Monday, September 14, 2009

Israel - Jerusalem

There is so much to write about Israel. It is such a diverse land, from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, Masada to Galilee, the Baha'i Gardens of Haifa and the market in Bethlehem. I am overwhelmed by how much my awesome travel buddy (my mom) and I did in our ten days.

I find myself at a loss of what to talk about and so I am going to leave you with these pictures. Enjoy!


Inside the Holy Sepulcher


Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher


The dome of the Holy Sepulcher


Early Morning Jerusalem, near the Damascus Gate


Fresh bread


Jehosaphat's Tomb


The bottom of Kidron Valley


Napping Underneath Jehosaphat's Tomb


From the top of Kidron overlooking Jerusalem


Sampling some fresh Halvah


Snapping a photo of the Dome of the Rock


Huge millipedes crawling all over Kidron Valley


Lovely courtyard of our hotel


The site where Jesus ascended to Heaven


Looking down on Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives


Courtyard where Jesus was given the crown of thorns


Random horse


Mom in Kidron


Soooo many graves


The Crown of Thorns inside the dome of a church


The church where Jesus was tried


Our young unwanted tour guides


In front of the Church commemorating the Shepherd who saw the star over Jesus' birthplace


Outside the Church of the Nativity


Bowing low to enter


Mom entering the Church of the Nativity


Cloister of the Church of the Nativity


Again


Bethlehem


The market of Bethlehem


Our taxi driver driving us along the wall


The ramparts of Jerusalem


The churches of Mt. Zion


Looking out to the Mt. of Olives from the Ramparts of Jerusalem


Jerusalem skyline


These kids showed off their skills for me


The Pool of Bethesda


The Pools of Bethesda


Texture


Loveliness


How long has this pillar been sitting there? one or two thousand years? Possible


The Zion Gate


Doubting Greg, the bullet holes are real outside the Zion Gate


Sunset over Mt. Zion and the Church of the Dormition



At the Garden of Gethsemane


Jesus weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane


The Garden of Gethsemane


Gethsemane


Gethsemane


The Church of Mary Magdalene


The Cloister of Pater Noster


Me snapping the photo above


At Pater Noster the Lord's Prayer is written in tons of different languages, including Ethiopian!


Statue at the Holocaust Museum


Western Wall by night