Jerusalem, Israel

Jordan and I have been looking forward to taking a trip to the Israel for quite some time and the dreams of visiting the promised land came true in 2016; we spent 11 days in this beautiful country. Before leaving the most common question we were asked was, "are you sure Israel safe?"  After such a great trip, our answer is TOTALLY.  We never felt unsafe, uneasy or threatened.  We had a great time, and would go again in a heartbeat.   So where do I start telling talking about this fun adventure we took? 

It's impossible to image the Holy Land without thinking of Jerusalem.  It is the religious, historical and spiritual core of Israel.  It is the holiest city to date-treasured and long fought over by three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Muslim); it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, and is rich in history.  We arrived after a flight from Prague and settled into the Dan Boutique Hotel. 

The hotel had a wonderful Israeli breakfast: honeycomb, dates, soft cheeses (like a sour cream consistency) with Zaatar spice, halvah and of course bagels and cream cheese.  Since we arrived on my birthday, they prepared a birthday surprise for me.  Chocolate cake and balloons.

To get the lay of the land we started off at the Mount of Olives.  Historians speculate that somewhere on the Mount of Olives Christ wept over the city that he knew would be destroyed one day.  It is one of the highest vista points with a great view of old and new Jerusalem.  

There is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries overlooking the city.  To eliminate waste, the tradition here is that when you visit the cemetery you leave a rock on top of the gravesite you are visiting, and not flowers because then someone will have clean up the flowers.  The graves are all above ground because the hill is solid rock and much too difficult to dig.  The cemetery was closed to the public, but it is a beautiful place to be buried if you can afford it, the going rate is $80,000 for a plot now.

Up on the Mount is the BYU Jerusalem Center.  We went  for church and I was so impressed by the amazing views.  It's quite a distracting place to listen to a church service because the views are so breathtaking, but it was wonderful.  We talked to lots of friendly students who were studying there, and they were telling us all about their travels through Israel, Egypt and Jordan.  It seems like they are having a great time; Jordan wants to spend a semester at the Jerusalem Center now too!

As we headed down the mount to see some historical sites we came across some beautiful trees. 

We continued down in the valley to the Church of all Nations. The exact location of the garden of Gethsemane is unknown but here they have a grove of olive trees and the church is filled with beautiful mosaics. 

     The garden is a grove of ancient olive trees, some of which are over 2,000 years old.   There are gates around the trees to protect them, and some of the trunks are huge! 

Before heading into the old city we went to Yad Vashem, the memorial to the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis.  The museum is designed to remember and educate people on the Holocaust in order to prevent such a horrible event from ever happening again.

The centerpiece of the visit was the Holocaust History Museum.  There is meaning behind everything inside the museum, even the architecture used in its design.  The triangular design represents the bottom half of the Star of David, because the population of the Jews worldwide was almost cut in hald as a result of the Holocaust.  Photographs aren't allowed into the museum but it is well worth a visit. 

The grounds too have lots of memorials 

In the Hall of Remembrance we saw an eternal flame burning near a crypt of ashes of victims brought from death camps.  The floor is inscribed with names of the 22 most infamous camps.

The most moving part of the museum (sorry no photos allowed again) was the Children's Memorial, dedicated to the 1.5 million Jewish children who died. 

The memorial is a solitary flame reflected infinitely by hundreds of mirrors and in the room you hear a recording of the names and ages of children who perished.  If you read the names straight through without stopping it would take two years to read all the names.  Who could be so heartless?

Before walking into the Old City of Jerusalem we visited David's Tomb.  Here is the King himself in all his golden glory.

The tomb is divided into two sections-one side for women and the other for men.  It is one of the holiest places for Jews to visit, and the room is full of holy scrolls and books.  Everyone was reading Psalms because when you visit his grave you are supposed to read what is written by the King. 

Above the tomb site is where the Last Supper took place. Our guide told us that it most likely happened at one of the villas about 150 yards away, but somebody build this church a 1,000 years ago and so they keep the belief that it happened here.  

It sure is gorgeous...

We walked into the Old City of Jerusalem quite a few times, because it is so rich in culture and history.  

The Old City is 1km square mile and has 25,000 people living in it-5,00 Christians, 5,000 Jews and 15,000 Muslims.  We had lunch with a wonderful view overlooking the Dome of the Rock.  It was our first falafel to start off our falafel fest, and it was delicious as ever. 

One thing Israel has taken to heart is allowing all of their citizens to have the right to defend themselves.  Walking around Jerusalem we saw plenty of soldiers, but also the everyday orthodox walking around with assault rifles.  We asked our tour guide about this and he said that as long as you have a permit it is perfectly fine to walk about with your uzzi or rifle.  Stand clear everyone!

We went through the four different quarters that make up the Old City: Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim.  Each was bustling with people, shops, smells, and photo-ops. 

Amazing old buildings with such history, it was amazing to walk around the Jewish Quarter. Ruins from the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. from the Roman and Byzanitine periods.

I loved the stores in the Jewish quarter, so many Jewish things for sale!
Shofars for the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday

 Kippas for men to wear when praying

We spent time at the Western Wall, which was build about 2,000 years ago.  Today it is the holiest of all Jewish sites- it was a retaining wall supporting the outer portion of the Temple Mount, upon which the Second Temple stood.  

In front of the wall is an open-air synagogue.  It's divided into two areas: the souther section for women, and the northern for men.  In the mens section there are black-garbed ultra-Orthodox men rocking backwards and forwards on their heels, bobbing their heads in prayer, it's a sight to see!  We put prayers in-between the stones, because it is believed that if you do, there is a better than average chance of them being answered.  I sure hope so!

A nice little orthodox Jewish family walking back from prayer

To prepare for the time that the Jewish temple is rebuilt they have created a menorah made of solid gold.  It took over 100 pounds of gold, costing millions of dollars to fabricate it! 

We went to the Muslim quarter, and the breads they were selling on the streets looked delicious!

We walked down Via Dolorsa or "Way of Sorrows"

Via Dolorosa is where the first seven Stations of the Cross took place. The Stations of the Cross follows the precise path taken by Jesus on the fateful day of his death.  There are stops depicting are where certain events are thought to have occurred.

The first Station of the Cross was at the church of Flagellation where Jesus was condemned to death.

Here Jordan is touching the wall where Jesus stumbled, and placed his hand for support

The last six stations took us into the Christian Quarter.  We went into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher-build on top of the hill of Galtogha.  Here is where Jesus was nailed to the cross, died, and was resurrected.  

Where they nailed him...

 Prepared his body...

...and the tomb

We spent most of our nights wandering through stores in the Christian Quarter (we were told not to go to the Muslim quarter at night, and the stores in Jewish Quarter were primarily closed, although we did to go the Wailing Wall on Shabbat!).  

As my grandma would call it in Yiddish, there were "Tchotchke" (meaning small miscellaneous item) stores galore!

 Amazing vibrant colors!

oooooo roccccksssss

 ...and so many spices I wouldn't know what to do with them all!

We found an AMAZING falafel restaurant in the Christian quarter called Tala Hummus and Pita.  In fact the falafel was so good that we ate here all three nights we spent in Jerusalem.  The restaurant had the same people eating in it every night too, it was that good!

We LOVED Jerusalem.  I especially loved that Jordan and I got to learn more about each others histories.  It was such an amazing place to be, and we hope that it continues to be a place that we can come back to in our future.