Today was our first all-day bus excursion. Our driver was incredible. He knew the dimensions of that bus and made it fit down roads that I wouldn't have believed possible.
The majority of the sites were made famous by the big J-man himself. First we visited the Mount of Olives, which included a stop at the top, then a church commemorating the day that Jesus looked out and mourned for the city of Jerusalem - the name of the site translating from the Latin as "God Wept" but being no Latin or Biblical scholar I don't remember what it was - and the "Garden of Gethsemane". The name of the garden is in quotes because it is one of those traditional sites that can't be exactly verified or proven. Our guide cautioned us that there is an olive tree that they claim is 2000 years old (how convenient!) but it's actually more like 1500. There were at least three other tour groups in the garden at the time and, sure enough, the one that came by as I was standing near a big old tree said "Here is the oldest tree in the garden at 2000 years old." Nevertheless it is a lovely garden that is lovingly maintained.
Attached to the garden is the beautiful Church of Nations, in which the majority of the nations are represented in the ceiling frescoes. Inside the church is a slab of rock that is believed to be where Jesus was for his final night of prayer (when his sweat fell like blood).
Aside-it is striking me that some places, regardless of a tangible link to heaven, feel holy because so many people believe it is a good place to pray. Anyplace is a good place to pray, but there is a special, almost palpable feeling of holiness when thousands have prayed in one spot. (And that, ladies and gentlemen, is faith.)
Another site visited today is the Herodion, a palace built on a mountain by Herod. To make sure that it was the highest point around, the paranoid megalomaniac took the top off the next mountain. Nevertheless, it is in ruins today. It doesn't pay to be despised.
We also went to Bethlehem, to visit the traditional birthplace of Jesus. To get there we had to cross a checkpoint and go through the separation barrier to enter Palestine. That Israeli security does not mess around. If you thought cracking a joke to a Canadian border guard was a bad idea....
The Church of the Nativity is Greek Orthodox, with a Catholic Church attached to the side. After touching the rock in the floor that is "the spot", I lit a candle in the Catholic half for my Catholic parents. And yes Mom, I gave them a shekel for it.
We left Palestine as quickly as possible in favor of Israel, and up the mountains again to Rachel's Ridge. It has nothing to do with Jacob's favorite wife, but it is very nice. If I had a ridge around here I would have picked that one. So naturally it has a long archaeological history, being higher than Jerusalem and thus receives cooler breezes.
Our last stop was a quick panoramic overlook, which made a nice way to review the day's events. It was lovely, but I am glad it was quick because I was hungry, thirsty, and tired. (Here's a tip - when someone offers you bottled water at a reasonable price in the desert, buy it!)
Tomorrow is another all-day bus trip. It should be at least as intriguing as today. Stay tuned for more wacky adventures!
1 comment:
Herodion was full of more adventures than we had planned. We had two children pop out of nowhere at the top of the mountain and stay with the group as long as possible with the hope that they could sell us something or pick something out of our pockets. We are hoping that they were not successful.
We also found out that within the last six months a burial chamber has been found on the mountain that appears to be Herod's tomb. They have not known previously where it was since he was not entombed in the Herod family tomb just outside of the Old City. Since it is an active archaeological dig, we were not invited to see the site or even know where it is relative to where we were walking. But hey, sometimes it's nice to just be near the party!
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