Day Eleven: April 19, 2006: Israel Trip
Mount of Olives
This has been a VERY BUSY day. We were at breakfast by 6:45 and left the hotel by 8. We ran into the man I translated for when we first arrived at the hotel and the Muslim leaders. For some reason a lot of candles were lit all over the lobby (Sabbath??). It must be the Sabbath because one of the elevators was running in Sabbath mode (stopping on each floor). We drove, getting lost numerous times up to the Mount of Olives. We found "a" Church of the Ascension". Later we found an uglier one which was supposedly "the" Church of the Ascension. All we know is that somewhere on thie mountain, Jesus ascended into heaven. We moved on to the Lord's Prayer church. On the walls you find the Lord's Prayer in ever language imaginable. There's a grotto there where they say Jesus always slept when He was on the Mount of Olives, maybe, but I doubt it. I broke off a sprig of olive leaves and we went on to the Seven Arches Hotel where you can see a great panorama of the Mount of Olives and it's churches, the Kidron Valley between it and the city walls and the Temple Mount. We drove down to the Garden of Gethsemanae and stopped for post cards which the strange Muslim storekeeper gave me for free. He said he saw light and love in my heart and that I should pray for peace. We didn't know what to make of it and just continued on to the garden and Church of All Nations which was full of tourists. We don't know where Jesus prayed exactly, but it was special because we knew we were near where it was. From there, after a little struggle deciding where to park, we walked up and entered the Old City by the Lion*s Gate. As we walked up a really desperate traffic jam formed, stopping the gate and no one could turn around. The police were part of it themselves along with a group of Muslim school kids in blue and white uniforms.
Via Dolorossa
They eventually solved the problem and we squeezed our way on by to start walking up the Via Dolorossa. It was like a treasure hunt trying to find the stations of the cross. Of course no one knows if and when all of this stuff happened or if it happened on the Via Dolorossa. Unfortunately most of the Via Dolorossa is in the Arab souq. We had a heck of a time trying to find the Church of the Holy Sepulcure. On the way we got jupped buying bread, bought post cards, got lost amongst the Ethiopians on the roof of the Holy Sepulcure, went to an Internet Cafe, bought this book to journal in and got a great book on Jesus in Israel at a Bible Store. The lady in the Bible store told us how to get to the Church of the Holy Sepulcure and we ended up finding it. OUr first experience was being told to move along, not to stand where we were... There were ladies rubbing their faces on the holy rock in front of us, there was a HUGE line to go in to see the gravestonge that was supposedly in front of Jesus' tomb (not biblical by size from what I saw) and some priests surrounded by tons of pople holding candles singing, chanting, crying, walking around barefoot, you name it. To tell you the truth the whole scene itself was the sadest, so much religion, but no relationship to the Jesus who supposedly died there. We went to the grace of Joseph of Arimetea, no one seemed interested in that. Dieter climbed in, it was quite tight. We left the church and the first thing I told Dieter was that I bet him 100 to 1, Jesus didn't die there and that we'd settle bets in heaven once I've asked God. Evidently it used to be the site of a temple to Venus and Jupiter. Eleni, mother of Constantine decided this was the place while on a pilgrimage here. I guess they believed that cause they found 3 crosses and the grave of Joseph of Arimethia. My problem with it all is that I 1. It was a temple site of a foreign god and they copied it and built on it and 2. Jesus had to die outside the city gates to fulfill the OT prophesy and symbolism-was it really outside the gates at that time and 3. the tomb was supposed to have been in a garden could there have been a garden there? Where was the skull hill?
Lunch and the Garden Tomb
O well... so we moved on through the Souq to to Green Door Pizza Bakery. There a little old man baked "pizzas" in a stone over. He overcharged us but at least they tasted okay. Now we're drinking Turkish coffee in a cafe at the Damascas Gate. Turkish coffee has a strong cardomon taste. After this we're going to go to the other garden tomb just outside the gate. Dieter's also scheming about taking a walk on the city walls. We'll see if you are allowed to do THAT on the sabbath. It is amazing how many types of religious dress you see here. I keep asking myself what denomination everybody is: Greek Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, etc are all seen walking up the Via Dolorossa. Truly this city is very religious. Well, better get moving herer-I'm getting my ears blasted out by Muslim sing-song.
Well, I've changed my mind about the Church of the Sepulcure now that I nkow a bit mroe. We had to decide whether to walk on the walls or go to the Garden Tomb because they were both going to close. So we walked through the Damascas Gate down Nablus Str. through a more scary souq where some guy was screaming "f.u. America" at us as we walked by. This is a scary/evil place sometimes. It's hard not to dislike Arab culture when you keep getting ripped off, can tell they're putting you down in Arabic, and see how trashed their parts of town are. Alas, they do have good coffee and spices and baklava-if that wasn't the case we'd never get ripped off cause we wouldn't want any. So we got to the Garden Tomb. What a haven in such a crazy city! It was so peaceful and only normally dressed people were walking around. There was no hussle and bussle or fighting over prices (it was by donation only). We got to walk into the tomb and then see the proofs that it used to be a garden there (old wine press, cistern) and then finally the skull hill. It was totally worth going there! We spent the last 20 minutes before they closed reading the story of Jesus' death and resurrection in John's gospel. Then we tramped on back through the souq and along the outside of the city walls down through the Kidron Valley and to the CHurch of All Nations. I kept jumping everytime people would honk: they are very honk happy here in Israel! On the way back to our hotel we got stuck in a few Jewish neighborhoods-due to the fact that it's the Sabbath they were all out and about just walking around right in the middle of the streets. I was just a bit afraid of them throwing rocks or spitting but things went pretty smoothly and we made it back safely. Tomorrow we'd like to go to Bethlehem and then the temple mount. Those are the only two sights we haven't gotten to yet. We're (I'm) hoping to catch some taxis tomorrow-Dieter would rather bike it, but I doubt he'll put his foot down on that one, thank God!
This has been a VERY BUSY day. We were at breakfast by 6:45 and left the hotel by 8. We ran into the man I translated for when we first arrived at the hotel and the Muslim leaders. For some reason a lot of candles were lit all over the lobby (Sabbath??). It must be the Sabbath because one of the elevators was running in Sabbath mode (stopping on each floor). We drove, getting lost numerous times up to the Mount of Olives. We found "a" Church of the Ascension". Later we found an uglier one which was supposedly "the" Church of the Ascension. All we know is that somewhere on thie mountain, Jesus ascended into heaven. We moved on to the Lord's Prayer church. On the walls you find the Lord's Prayer in ever language imaginable. There's a grotto there where they say Jesus always slept when He was on the Mount of Olives, maybe, but I doubt it. I broke off a sprig of olive leaves and we went on to the Seven Arches Hotel where you can see a great panorama of the Mount of Olives and it's churches, the Kidron Valley between it and the city walls and the Temple Mount. We drove down to the Garden of Gethsemanae and stopped for post cards which the strange Muslim storekeeper gave me for free. He said he saw light and love in my heart and that I should pray for peace. We didn't know what to make of it and just continued on to the garden and Church of All Nations which was full of tourists. We don't know where Jesus prayed exactly, but it was special because we knew we were near where it was. From there, after a little struggle deciding where to park, we walked up and entered the Old City by the Lion*s Gate. As we walked up a really desperate traffic jam formed, stopping the gate and no one could turn around. The police were part of it themselves along with a group of Muslim school kids in blue and white uniforms.
Via Dolorossa
They eventually solved the problem and we squeezed our way on by to start walking up the Via Dolorossa. It was like a treasure hunt trying to find the stations of the cross. Of course no one knows if and when all of this stuff happened or if it happened on the Via Dolorossa. Unfortunately most of the Via Dolorossa is in the Arab souq. We had a heck of a time trying to find the Church of the Holy Sepulcure. On the way we got jupped buying bread, bought post cards, got lost amongst the Ethiopians on the roof of the Holy Sepulcure, went to an Internet Cafe, bought this book to journal in and got a great book on Jesus in Israel at a Bible Store. The lady in the Bible store told us how to get to the Church of the Holy Sepulcure and we ended up finding it. OUr first experience was being told to move along, not to stand where we were... There were ladies rubbing their faces on the holy rock in front of us, there was a HUGE line to go in to see the gravestonge that was supposedly in front of Jesus' tomb (not biblical by size from what I saw) and some priests surrounded by tons of pople holding candles singing, chanting, crying, walking around barefoot, you name it. To tell you the truth the whole scene itself was the sadest, so much religion, but no relationship to the Jesus who supposedly died there. We went to the grace of Joseph of Arimetea, no one seemed interested in that. Dieter climbed in, it was quite tight. We left the church and the first thing I told Dieter was that I bet him 100 to 1, Jesus didn't die there and that we'd settle bets in heaven once I've asked God. Evidently it used to be the site of a temple to Venus and Jupiter. Eleni, mother of Constantine decided this was the place while on a pilgrimage here. I guess they believed that cause they found 3 crosses and the grave of Joseph of Arimethia. My problem with it all is that I 1. It was a temple site of a foreign god and they copied it and built on it and 2. Jesus had to die outside the city gates to fulfill the OT prophesy and symbolism-was it really outside the gates at that time and 3. the tomb was supposed to have been in a garden could there have been a garden there? Where was the skull hill?
Lunch and the Garden Tomb
O well... so we moved on through the Souq to to Green Door Pizza Bakery. There a little old man baked "pizzas" in a stone over. He overcharged us but at least they tasted okay. Now we're drinking Turkish coffee in a cafe at the Damascas Gate. Turkish coffee has a strong cardomon taste. After this we're going to go to the other garden tomb just outside the gate. Dieter's also scheming about taking a walk on the city walls. We'll see if you are allowed to do THAT on the sabbath. It is amazing how many types of religious dress you see here. I keep asking myself what denomination everybody is: Greek Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, etc are all seen walking up the Via Dolorossa. Truly this city is very religious. Well, better get moving herer-I'm getting my ears blasted out by Muslim sing-song.
Well, I've changed my mind about the Church of the Sepulcure now that I nkow a bit mroe. We had to decide whether to walk on the walls or go to the Garden Tomb because they were both going to close. So we walked through the Damascas Gate down Nablus Str. through a more scary souq where some guy was screaming "f.u. America" at us as we walked by. This is a scary/evil place sometimes. It's hard not to dislike Arab culture when you keep getting ripped off, can tell they're putting you down in Arabic, and see how trashed their parts of town are. Alas, they do have good coffee and spices and baklava-if that wasn't the case we'd never get ripped off cause we wouldn't want any. So we got to the Garden Tomb. What a haven in such a crazy city! It was so peaceful and only normally dressed people were walking around. There was no hussle and bussle or fighting over prices (it was by donation only). We got to walk into the tomb and then see the proofs that it used to be a garden there (old wine press, cistern) and then finally the skull hill. It was totally worth going there! We spent the last 20 minutes before they closed reading the story of Jesus' death and resurrection in John's gospel. Then we tramped on back through the souq and along the outside of the city walls down through the Kidron Valley and to the CHurch of All Nations. I kept jumping everytime people would honk: they are very honk happy here in Israel! On the way back to our hotel we got stuck in a few Jewish neighborhoods-due to the fact that it's the Sabbath they were all out and about just walking around right in the middle of the streets. I was just a bit afraid of them throwing rocks or spitting but things went pretty smoothly and we made it back safely. Tomorrow we'd like to go to Bethlehem and then the temple mount. Those are the only two sights we haven't gotten to yet. We're (I'm) hoping to catch some taxis tomorrow-Dieter would rather bike it, but I doubt he'll put his foot down on that one, thank God!
posted by Hannah's Music at 6:05 AM
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