Last day in the Holy Land, Day 8. This was a free day with no scheduled guided tour spots. Dr Williams gave us a few options. We could go to the Western Wall, actually go to the wall instead of seeing it far away like we did when we went to the temple mount. Or we could do what we wanted and go to the Old City. Since I had spent two days wondering the Old City, and was done souvenir shopping, I followed Dr. Williams.
Before getting started, some of us needed a few cups of coffee. Notice the silver pitchers, they was usually one per table. Somehow a few more ended up in front of Pastor Joel.
I was taking some random pictures. Here are a couple of people selling their garden grown vegies. As I was walking with Dr. Williams, I took the picture. The woman spat at me and talking in a not so nice tone. The man was grabbing his cane and starting to get up. Dr. Williams said, you normally don’t take their picture. Doh!
Always looking for interesting signs
As we were talking along the Via Dolorosa, we came across my favorite pictures. The Via Dolorosa is the path Jesus took when carrying his cross. When Jesus says take up your cross. Luke 9:21-27 has the complete story.
Angels praying for Jesus, just incredible.
A young man headed to Prayers I believe.
Another interesting sign. Wasn’t expecting to see this type of thing LOL!
Here is a hole the wall for real.
Kosher certificate, this was outside us waiting to go into the Western Wall. They scanned checked your bags and went through a metal detector.
Pictures weren’t permitted at the Western Wall, so moving on. Some went shopping; others went on a walk of the wall. You can pay a few bucks and walk. We could have paid 5 dollars from a vendor, except we already went into a vendor right outside Jaffa Gate, they were selling tickets for $6. The clerk was bickering about how the exchange rate for $1.00. I laughed, later on I found a 1 Ringgit (Malaysia dollar bill) in my backpack. I wonder what their reaction would have given that instead of an American Dollar. I honestly don’t know the exchange range between shekel and Ringgit. They did give free water
So..walking the water was interesting. Right off, there was a book we couldn’t quite reach it. Bart Hall wanted to reach it, the scene reminded me of the Raiders of Lost Ark, where the scene they were reaching for the Cup Jesus used for the last supper, it wasn’t meant to be reached. J
Picture a street from above.
Some neat scenery
Walk way
A picture of the Notre Dame Hotel.
I wish I had gotten a better picture. The story was there was a metal stairway leading up to the Old City wall. The first night we went wandering, we said on Saturday that was the way we were going to get to the wall. Turns out, there was some razor wire.
UYDU1
This was a spot where a person would hide out and shoot arrows out the narrow crack.
This was artificial turf they used for soccer field
Didn’t actually see the Camel or Donkey, but here is what it left behind
The first night we wandered, these posts were run over and flat. They replaced them.
Jacob’s Pizza, we talked to Jacob the first night and told him we were coming back on Saturday. Jacob’s was different place, they let you get your food and drink, they said come back when you were done and pay. There was like 4 tables, a couple display cases, a pizza oven, two coolers for drinks. There was a lot of pizza. I had cheese and olive pizza, and a drink that is from Los Angeles
A real MAN truck
Yes, that is a chickens feet. Give me a free day and I find all kinds of interesting things.
The last place we went to was Garden Tomb.
Saturday was real good for interesting signs. See anything wrong. Seriously, I didn’t make this stuff up!
Garden Tomb. This is another believed location where Jesus was buried.
Interesting signs everywhere
And with that, we found Pastor Joel his smart pills. My wife sent a bunch of candy along with Austin, so the entire trip, M&M’s, Hot Tamales, and other stuff, Pastor Joel FINALLY got his smart pills. With that, this was the final thing we did as a tourist. Here is my summary.
1) Why did you go on the trip?
To see the old Jerusalem before I see the new one
2) What moved you most during the trip (1 or 2 examples)
Garden of Gethsemane
3) What shocked you the most? (1 or 2 examples)
The Church of Holy Sepulcher and Jericho poverty
4) What were some of the ways you took away from the trip?
God’s finger prints are all over Israel, I felt at home in so many places there
5) Most Favorite location? Why?
Garden of Gethsemane, Sea of Galilee. Sense of Peace and feeling of God’s presence. Also, it hit home how Jesus suffered mentally and physically for us when he prayed in the Garden. Both spots brought me to tears feeling really humble.
6) Leave Favorite location? Why?
The Church of Holy Sepulcher, all the Gold and attempt to make it shine. The place itself and what happened was enough.
7) Famous quotes you remember?
Worship the person who was at the place and what he did, not the place itself. Also, our tour guide mentioned we are not to hold the experience we had to ourselves, we need to share with others. Not everyone has an opportunity to travel to the Holy Land. These last few blog posts has been my best attempt to share my experiences
God Bless
Steve Schofield
Pondering Thought 