Today we were in Jerusalem. It was very similar yet very different than Oman & Jordan, the only other Middle Eastern countries we've visited thus far. Jerusalem is a city, big and busy, with big city "attitude". Muscat was downright quaint and Jordan was as big but less sophisticated.
We were on a ship excursion because Jerusalem is more than an hour from the port. That's just a rule I follow. It's generally overly cautious, especially in a city like Jerusalem. We definitely could have saved a few bucks with a private tour and in retrospect, it might have made meeting my brother less complicated. On the other hand, the riots/protests we've been hearing about are actually worse than we thought and could have impeded our return to the port. So in hindsight, it was the right decision for us to use a ship's excursion.
My brother?? Yes, he's an orthodox jew who claimed his birthright about 15 years ago, meaning he moved to Israel. Jews are guaranteed residency and citizenship. He loves it here. So we planned to meet up while here. He met us for lunch and the afternoon portion of the tour, which worked out well.
But let me start at the beginning. We met our group on the ship at 7:15am and were on the bus by 8am headed to Jerusalem. We were in group 16. I was hoping we'd be in group 18 as the Hebrew word for “life” is “chai.” That's the hebrew letters chet (8) and yud (10). Thus 18 stands for the “chai” or “life.” There's a custom of giving charity in multiples of 18, which relative to other Jewish customs, is quite recent. But suffice it to say 18 is a lucky # for jews and since we're in Israel, I thought it would be cool, but we were close.
The area between the port and Jerusalem was much greener than I remembered from 1996, the last time we were here. Here are some pics from that journey
Our first stop was an overlook where we took pics of the dome of the rock.
Then we went to the church and garden of Gethsemane. Fascinating to think that Jesus rested there, prayed there, was arrested there. We were able to go in the church as well. Lastly, there were good views of the wall as well.
Funny thing happened there. As a quick background, I was bar mitzvah'ed back in 1976 so I have some understanding of Hebrew. I'm also fluent in Spanish having lived in Spain. Upon entering the church, there was a service taking place (not in english) and I understood every word. And for a few moments, I thought to myself, my Hebrew is shockingly good given the 47 year lapse. A few seconds later, I realized it was Spanish. It was obvious but because Spanish was the last language I expected to hear in Israel, it simply didn't register at first. It was a very strange moment.
Then we went to the Upper Room...."supposedly". There are leaps of faith and then there's this. Just communicating what I was told
Then we went to the zion entrance of the old city where we walked the remainder of our time in Jerusalem. This next part was more believable. We saw ancient evidence of the marketplace, the 5th Avenue of ancient Jerusalem. The pillars lined the streets and created vendor stalls where all commerce took place back in that time. If you needed a goat, jewelry, milk, drugs, etc, etc, that's where you went.
Here's a re-creation followed by various pics of what individual stalls may have looked like (apothecary, jewelry, etc) along with ancient columns that have been excavated.
Next stop - lunch. We had lunch at a Sephardic Jewish History center. I'm of Ashkenazi heritage and don't really know much about the Sephardic sect of Judaism, but the food was good. And this is where we met up with my brother. We had a nice lunch and then he joined us for the remaining portion of the walking tour.
Next stop - the western wall which is a portion of ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem that forms part of the larger retaining wall of the hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount. Just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great.
I said a prayer for my kids, my grand, our safe return home in 30 days, and our friend, Susan, who's battling cancer and has a strong conviction on the power of prayer. My wife wrote down her prayer for Susan and wedged it into the crevices in the wall, a custom that is encouraged and not in any way considered sacraligious.
After this we went to a local shop the tour guide "recommended". That means the prices are higher and the guide (or tour company) gets a commission. We had 2 such shopping options today and so we didn't purchase anything. My biggest pet peeve with all Princess shore excursions and even some private ones is this sham. So just beware that these "deals" aren't deals. But I got some good pics.
Then another shop. Nothing to write home about. A bigger sham, more sales tactics. But i got some pics from along the way where we did 2 stops (5 + 7) of the via dolorosa - a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have taken, forced by the Roman soldiers, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet)[1] — is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage.
Finally the church of the holy sepulchre. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to traditions dating back to the 4th century, it contains two sites considered holy in Christianity: the site where Jesus was crucified, at a place known as Calvary or Golgotha, and Jesus's empty tomb, which is where he was buried and resurrected. Each time the church was rebuilt, some of the antiquities from the preceding structure were used in the newer renovation. The tomb itself is enclosed by a 19th-century shrine called the Aedicule. The Status Quo, an understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site.
I'm so glad we returned to this site again. My memory had faded and I really thought it was beautiful; not over-the-top like many religiously relevant sites or underwhelming, like the room where the last supper supposedly took place.
And thus ended a long day, except for the bus ride home, which involved detours around the demonstrations. We got back to the ship 15 min before the deadline, though they would have waited. And besides, I heard the dock workers went on strike and we had trouble getting refueled and untied so we didn't leave till after 10pm. And thus checked off another box on the cruise and in life.
ความคิดเห็น