Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 14

Time to collect our hire car and explore further afield. One last walk through the Old City to the Pool of Bethesda and the Rockefeller Museum, a building complete with bullet holes from the day it ceased to be the Palestine Archaeological Museum. The clocks really have gone back now. Apparently, although those picking up rental cars are aware of this, it has escaped the notice of those dropping cars off, resulting in a packed waiting room and no cars. Eventually our car appears and we set off. The journey to Tel Tel Aviv is easy, straight down the motorway but once there, we encounter a selection of intricate motorway junctions, a rather baffling one way system and astronomical parking charges. We decide to skip Tel Aviv and proceed to the ancient port of Jaffa. It’s ... read more

This morning, The Israel Museum, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a large sculpture garden (I have a confession – I have a sculpture fetish). We needed to take a bus across town. The bus system in Jerusalem is complicated; there are separate Jewish and Arab buses. We set off up the hill to the nearest Jewish bus stop. We thought we’d located it; a sign and a bench and some bins (quite a lot of bins with hindsight), but the bus sped past and stopped 100m further up the road. We were sitting at a recycling centre. Second time lucky, we caught the bus to the museum. Upon arrival we discovered an added bonus; an exhibition by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Each piece was accompanied by a detailed description of the thought process ... read more

Following an excellent breakfast at the hotel (much to our surprise) it was time to explore Old Jerusalem, a city which just oozes history. We entered through Damascus Gate, part police checkpoint, part time warp. Fact: pilgrims are mental. I’m not sure if they start off this way or some sort of mass hysteria takes over, but it adds an extra element of entertainment to a trip to the Holy Land. First stop, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Jesus was crucified. Inside the door, the Stone of Anointing, where Jesus was prepared for burial. The stone dates from 1810, so a leap of faith is required, but there was a scrum of people desperate to kiss it and rub it with an oily rag to extract some stone juice (hence ... read more

Hello all you folks who have been our guests on this trip. We started this way back on Aug. 2nd, now it is Oct 22. This will be my last blog ☺?????? lots of miles, tense moments, exciting adventures, beautiful vistas and lifetime lasting memories. In a blog like this we cannot begin to tell you how this trip has produced In us insights of a world so different to the one we live in. In one short sentence I would say. America has her problems but Europe and Israel is not where you want to drive in your tent stakes! Climbing off my soap box. Today we went to the Garden Tomb (one of the highlights of this trip) Then through the Damascus Gate. Worked our way through the innards of the city to come ... read more

Hello blog readers, We are in Jerusalem, but getting here was interesting. We finally were able to bring our rental back. Yeaaaah?? This morning we entered through the Jaffa Gate. into a world we could hardly imagine. You can see all the pictures read all the travel books but until you enter this city you will not conceive of its rareness ( my new word) So first we made our way to the Western Wall. I could go to the wall in a different area as a man. Gloria to another area of the wall as a woman. I took photos actually got up to the wall, put my hand on it and asked our God to send Jesus QUICKLY. The pictures I send will show things going on and how excited the Jews are Next ... read more