Jerusalem

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Greetings from Jerusalem, the Holy Land.

Israel is an amazing country so far and the journey across the Jordon/Israel border was interesting to say the least. It was here that we met some great people, who became our border crossing buddies - Erin and Jason from San Francisco.

Our journey began early, catching a taxi to just before the King Hussein Bridge. From there we caught another taxi to the Bridge where we were sent to numerous different offices for processing by the Jordanian passport control and customs. We then boarded another bus to take us across no man's land to be processed by Israel. This is where the fun really began. We were greeted by teenagers holding machine guns, ordering us to leave our packs and passports. They processed something, put stickers on our bags and we moved on again. This time we moved to security, we go through metal detectors and a thing thats spits air at you on a booth. WEIRD!

From there we do another passport check at passport control, and a game of 20 questions begins. How long are we to stay? Where are we staying and do you have a reservation? when are you leaving? how are you leaving? Do you have a ticket? where will you go in Israel? Do you know anyone? Once through that they stamped the passport and we went to collect our bags; but first we had to line up, so a 16 year old could ask MORE questions, like why are we going to Israel and do we have a weapon on us. Then our ID was checked YET again and then we were freed, reunited with our bags and our border crossing buddies. Then we boarded another bus that took us to Jerusalem and on to the hostel in the old city.

Since we arrived on Sunday little or nothing was open. We all got some lunch, apparently at the best falafel place in the old city but we didn't think much of them so we headed to the Western Wall. As the walls were sectioned off Erin and I went to the women's section, and Stephen and Jason went to the men's section, wearing a cardboard skull cap. It was quite a sight.

We're staying in the old city which is a great location, however when the tourists leave all the shops and restaurants close; luckily we self-cater most nights. Over the week we have seen a great amount of sights. All have been amazing, it's been such a buzz to walk the streets and be in the same locations as Jesus had walked. So much history lies in the old walls. But when in the holy land it's hard not be get a little religious. And Jerusalem is very much the holy land. There's the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus was crucified, and is the holiest place in the world for Christians, the Western Wall which is the holiest place for Judaism and the Dome of the Rock, which is the third holiest place for Muslims. As well as the above places we have visited the Mount of Olives, where Jesus spent his last hours of freedom and Mt Zion where he had the Last Supper. Mt Zion is also where the King David's tomb is. Our favorite churches have been the Church of all Nations, next door to the Garden of Gethsemane with its amazing 2000 year old olive trees and St. Peter's of Gallicanti where he denied Christ 3 times.

We've also done a couple of days trips from Jerusalem. The first was to Bethlehem where we saw the Church of the Nativity. We had to head into the Palestinian West bank to get there which was like going into a different country getting through the checkpoints each way. The other trip was to the Dead Sea, where we floated for a little while. It's was a very unusual feeling just lying there in the water like a dead fish.

The people in Israel, particularly the Palestinians are all so friendly it's been a real pleasure talking to the locals.

We are heading off to Greece on Monday to begin our Eastern Europe leg. Day to Day we're getting closer to the UK, to settling down and retiring the backpack for a few months. It's been a fantastic 2 months, we've seen great sights and meet some lovely people. We are missing you all dearly and would love to hear from you all.

Lots of Love,
Michelle and Stephen.
xoxo

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Photos

The Western Wall
The holiest place for Judaism where they all come to pray as they don't want to go onto the Temple Mount as they don't want to risk entering the holy of the holies.

Stephen and Jason at the Western Wall
The Western Wall is separated for the sexes; boys must wear skull caps and the women must walk backwards from it. For both Stephen and Jason and Erin and I this was harder than thought.

Dome of the Rock
This is where Muslims believe Mohammad ate dinner with Jesus, Noah, Abraham and other prophets before ascending to heaven. It is also holy to Judaism as they believe this is were God created the world and Issac and other prophets made sacrifices.

Garden of Gethsemane
Some of the olive tress here are 2000 years old! Baring witness to the last days of Jesus.

Room of the Last Supper
The place where Jesus ate his final meal.

Michelle at the Citadel
There is a museum and tower here named after King David. The museum gives you a great idea of the history of Jerusalem but it's certainly made clear who they believe the good and bad guys are.

Michelle at the Dead Sea
It was a bit weird but you really floated. The only problem - if you had ANY cuts it would sting like hell.