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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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| 1 Comments: |
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Thanks for sharing!! I do so envy you in your world of Israel... :-P
Meanwhile, the belly grows....
~me
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Thanks for sharing!! I do so envy you in your world of Israel... :-P
Meanwhile, the belly grows....
~me