My body is starting to adjust to its new schedule...just in time for us to leave. Last night, we went down to listen to our Guide, Dann Hone, describe the process of establishing the BYU Center here in Jerusalem. He had a lot to say on the subject....2 hours worth. It about killed me....Denise left early. Nonetheless, I slept well as I was really tired.
Today started out as usual...revely at 6 AM, breakfast at 6:30 AM (Buffet of course with a full salad bar!) and bus departure at 7:30 AM. The weather this morning was cool...but not enough that I thought I would need my coat. Big mistake. Fortunately my brother had a couple fo things to combat the cold and I ended up wearing his coat. Thank you Fred!!!
Our first site that we visited was the Israel Parliament house. Trust me...nothing speacial about that building. 😄 I'm still not sure why we were taken there. They did have a cool statue of a manorah which you will see in pictures below. After killing some time there, we were off to the Book of the Shrine Museum. Upon arrival, our guide was surprised to find out that they were not open and we had to wait 15 minutes or so. Being a retired military guy, he quickly put us into lines and had start doing exercises and stretches. It was so funny to see this big group of people falling his lead. Eventually we were let in. This museum was pretty cool....especially the 'model' of the city of Jerusalem...in olden times. This museum, which is called the 'Shrine of the Book' holds some of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered at the site we had visited a day or so ealier.
We then headed to Holocaust Museum. It was humbling, again, to see what these poor jewish people had to endure during World War II. The site of this museum is BIG. We only saw a portion of it. It is well done. From a photography perspective...we could not take pictures in side. So that was a bummer. The thing I will remember most is the Children memorial. You go into a near pitch black room that looks like the stars all around you...little points of light...representing all the childern who died at the hands of the Nazi's. It was impressive. After our tour, we at lunch at the Holocaust Museum's cafeteria.
After lunch, we headed to Old Jerusalem...the old part. We went into an archeaoloigical site at the south and west corner of the city. We saw stones and such that were there during the time of Herod. We listened to descriptionis of the evolution of this beautiful city. The city walls bear testimony to its history. Once we completed that, we were off to the famous 'Waling Wall'...the west most wall of the city. Here, people come to pray and leave prayers on paper that are inserted into the wall. In order to get in, I had to put the skull cap on. And the women and men are separated by a small fence. Men on one part of the wall...the women on the other. It is a famous place and I thought I'd never see it in person...but now I have. Way cool.
To complete our tour today, we entered into the west wall tunnels. The old city of Jerusalem is built on a series of arches that were used to create a 'level' place. On the west wall, you are allowed to walk throught the tunnels formed by these arches. Again...some of these stones and sections of the wall predate Christ. He probably was in the same area that we were standing in. Some of the stones used were 44 feet in length, 10 feet tall and 15 feet wide. They were huge! Over 400 tons. Pretty amazing the engineering and building that has gone on here over the ages.
Well, tomorrow is our last day touring. After that, we eat dinner and head to the airport to catch a midnight flight back to New York. We will then catch a flight to LAX and from there to SLC. We hope to be home at 4 PM on Tuesady afternoon. We will all be wiped out! But I will blog one more time....
Pictures and more pictures....
This is the Israeli Parliament....nothing special.
This is the menorah just out in front of the Parliament building....
The replica of the old city of Jerusalem....
Denise and I with the replica behind us....it was pretty detailed and neat.
The entrance to the Shrine of the Book. Unfortunately there was not photogrphy inside.
Entrance to the Holocaust Museum. Again....no photography inside the museum.
When you come out of the main museum, you end up looking out over the valley. It was a pretty view.
Memorial to those who helped the Jews escape.....
Apparently, there was a teacher who helped many of the Jewish children survive.escape. This shows him surrounded by some of his kids...
Denise at the old city archeaological site....
Gary Hawes posing at the archaelogical site....
The 'wailing' wall...which is the western wall of temple site....
Me at the wall with my skull cap on....they let you keep those.
Herod's tunnels and arches....
This is a aqueduct that runs just outside the west wall of the city....
What an awesome adventure you guys are having!! Miss you!!
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