Blogs from Jerusalem, Jerusalem District, Israel, Middle East - page 10

This is day 9 of our amazing Pilgrimage. We start out visiting the Israel Museum. We viewed the 2ndModel of Old Jerusalem which covers nearly 1 acre. Our guide pointed out the Wailing Wall and Calvary. It was awesome. I thought it was going to be inside the museum on a much smaller scale, but it was outside so I could take pictures as photos were strictly forbidden inside. Security would not just tell you to stop taking them, they would take all your pictures. That is what our guide told us anyway. We then went inside to view the (Dead Sea Scrolls) exhibit. We didn’t have nearly enough time, but it was very interesting. Next, we drove to the neighborhood of Ain Karem, birthplace of St. John the Baptist. John was excited to see where ... read more

We spent our last day in Israel at Yad Vashem. This is a holocaust museum that sits atop Mt. Herzl. The light rail ride there had us delayed about 40 minutes due to a "suspicious object" found near the tracks ahead of us. No one on or around seemed all that concerned so we took our cues from them. The museum itself is a beautiful work of architecture. Outside were a line of trees, each dedicated to someone considered Righteous Among the Nations. These are non-Jews who risked their lives to help the Jewish people during the holocaust. People like Oskar Schindler and Sweden's Raoul Wallenberg are honoured in the garden. Inside the museum, visitors are led through the meandering exhibits depicting the lives touched by holocaust and educating on the events from Hitler's rise to ... read more

It took 12 hours exactly from door to door. Utterly exhausted and ready for bed. Impressed with the Turkish people and have decided we need to make Istanbul a vacation destination in the near future. Tomorrow: Old City sightseeing. Shalom... read more

We met Erin and Dennis for breakfast. By now I know the oatmeal is really good, so I got some of that, skipping the cheese and the deli meats and those little hot dogs that really don’t pass for breakfast sausage. Is it just me? I tried both the triangle shaped and rectangular shaped sesame pastry items to try and determine the difference, and I’m wondering if the triangular ones aren’t flakier. I decided to try some of their cold cereal as well, they have five types from Rice Krispy’s, Corn Flakes, Cocoa Puffs, Raisin Bran and a bran flake nut and fruit mix. They sure do like their Cocoa Puffs over here, because I don’t recall them being this popular in the states. They’ve been at every breakfast that we’ve had in the Holy Land! ... read more

Israël, dernier jour. Jérusalem. Après un coucher très anticipé, nous voilà levés de très bonne heure pour profiter à fond du programme de notre dernière journée : la tant attendue vieille ville de Jérusalem. Un petit déjeuner royal (et gratuit) à l’hôtel, et on se met en route. Devant nous, imposants, se dessinent les séculaires murs érigés par Suleyman Le Magnifique. Moi qui depuis tout petit fantasme sur cette ville que je trouve incroyable et fascinante, c’est avec une certaine émotion que je franchis la majestueuse Porte de Jaffa. Alors que l’on commence à déambuler dans les ruelles du quartier chrétien, on repère une pub offrant une visite gratuite des quatre quartiers. Quelques minutes plus tard, on embarque avec un groupe d’une dizaine de personnes et Ryan, notre enthousiaste guide pour une visite de deux heures. ... read more