Before I begin, we’re a bit behind on our blogging and there are two whole adventures into the Old City that we need to write about and link the pictures to. Those should be coming soon.

So Jessica began classes yesterday, which means I’ve been even more on my own then before. So as I l am still waking up at 7am, it leaves quite a bit of the day to be bored. So, today I mustered up the energy to go for a walk. And boy what a walk it was. I walked around the outer walls of the Old City and ended up stopping at some cool sites.

The best time to go for a walk is 7am. It just gets bloody hot outside. Due to my laziness, I didn’t get out till 9:30…and man was it hot. Thankfully, you could avoid the heat by stopping in shady spots. Unfortunately, the sun is pretty much straight over your head, so shady spots are few and far between.

I think if I were a better writer, I’d remember all of the thoughts and feelings that went through my head as I walked. The thing I love about Jerusalem is the contrast and diversity. The architecture isn’t so diverse, since it’s all made of limestone and everything just looks like another tan building. The diversity comes from the different religions,  the proximity of everything, rich vs poor, etc. On one side of the street is a city wall that has stood 2500+ years, on the other side is a gas station. That kinda of diversity.

The coolest spots I stopped is the Garden of Gethsemane. I’m sure there are other people that could tell you more about the actual events, but this is where Jesus went to pray before he was arrested the following morning. Olive trees sit in the Garden that are over 2000 years old. So back to the contrast, the church next to the garden is 80 years old, the trees in the garden would have been standing here while Jesus prayed. That is pretty hard to wrap your mind around. The same exact trees.

Inside the Church of All Nations, is supposed the rock that Jesus prayed on. How they know these things? I don’t know. Is it the real rock? It doesn’t matter, since everyone believes it’s the real rock and now prays at it. Got to watch a service while I visiting, so that was cool, although I don’t know what language they were praying in. Another contrasting thought is that when you walk out of one of the holies places in Christianity, you face the Old City and can see the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites in Muslim tradition. Weird.

Next to Gethsemane is the Tomb of the Virgin, where Mary is supposedly buried. Very elaborate and smokey tomb as the devote are lighting incense and candles. This again is one of the holiest sites in Christianity as people were leaving notes/prayers on the tomb.

The diversity of cultures that come to these spots are fantastic. One minute your talking with a british fellow, only to be stampeded over by a group of Spanish speakers, then you here the Muslim call to prayer, followed by a service in a language that I didn’t recognize. It’s amazing being in a city that is so controversial in actuality, but so holy for all of the major Western religions.

So most of the rest of the trip was just walking and looking at the wall, watching the cars go buy, looking at the street signs, the garbage on the sides of the hills, graffiti, etc.

Next week, I will be leaving Jessica for 12 days and meeting up with my brother in Croatia. That will be cool, except that I have no clue what we are doing and haven’t purchased a guide book yet so it’s hard to do research.

L’hitraot…until we meet again