The Journey of Jerusalem

Saturday was our day of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  We started our journey in the Garden of Gethsemane  at the foot of the Mount of Olives.  It is located across a busy street from the Old City ( Holy City) of Jerusalem. We started our walking journey here and ended up at the Western wall ( Wailing Wall).

Garden of Gethsemane

Going into the Western Wall

Dome of the Rock where we could not go in because we are Muslim

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

This started the walk of Jesus from the time of his betrayal by Judas until his crucification .  In the Holy City we did the walk of the 14 stations of the Cross.  The city was full of people on their  pilgrimage and one group even carried the cross for all 14 stations. I believe they were from Mexico.

Along the way we stopped at one of Eitan's favorite places for lunch and the best hummus I have ever tasted. Everything was prepared in a very tiny kiosk at the top of a flight of stairs.  This whole area is full of souqs for shopping. Between the religious walk, the call to prayers from the muslims, and the souq it is a most interesting area.  All contained in a wall and guarded on the outside by soldiers .

A very interesting fact, Jerusalem is divided into 2 sections-one in Palestine and one in Israel. The area in Palestine is named zone C where everyone can travel freely.  But when you go to bethlehem you are in Zone A and Eitan ( our guide) and Avi ( the driver) was not allowed to go with us.  We had to have a muslim driver and guide. This is all in the West Bank. It is unbelievable how this country is divided and where the boundaries lay.  Right in the middle Israel.

Back to the Hotel and dinner at  Workshop in the Old Railway Station.  A very upscale restaurant and excellent food. We get there after sundown and the Sabbath is over so the shops are starting to open as are the restaurants.

Tomorrow morning we leave for our trip to Jordan- wadi Rum and Petra