Israel Part Four: Old City of Jerusalem

Whew, this post took a long time to make!  On Tuesday of our trip, we tried to fit in all the sites in the Old City in just one day.  There are so many things to see you really need two days to get through it all, but we only had one day, so we just tried to fit in as much as we could.  We visited dozens of things and took 183 pictures just in one day, so I will only be showing a few pictures and only highlighting the major sites we went to.  All my paring down still added up to 30 pictures, so prepare for a long post.

In the morning, we walked from our hotel to the Old City and entered through Jaffa Gate.  When we walked inside, we stopped to try and get our bearings, but we were immediately surrounded by peddlers asking if we wanted a tour, needed a ride, or wanted to buy something.  It was frustrating to say the least,  but luckily Darren had already been to Jerusalem before and is a quick map reader, so we were able to get on our way quickly.

The Old City is split into four quarters: the Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Armenian Quarters.  They are not equal in size, with the Muslim quarter being the largest and the Armenian quarter being the smallest.    However, this does not mean that there are exclusively Christian historical sites in the Christian quarter, etc., but the majority of the people from each ethnic/religious group do live in their particular quarter. 

Old Jerusalem up ahead as we walked from our hotel, Jaffa Gate is to the left

Just inside the city walls on the border of the Armenian and Christian Quarters

We were inside the Old City walls just after 10 am, when most things open in the winter, but the residents certainly weren't prompt about opening right on time.  We were going to visit a certain site by Jaffa Gate, but after waiting around, they still hadn't opened so Darren suggested we head over to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This was a great idea because it is one of the most popular sites, so it got crowded very quickly.  I would recommend for everyone to make this their first stop.

The entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, look, finally some other tourists!

The Church is a holy Christian site where some believe the Crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus all occurred.  The site was chosen by Emperor Constantine's mother, Saint Helena, who visited Jerusalem in the 4th century AD.  The church on the site has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, but the majority of the exterior has been around since the 12th century.

Even with some tourists around, still managed to get a shot with just me in it

There are six different Christian denominations that lay claim to different parts of the church: Armenian, Greek, Coptic, Roman Catholic, Ethiopian, and Syrian.  It's interesting that most North Americans (like myself) are totally unfamiliar with most of these Christian denominations represented in this church.  I have no idea what the difference is between the Coptic and the Syrian churches, etc., but it was still intriguing to see.  The separate denominations used to fight over space inside the church, but they finally made a truce in 1852 and supposedly everything that was inside the church had stay to exactly where it was.  Our guide book even described that a Muslim key holder unlocks the church every day in order to ensure no denomination has more power over the others.

We went inside the church and right at the entrance is the Stone of Unction.  This is where it is believed the anointing and wrapping of Christ's body after his death occurred, although the present stone dates from 1810 (assuming an older one was destroyed at some point).

Stone of Unction

Up the stairs and to the right is where they claim the Crucifixion took place.  The picture below shows a Greek Orthodox chapel that has clear glass over rock that they believe was where Christ was crucified.

Rock of Golgotha

Another highlight inside the church was Christ's Tomb.  This shrine is a replacement of one that burned down in 1808.  At the time we were visiting, some denomination was performing some kind of ceremony, so people were not allowed in.  We didn't have time to wait for them to finish, so we just snapped some pictures of the outside.

Christ's Tomb

The middle of the church, where some denomination was performing a ceremony

The Catholikon Dome, rebuilt in 1927 after an earthquake

We left the church and followed the Via Dolorosa into the Muslim Quarter, where the streets were lined with shops of people trying to sell you their cheap souvenirs among other things.  It was disappointing that we were in a city that is holy to so many people and we were being peddled knock-off t-shirts, socks, cheap jewelry, etc.  I'm just unclear on who would buy this stuff, but clearly there must be a market for it if they continue to do it.  Maybe other tourists aren't as cynical as I am. ;)

The sign marking the Via Dolorosa

One shirt we saw at a shop in Jerusalem

Apparently everyone knows about the BYU Jerusalem Center

When Darren visited Jerusalem before with work, they took him to the Austrian Hospice in the Muslim Quarter, which has a great view of the city from their rooftop terrace.  We also went up there snapped some pictures of the great view.  We recommend for everyone to find the hospice and go on the roof to get a great view for free.

The view of the Muslim Quarter, with the Dome of the Rock in the background

One of two pictures of us together from the whole trip

After walking around the northern section of the Muslim Quarter a bit longer, we took a taxi out of Lion's Gate and up to the Mount of Olives, which sits on the eastern side of the Old City.  The driver let us off at the top of a Jewish cemetery that sits on the Mount of Olives.  The hillside slopes down into a small valley, then rises up again to where the Old City is located.  In Old Testament times, this valley was known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is mentioned in The Bible as the place where the Messiah will appear (see Joel 3:12).  For this reason, Jewish people want to be buried here on this hillside.  Your gravesite definitely would definitely have an amazing view.  As you can see from the picture below, the cemetery is very crowded because of this belief and our taxi driver said it's more expensive to be buried in this cemetery than it is to buy a house.

The Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives

The valley separating Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, blue dome on the left is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Most of the sites close for an extended lunch (like two hours), so we weren't able to go inside many places on the Mount of Olives since it was lunchtime.  We just walked around, took some pictures, enjoyed the view, and then headed down to the southern part of the Muslim Quarter to see the Dome of the Rock since that is open briefly during lunch.

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park is just outside the Temple Mount complex, we didn't have time to visit it

The Dome of the Rock is located inside the Temple Mount that used to be the site of Solomon's Temple and later the Second Temple, but now is a Muslim holy site.  The complex contains mosques, monuments, and religious schools along with the Dome of the Rock.  Non-Muslims are not allowed inside the Dome of the Rock, so we just walked around the complex and took pictures.  The Dome of the Rock has a rocky ground where they say Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac.  (Abraham was instructed to sacrifice Isaac in the land of Moriah, and some believe this is the same as Mount Moriah, where Solomon built his temple.)  Jewish people do not to enter the Temple Mount area because they still consider it to be a holy site even though there isn't a temple here anymore and only priests would have been able to enter certain parts the temple area.

The beautiful mosaic patterns on the Dome of the Rock

We stopped and had lunch in the Muslim Quarter and then went over to the Western Wall, which is the beginning of the Jewish Quarter, just outside of the Temple Mount complex.  The Western Wall is Judaism's most holy site because the lower half of the wall contains the stones from the retaining wall of the Second Temple.  Jews come here to pray, recite scriptures, and leave written prayers in the cracks of the wall.  There are separate sections of the wall meant for men and women to worship separately.

The bigger stones on the lower part of the wall are from the Second Temple retaining wall

Darren went to the men's section and took some pictures up close

After visiting the Western Wall, we then wandered around the Jewish Quarter and explored Hurva Square, which is the heart of this section of Jerusalem.  The Jewish Quarter has been extensively reconstructed in the 20th century after several major wars mostly destroyed it.  This quarter is largely residential and much cleaner and more orderly than any other part of the Old City.  Even though there aren't as many historical sites, it was a breath of fresh air from all the chaos in the other sections.

Hurva Square

The Hurva Synagogue

After visiting the Jewish Quarter, we actually headed back out to the bottom of the Mount of Olives to visit the Garden of Gethsemane since it had been closed when we were over there previously.

The picture we took of the entrance before when it was closed

These olive trees are hundreds of years old

An American tour guide who was taking a break offered to take our picture

Our final stop was to visit a site just outside the city walls called the Garden Tomb.  In the 19th century, a British archaeologist claimed that a skull-shaped hill was the real location of Golgotha and was where Christ had been buried, not at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Shout out to BYU Jerusalem, we saw it on the way to the Garden Tomb

The entrance to the tomb

The garden tomb

After we finished touring the Garden Tomb, it was about 5 pm and most things were closing, so we stopped there.  We got back to our car and drove back to Tel Aviv that night.

Whew, we did a lot that day!  Only one more post to go.

Israel Part Three: Jerusalem

On Monday morning, we left Tel Aviv and drove to Jerusalem.  We had two days to spend in Jerusalem before Darren had to be back at work in Tel Aviv.  The first day, we visited two museums in Jerusalem. The first one was the Israel Museum, which is their national museum, equivalent to the Smithsonian.  It houses all the national art and artifacts from throughout the history of the Palestinian region.  The most well-known artifacts in the museum are the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The scrolls, discovered in the 1940s near the Dead Sea, contain some of the oldest versions of the biblical scriptures dating between 300 BC and 68 AD.  The Shrine of the Book is the exhibit that houses the scrolls at the museum.

The Shrine of the Book is under this dome structure below, meaning it is actually underground.  The design of the dome imitates the lids of the jars that the scrolls were found in.

The Shrine of the Book exhibit

We walked down some stairs to get to the entrance of the exhibit, which is in this courtyard.  See how we will were able to get a picture with no one in it?  There were people there, but it was definitely not crowded.  January is an excellent time to go.

The courtyard to the entrance of the Shrine of the Book

Proving we were there

Darren in front of the dome

I think we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit, that's why we don't have any from in there.   Anyways, it was interesting to see some bits of the scrolls.  The Isaiah Scroll is the most famous because it is completely intact and contains all 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah.  It was written around 100 BC and is 1,000 years older than the oldest biblical manuscripts known before this discovery.  They used to display all 23 feet of the Isaiah Scroll, but it began to deteriorate so now they only display a facsimile.  They rotate the other scrolls that are on display so only some are out at one time in an effort to try and preserve them.  It was an great exhibit and definitely worth seeing.

The museum had other exhibits as well, including a full history of the Palestine region from before the Israelites conquered the area until the reign of the Ottoman empire.  It was a great way to get acquainted with the history of Jerusalem and Israel to prepare for going to the Old City the next day.  The other fascinating part of the museum was a Jewish art and life wing.  We learned so much about Jewish culture and history.

Darren illegally taking a picture

They even had four complete synagogues that have been reconstructed inside the museum.  I have never been inside a synagogue, so it was great to see.

The inside of a reconstructed synagogue

Another highlight of the Israel Museum is a model of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, which means this is what Jerusalem would have looked like around the time of Christ.

There was so much to see at the Israel Museum, you really can spend a good part of the day there.  Since we had one more stop to make, we only stayed for three or so hours.  After getting a late lunch, we visited Yad Vashem, which is a whole complex devoted to the Holocaust, including archives, research centers, and museums.  But first, I want to show you proof about how bad Israeli drivers are.  As we entered the parking lot of the museum, we found this car parked in two spots!  There was another car parked like this, too, in the same parking lot.

This made me appreciate Switzerland more.  Follow the rules people!

Anyways, we visited the main museum at Yad Vashem on the Holocaust.  We both thought that the museum was very well done and I particularly thought the architecture of the building was excellent.

The entrance of the museum

The view from the exit of the museum

The Hall of Remembrance

As you can see from the last picture, we were at the museum until its closing (sun sets around 5 pm, when most attractions close in the winter).  So that was the end of the first day in Jerusalem.  Next post will be about our visit to the Old City.  There are so many pictures from that, it has to be a separate post.

Israel Recap Interrupted, Our Stuff Arrived!

I haven't been posting for two days because our stuff FINALLY arrived yesterday!  We had received word that the cargo ship with our stuff in it had arrived in Belgium as planned on the 14th.  Then we got an e-mail on Friday saying they could deliver our things Tuesday morning.  I wanted our stuff so badly, I even chose to stay here to get our things as soon as possible over accompanying Darren to New York on his business trip this week.

So yesterday morning, right at 8 am as planned (three cheers for Swiss punctuality!) this truck pictured below arrived.  One of my good friends graciously volunteered to be there at 8 am, too, so that I would have some help getting everything unpacked.  She encouraged me to go run out and take a picture of the truck, so I did, even though it was snowing.

The truck with our stuff in it

After traveling almost 6,000 miles, we only had one broken thing.  Our TV stand had a glass top and it shattered somewhere en route.  Oh well, that's why we have insurance, so we'll just get something to replace it.

The shattered glass top I took pictures of for insurance

So now you can see how the place is with furniture in it!  It's still a work in progress, but I'm hoping to have everything done by the end of February so we can have a housewarming party.  Nothing like a housewarming party four months after you've moved. ;)

Israel posts will start again tomorrow.  Three more to go.

Israel Part Two: Jaffa

In Israel, Google employees have Friday and Saturday off for the Muslim and Jewish sabbaths, while Sunday is part of the work week.  This may be how the rest of the country works, but I can't confirm that.  Therefore, Darren had a meeting up in Haifa beginning in the afternoon on Sunday.  

So we used the morning to go explore the old port of Jaffa.  The Hebrew name for Jaffa is Yafo (which is why when you look at a map, sometimes it says Tel Aviv-Yafo).  Jaffa has been around since very ancient times, but most of it has been absorbed by the new city of Tel Aviv.  The old city center of Jaffa still remains for visitors to see.  Jaffa was known in Biblical times as either Japho or Joppa (many different transliterations of the name from different languages) and was an important harbor during Solomon's reign (see 2 Chr. 2:16) and is also mentioned as the place where Peter performed a miracle (see Acts 9:36-43).

There are only one or two historical sites to see in Jaffa, instead it is more about the scenery and the atmosphere.  The core of the old town has become more an arts, crafts, and dining scene.  During our time there, we just walked around, explored and took lots of pictures.

One of the art shops in the area

Great views of the Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa

There are actually a lot of feral cats in Israel.  Everywhere we went we saw lots of cats roaming around.  Some looked gross and mangy, but actually most of them looked well-fed.  It was cool to see cats on the prowl instead of the usual domestic cat that is fat and just lays around waiting to be fed (Gracie).  It was hard not to go up and pet them, but I realized that they were probably full of diseases and maybe not very nice.

Feral cats fighting for territory

Another great shot by Darren of downtown Tel Aviv from Jaffa

We passed by the Monastery of St. Peter, which was dedicated in 1891.  It stands on the site that was formerly occupied by a Crusader citadel.  The monastery commemorates the miracle Peter performed of raising Tabitha from the dead as I mentioned above.  We did not go inside because it was Sunday and they were having a service.

Monastery of St. Peter

At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon actually seized control of the coastal towns in the area, including Jaffa.  This is my only guess as to why this statue of a French soldier and a French cafe called Napoleon exist in Jaffa.

Classic Robison way of taking pictures

We really enjoyed Jaffa, maybe even more than Tel Aviv.  It had a quaint, old feeling, but still seemed to have modern housing hidden behind old-looking stones. Tel Aviv has some nice buildings and streets, but has as many dilapidated and abandoned buildings as well.  And even in the busy, tourist section of downtown.  

After our tour of Jaffa and bit of walking around in Tel Aviv, Darren went to his meeting, while I went back to the hotel.  It then proceeded to rain nonstop for the rest of the day, so I just stayed in the hotel and planned out our Jerusalem itinerary for the next two days.  One hundred pages of our guidebook was just devoted to Jerusalem!  So there was a lot to read up on.  Darren didn't return from his meeting until very late, so we went in search of any place that was still serving food and came upon a little restaurant that served breakfast foods from around the world.  I had a "Scandinavian" breakfast that was a mix of melted cheese, spinach, sunflower seeds, and poached eggs (maybe other things?) that was mixed together and served almost like a spread, which I put on the toasted brioche it came with.  It was fantastic!

Next up are two posts about our time in Jerusalem!