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Published: March 11th 2011
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Sherry and in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The traditonal site of Jesus crucifixion and burial.Wednesday March 9, 2011
Our last day and we are greeted by rain and wind. We checked out at 9:00 am and headed back to the old city. Our visit today will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus to his crusifixtion. We entered the city through the Muslim quarter. Very interesting walking through the market in the morning. We saw many markets with fresh bread and fruit. The bread and fruits are displayed right out in the open. I am not sure how that works in the summer. We started on the "Via Dolorosa" at a church with an explanation on the many levels of old Jerusalem. This was important because the current street level is not the same as it was in Jesus's time. We did travel down below the street to see the actual street Jesus was convicted on. We met another group down below the street and shared the song "Amazing Grace". Once the group left, we shared the gospel and songs led by Cory and Pastor Bob. As we left, we headed up to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. We entered the square and were met with a large group of people, all trying
Arab Quarter
Here is the street we traveled down the Arab quarter to the Via Dolorosa. to get into the church. The church is run by the Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. The church is the traditional site of the last three stations of of the cross and the site of the crucifixion. I have attached pictures of those areas. We then headed down and saw the rock in which Jesus was laid. The church also had the site of the tomb. We headed back to the Jewish quarter and had lunch and finished our shopping.
Once we finished lunch, we headed back through the Arab quarter. It was amazing, I took several pictures of the stores and merchandise. It was quite the experience! We departed through the Damascus Gate and out to the Garden Tomb and Golgotha (Skull Hill). We were presented with another option the site of the crucifixion and tomb site. It was important to remember it is not necessary the site but the event. The Garden tomb area was discovered in 1847 and based on the site and the Bible it makes sense. We were able to see Golgotha and take pictures of hill. It just happens to be the backdrop of the bus station. We also saw the inside of the
Lower level to the streets
We traveled to the lower level of the city to get the streets Jesus traveled. tomb and were able to take pictures. We finished the tour under a canopy and out of the rain and in song with our friends. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for our final dinner together. Our day was chilly and Jerusalem was expecting snow!
We finished are evening at a restaurant in the old city. We were treated to an Armenian meal with four courses of delicious foods. The restaurant we dined at was called Bulghourji. Our main entry was roasted lamb and seasoned vegetables and a prymid of rice. We concluded our meal with testimonials and words of praise for guide Yulov and our driver Ovad. We also received a certificate from our tour company and the state of Israel. On our way to Tel Aviv!
We made it to the airport on time and went through the levels of security athe airport and finally to our gate. We boarded on time and settled in for our 12 hour flight to Newark. At 4:15 am we began our descent to the runway only to have our 777 Airbus pull up and go around. Apparently the runway was not clear for our landing! A final bit
Brother Bob at the "Stone Pavement"
We gathered below the city and joined the another tour group of song and scripture. We gathered at the "Stone Pavement". The street that Jesus was condemened to death by Pilate (John 19:8-16). of excitement before our landing. We were able to say our "Goodbyes" to our our brother and sisters from Texas. We made our connection and landed in snowy Minneapolis at 9:30 am.
Sherry and I both agree, the best trip we both had ever taken! -Israel is so beautiful, God had it so right,"The Promised Land".
Thank you to everyone for letting us share our "Trip of a life time" with you. We recommend a trip to Israel for everyone who wants to not only see a beautiful country and it's people but to see the Bible come alive right before your eyes.
Travelblog.org has helped us record our trip and I would suggest using it for future trips and vacations. It allowed us to record our vacation and stay in touch with our family (who worried about us) and share with our friends our trip.
Love
Doug and Sherry
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