Day 7 - Sunday - June 10th

Today was another hot day, it was in the 90's in Jerusalem.  We started the day on the Mount of Olives.  The sights were amazing.

Dome of the Rock

Islamic Shrine where the Temple once stood.

Graves in the foreground, Dome of Rock and

Old City in the background.

Us blocking most of it.

As we walked from the Mount of Olives we traveled the route the Jesus entered Jerusalem that we call the Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem.  This walk took us first by the Jewish cemetery.

Jewish cemetery - Jews buried with no casket - wrapped/not embalmed/below ground.

As with almost everything else in Israel, there is a church building to commemorate the Garden of

Gethsemane where Jesus agonized over His pending death.

Inside of the Church

Outside of church - oldest olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

We entered the Old City through the Dung Gate.  Although this is not the original Dung Gate, the original gate was used to take out the trash.  Now it is an entrance for large numbers of tourists.

Barbi posing at the Dung Gate.

From the Dung Gate, we walked to the Teaching Steps.  It was believed that Jesus taught here a number of times.

Even though it appears that we are doing nothing, the temperature is in the 90's.

The first picture above shows the Dome of the Rock which is an Islamic site build on the Temple Mount.  The Temple was destroyed and the rocks used to build it were pushed off.  The next picture shows some of the rocks from the third Temple which was destroyed when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70A.D.  

Stones from the Temple Mount.

As we continued to walk in the Old City we walked to the Wailing Wall.  We had the opportunity to touch it and to pray there.  The Wailing Wall is the closest the anyone can get to where the Holy of Holies that was in the Temple.  Small folded paper with prayers written on them can be stuck in the cracks of the wall.  I prayed and put prayers into the cracks of the Wailing Wall for family and friends.

  

Wailing Wall also called the Western Wall

We then traveled by bus to the Israel Musem.  This museum has a 1/50 replicate of Jerusalem showing how it looked in the year 66 AD before it was destroyed and 33 years after Jesus was crucified and resurrected.  It also has the building that has a copy of some of the Dead Sea scrolls.  Unfortunately, no photographs could be taken in this building.  

I would like to correct my previous statement (Second day).  The bus driver is amazing.  He has maneuvered the huge bus in and out of some very tough spots.  Each day when we get back to the hotel, we applaud him for is driving.  The road in Israel belong to the big and aggressive and with our bus and Ishmael, our bus driver we just about own the road. 

Replica of Jerusalem in 66 AD.  (1/50 scale)

Museum that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and other relics.

Our final stop of the day was the Holocaust Museum.  Once again no photos could be taken inside the museum.  It was a horrible reminder of what the Nazis did to the Jews.  What was displayed in the museum was depressing.

Throughout Israel, we have seen a number of what I think are crows.  The bus driver also called them crows.  I asked "Mr. Google" and it said it was a "Hooded Crow".  They even sound the same as crows back home.  They look slightly different.  They are not as large and they are wearing a gray jacket.