Jerusalem!, Jerusalem!
I write this from the Petra Hostel in Old City Jerusalem.
My first hours in Jerusalem have been quite action-packed. I visited the holiest sites in Judaism and Christianity tonight.
Being the Sabbath, thousands flocked to the Western Wall, the only remaining wall from the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
After I took this photo, I was told that photography is forbidden at the Western Wall on Sabbath.
I visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher tonight. Here is a photo of the spot that marks where Jesus was crucified:
And this monument in the church is built around the holy sepulcher--the tomb where Jesus was laid for 3 days before his Resurrection.
Here's the stone that Jesus was laid on in his tomb:
The mosaics inside the church are quite incredible as well.
I am surprised that the old walled city of Jerusalem where I'm staying the next couple nights is open at all times. You can visit the Western Wall 24-7, 365 days a year. I haven't felt the restrictions on movement in Israel yet. I went swimming this morning in the Mediterranean, and then I took a sherut (a van taxi) to Jerusalem, where I saw these cool sites. Though, there is tight security with a half dozen M16-wielding Israeli security officers hanging by the Jaffa Gate not far from my hostel window. And there's airport-like security with metal detectors and wands to just ride the public trains here. And each group of Jewish school kids visiting Jerusalem has a riffle-carrying guard assigned to them. Despite all of this, life seems to function quite normally here, and I haven't seen any violence break out or even insults traded between different ethnic and religious groups, how the news always reports on it. Jews, Muslims, and Christians, dressed in very different and unique garb, some of which I've never seen before, all pass through Damascus Gate to Old Jerusalem:
I've seen a peaceful coexistence between religions in my first 12 hours in the city. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
I'm going on a guided tour of Jerusalem on Saturday.
My first hours in Jerusalem have been quite action-packed. I visited the holiest sites in Judaism and Christianity tonight.
Being the Sabbath, thousands flocked to the Western Wall, the only remaining wall from the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
After I took this photo, I was told that photography is forbidden at the Western Wall on Sabbath.
I visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher tonight. Here is a photo of the spot that marks where Jesus was crucified:
And this monument in the church is built around the holy sepulcher--the tomb where Jesus was laid for 3 days before his Resurrection.
Here's the stone that Jesus was laid on in his tomb:
The mosaics inside the church are quite incredible as well.
I am surprised that the old walled city of Jerusalem where I'm staying the next couple nights is open at all times. You can visit the Western Wall 24-7, 365 days a year. I haven't felt the restrictions on movement in Israel yet. I went swimming this morning in the Mediterranean, and then I took a sherut (a van taxi) to Jerusalem, where I saw these cool sites. Though, there is tight security with a half dozen M16-wielding Israeli security officers hanging by the Jaffa Gate not far from my hostel window. And there's airport-like security with metal detectors and wands to just ride the public trains here. And each group of Jewish school kids visiting Jerusalem has a riffle-carrying guard assigned to them. Despite all of this, life seems to function quite normally here, and I haven't seen any violence break out or even insults traded between different ethnic and religious groups, how the news always reports on it. Jews, Muslims, and Christians, dressed in very different and unique garb, some of which I've never seen before, all pass through Damascus Gate to Old Jerusalem:
I've seen a peaceful coexistence between religions in my first 12 hours in the city. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
I'm going on a guided tour of Jerusalem on Saturday.
