Jerusalem, Part I

About half of our time was spent in Jerusalem. I kind of thought we would run out of stuff there, but we definitely didn't.

We started out on the Mount of Olives. It is really steep -  much steeper than I thought it would be. It was steep going down to the Kidron Valley, then steep uphill to Jerusalem. We walked down to the garden of Gethsemane. We then went to the south side of Jerusalem, then to the wailing wall. I had seen pictures of the wall, but didn't really get how it fit in. Now I do. You can go right up to the wall as long as your head is covered. I didn't think me and my Cubs baseball cap would be respectful enough, but it was considered fine.

The next day we went to Bethlehem. It is part of the West Bank, so under Arab control. It doesn't seem quite as friendly and not as well kept up. They have a church as the birthplace. Its a little questionable in my mind, but what do I know? Then we went to the shepherd's fields. It seemed even more unlikely.

We came back to Jerusalem and saw more questionable, but possible, sites - David's burial place, the Upper Room. The evening was the start of the Sabbath. That was interesting. Traffic, noise, and assorted activity really became subdued.

The next day we went to the crucifixion and tomb sites. It seems the Protestants have a pair and the Catholics have their favored pair of sites. I guess just to cover all the bases we went to them all. Then we walked the Via Delarosa. In spite of it being the Sabbath, it seemed pretty crowded.

There was a lot more to those three days than I'm including here. There is a lot of stuff to see. This was the last of the official tour. We still have two days on our own before flying out. I'll include those days next time.