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| Sunday, February 25, 2007 |
| My travels up the Mount of Olives |
I promised a blog a couple weeks ago about my tour up the Mount of Olives. Here it is!
The morning started off... well, actually... for me it started the evening before. I had taken one of my notorious naps (fell asleep around 2:00 and slept until 7pm) and thus stayed up all night. I did some translating work so I was at least a bit productive. I decided around 4:00am that instead of hanging around the apartment, I was going to take advantage of this wonderful thing called semester break and go out on the town! I planned out my course, took a shower, drew myself a little map so I wouldn't get lost, and about 9am I headed for the bus! I took the bus to the Jaffa Gate where my adventure started. :)
I took my time walking through the Old City, browsed a couple shops, and talked to a few shop owners (well, they talked to me as I tried to walk away - why can't I just say, "No"??). I got some amazing fresh squeezed pomegranate juice for breakfast. The starting at the Lions Gate, I worked my way up the Mount of Olives. First stop: Mary's Tomb. A beautiful cave in the Kidron Valley and cut into the side of the mountain, the supposed resting place of the mother of Christ. At the site is a church built by the Crusaders in the 11th century, sort of in the cave. Right beside this is the "Grotto of Gethsemane." Not really sure the significance. I remember reading something about it and laughing, then leaving. :) I did go to the Garden of Gethsemane next. This was my favorite stop. The olive trees are amazing. They are over 2,000 years old. These are one of the first things that I have seen in Jerusalem that actually would have had something to with Christ. The All Nations Church is the keeper of these trees. Also beautiful and built in the early 20th cent.
It began to rain while I was here. Not to be deterred, I continued up the steep road (built on the original road that passed between Bethany and Jerusalem) toward the Church of the Dominus Flevit, watching the other tourists scurry for their buses with various tour guide books held over their heads. The entire hill on the north side of this road is covered with the Jewish Cemetery. It is the longest in-use cemetery - over 5,000 years of burials. A lot of history is found on this mountain. Dominus Flevit means "the Lord wept" and is built where Jesus wept for Jerusalem. It has an amazing view of the City of David. (It's even better when it's not rainy and overcast.)
Continuing up the road, on the right, is a non-descript gate leading to a driveway with a few houses, gardens, even a "Beware of Dog" sign (I am using deduction, the sign was in Hebrew but the menacing dog on the sign followed by the appearance of the dog in question helped with translation). The dog, however, appeared to have no desire copy it's counterpart on the sign and simply watched me enter the courtyards of the houses. In the very center of this overgrown, pebble covered area were steps surrounded by a fence held up by the weeds tangled in it. A hand-painted sign indicated that this the "Tomb of the Prophets" and hence, the next stop on my explorations. Tentatively, I stepped into the darkness. As I reached the last step, with the darkness encroaching around me, I did what any good tourist would do: I raised my camera. Looking through the LCD screen, I started aiming for the best shot to capture this large, ominous tomb I had walked into. I looked away from the screen to adjust a couple settings and I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye from farther inside the tomb. I quickly turned to see if one of its inhabitants had decided to try out life again. Instead, a priest from the Russian Church walked out of the darkness. Upon learning that I knew a little Greek, he spent the next hour showing me inscriptions, touring me around the cave (much less threatening with the aid of candles - he even had a flashlight!), and sharing his tea. The rain had decided to release with fury so I hung out with the creepy priest until it lessened.
I grabbed a Turkish coffee at the Seven Arches Hotel. An amazing view of Jerusalem and surrounding areas. In front of this hotel is "the Camel." (Definitely deserving of the capital letter.) I am sure that any picture you see of anyone sitting on a camel with Jerusalem in the background was taken from this spot, with this camel:
Continuing my travels of the western slope: The Church of the Pater Noster. This is definitely a stop I would recommend to travelers in the Holy Land. The church has the Lord's Prayer written in over 80 languages on plagues in the wall. Very impressive I felt.
The last stop was the Chapel of the Ascension. Right next to it is a Muslim mosque. This is where Christians and Muslims believe Christ ascended to heaven. His footprint is even here to prove it!
I again set my foot on the steep road between Bethany and Jerusalem. This time, returning to the city. The view was amazing, the history unbelievable, and the day unforgettable.
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posted by Unknown @ 7:16 PM   |
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| Sunday, February 11, 2007 |
| Ah... Break finally. :) |
Finals are out of the way - more or less. So now it is that wonderful period between semesters where everyone sleeps in, stays in pj's all day, and generally does not know what to do with themselves. Occasionally, we'll hit up the library for some research or wander around downtown. Today I went to the shuk (shook? shuq? However it's transliterated!), the outdoor market. I got some amazing oranges and a rug. It was a beautiful day, perfect for browsing the stalls, eating falafel, chatting with Jen. I have been able to do some sightseeing this break though I have spent most of my time hanging out with friends. I even *drumroll* cooked dinner! I introduced them to the joys of Friday night (even though it was Wednesday or something) Taco night. Dad, your fried shells were the hit of the party! I never found cheddar or jack cheese and all the avocados in the store were hard so it wasn't quite the same (Lygon, your queso was missed!) but still delicious!
A couple weeks ago, I walked the ramparts of the Old City. Though you cannot walk the whole loop, you can still go most of the way around. Starting at Jaffa Gate, first you take the short walk south to the Zion Gate, then walk back to  Jaffa Gate (cut through the Armenian Quarter or walk along the outside of the wall) and go up the other side and walk along the northern wall all the way to the Lion Gate. The whole walk takes a couple hours (we walked slow though!) and you get to see Jerusalem from a whole new perspective.
I spent the next afternoon in Tel-Aviv. I went with a friend who was picking someone up from the airport so we went early and wandered around Old Jaffa. It and the water were beautiful. The tourist parts of the city were well-kept and clean, elsewhere was a different story. I did not see much of Tel-Aviv though. 
And of course, you have to stop at the Wishing Bridge! 
The next bit of "touring" was to following the Franciscan monks along the Via Dolorosa to the fourteen stations of the cross. The walk was very interesting, such a contrast of time periods. A group of tourists (cameras, Hawaiian t-shirts, bad sun visors, and all) following sixteenth century dressed monks along a narrow two thousand year old route surrounded by Arab-owned stalls of food and trinkets. Though rehearsed and probably very humdrum for the monks, it was still powerful and moving. Between the stations, the monks did some sort of prayers or chanting in Latin. Then at each station, first in Latin, then Hebrew, then English, the monks would recite a passage and the significance of each place. The windy walk ended in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
  
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| posted by Unknown @ 5:28 PM |
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