A day in the city

Today the foot pain began for me. Anny has been dealing with it since Eilat (although, I keep telling her it will miraculously heal in the Dead Sea tomorrow!), but not until today have I really had any. It hit today.

We walked, like the pioneer children. Except, instead of wandering in a westward direction through vast plains and rugged mountains to some unknown place, we wandered in search of a specific location through a maze of ancient streets, thousands of tourists, and hundreds of vendors shouting at us. But we walked! We first walked for a full hour (quickly - and poor Anny did it like a trooper!) to church at the Jerusalem Center and made it just in time for Sacrament. Then we took some nice pictures of the Old City and went back to it. We went to David's Tower museum and learned some of the history of Jerusalem (David's Tower is a huge misnomer! Turns out the tower wasn't even built until the Ottoman era!). Then to grab some quick lunch, and off to the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. We got stuck there due to some processional into the Church (kinda cool, but it made us miss seeing the Western Wall), and then we made our way to the Garden Tomb. The differences between these two sites is so remarkable! From dark, iconic and ancient shrines to open, natural and peaceful gardens, with plenty of places to rest sore feet.

As we sat in front of the Tomb to rest for a bit, a line formed to go in and see. I don't mean to be all academic here, but I really am fascinated by the difference between the Christian approaches to these two sites! Much kneeling and kissing, crossing oneself, lighting of candles/lanterns, and such at the Church of the Holy Sepulcre (and a lot of people, a lot of lines!). This contrasted with the openness (but still fairly crowded) atmosphere, various groups singing songs (one with a guitar, most just a cappella) of the Garden Tomb.

I spotted (and Sylvia did too, apparently) a group of 5 waiting in the line to go in to the tomb that had to be Mormon. One (who shall not be named) was skeptical, but I knew I was right - and I was. We got to talking, and met a lovely girl named Shannon Patty who is working in the American Consulate in Jordan. We share a lot in common - she'll be a good person to know. And we made some potential plans to go to Nazareth together. Fortuitous meeting.

We relaxed some at the Garden Tomb, then headed to Abed's home (Sylvia needed some alone time and headed back to the hostel). We got a taxi there and were warmly welcomed. We sat and chatted for a bit - sometimes there was silence, as we tried to make conversation. But it was nice to be there. And the dinner was superb! An enormous pile of rice and chicken, various salads, and, of course, pita. (I don't know if I've mentioned yet how taken everyone is with the local pita here - it really does make any pita we buy in the states so disappointing!)

Then we had watermelon and peaches (the best peaches EVER!) for dessert, and Abed's son drove us back to Jaffa gate. Abed offered to drive us into Bethlehem tomorrow - his generosity never ceases!

It was a good day - long day but good. Still having issues with the picture upload, and it's even later than a few minutes ago when I attempted post the ones from yesterday. I have an early and full day tomorrow - so I'll post pics later.

I do have to say that this whole planning a trip with friends to the Holy Land has been quite a high learning curve just in and of itself. I didn't not really plan well for the transportation, and apparently I made some mistakes. It's causing some tensions. My own frustration with myself, and others' frustration with me - I know I'm not a professional tour planner, but I have been the one in charge, and it has been tough! But tomorrow should go well (if we can stand each other for another day), and then hopefully we do well hiking 10 miles each day! Woot!

Jerusalem Center - and the view therefrom.


All of us got our picture from the garden at the Jerusalem Center.










Afterward we visited the Tower of David (that wasn't even built until the early Christian era - a bit of a misnomer).


In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at the shrine on what they claim is Calvary.


We got stuck at the church for a LONG time - they made everyone stand to the side (Sylvia and Amy were still inside the church), and eventually these Orthodox monks came through in a big processional, and began singing chants inside.


Garden Tomb



At dinner with Abed (the Palestinian friend we made in Silwan) and his family.