Day Three: Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Sunday, June 28th

Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock

Ally and I ventured to the Western Wall again this morning; however, this time we took the ramp up to the Temple Mount to see the beautiful Dome of the Rock mosque. The rock inside the Dome of the Rock is where Muslims believe Abraham sacrified his son and where Muhamed ascended to heaven. The grounds around the mosque were open and a nice peaceful place to wander.

Ramparts Walk

So, Ally and I decided to take a shortcut to get from the Dome of the Rock to the beginning of the Via Dolorosa (the Street of Suffering where Jesus walked). Well, our shortcut was to walk on top of the rampart walls of Jerusalem to the Zion Gate. Oh my!!!!!!



It was about noon and it was so hot. The ramparts walk was long and hot and full of steps! Each time we went up steps, we had to go right back down another set of steps. Our "shortcut" turned into an hour of walking...almost as hard as climbing Mt Sinai! We finally got to the end of the walk...and needed a break! We were going to start another long walk and needed some R and R!

Via Doloroso

The Via Doloroso is one of the routes that Jesus may have taken on his walk to the cross. The route is set up with 14 stations, all depicting different important spots on Jesus' walk of suffering. There is one spot that marks where Jesus was given the cross, one where him mother saw him for the first time, and one where Simon carried Jesus' cross. The entire route was full with markets, people, and pilgrims on the trek to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is incredible to imagine that Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem that I was walking.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Wow. What a magnificiant church. This is where the possible site of Jesus' crucifiction, burial, and resurrection may have happened. The church was packed with people eager to touch the rocks where Christ lay and where Christ rose.

Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity

After our long morning of walking and exploring, Ally and I met up with Dan and Nile to head over to the West Bank. We went to Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity and another part of Israel.

It was striking to see the contrast between Jerusalem and Palestine. On the Palestinian side of the wall separating the two places there was a lot of graffiti with thought provoking words and images.

It was also interesting to talk with a shopkeeper of an olive tree word carving store. He is an Arab Christian and took us to the roof of his shop to show us a bird's eye view of Palestine. I asked

Brazilian/USA Soccer Game in the New City

Ally and I wanted to explore some of the nightlife in Jerusalem, so we headed out to the New City! We saw quite an array of people there!!!!!

Lyrics I'm Humming:

Colorblind by Counting Crows