dollars) we hired a taxi driver to take us up the hill for some photos and back down. It was really worth it! That's the best view of Jerusalem!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem's Old City in East Jerusalem. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. Jesus gave an end-time prophecy at this location. The Mount of Olives is associated predominantly with Jewish and Christian traditions but also contains several sites important in Islam. The mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves.

From up there you can see both Jewish and Christian cemeteries.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: 

Burial and resurrection

Many Jews have wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives "since antiquity," based on the Jewish tradition (from the Biblical verse Zechariah 14:4) that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin there.

A rare family picture in this trip. Normally either Mike or I (mostly I) are behind the camera. This photo is credit to Razi, the really nice and polite taxi driver.

The sunset was just perfect! Its hard to describe how beautiful it was from up there to see Jerusalem going to sleep. Really impressive was how fast the sun went down behind the buildings. Incredible view!

Even though the name of the mountain has Olive in its name, there are not too many of those trees around anymore. But we still could find some.

On the left, from the Jerusalem beautiful skyline, there is the wall separating Israel from the West Bank and  reminding us that despite of the beautiful scenery, the religious feel or the magic of the place, there is still lots of tension here.

Still another beautiful sunset on our trip! We feel like this was a incredible day. We can say that we are lucky to have visited one of the most unique places on earth.