Blogs from Jerusalem, Jerusalem District, Israel, Middle East - page 5

Dear Blog Readers, We are back! We booked a week away in Israel with no real reason other than Laura missing out on it when she went on a secondary school trip due to political unrest...they ended up going to Syria instead. She sees this as her own personal pilgrimage of one of her favourite musicals. As has often been the case, relatively little planning has been involved but we booked some flights (BA) and a nice hotel (Grand Court) accompanied by a guide book and my Panama hat. We had a couple of lounge passes so decided not to slum it with the plebs at Terminal 5 and went at the buffet for three hours like it was an endurance challenge. The flight over went smoothly, as did the landing, but I struggled to stay ... read more

I had been anticipating my day on the Mount of Olives since quite early in my planning phase. Especially understanding that it was the hill where Christ arrived and descended into Jerusalem, setting off the momentous events of Easter Week all those many years ago. I had already figured out that the best way to go would be to egress out of Lion’s Gate, which was just down the street from the pilgrim house. My peek out the gate and toward the green tree strewn hills the previous day already had me excited. What was out there? It was time to find out. I wanted to do everything on my own. No tour. No taxi driver. Just me alone to wander and ponder. The first steps were easy as I descended out of the Old City ... read more

My first days in Jerusalem were a whirl of activity, walking and wonder. I usually take it easy on my first day, but this was Jerusalem! I had to get out and see it all. So even though I had just arrived that morning, after a short deep nap and an energy bar I headed towards the Old City. I walked through East Jerusalem, which was not as foreboding as I was lead to believe, to the Damascus Gate. One of the seven portals into the Old City. Inside I was hit with Jerusalem. The cold, the damp, the scents a combination of falafel and incense, the different exotic styles of dress, the religious megamonuments had me living in a dream. The spot where Christ was crucified was down this street. The Western Wall and the ... read more

To Jerusalem! We woke up early (as we do, since we get the sun in our face) to head off to the bus station today. Busses run about every 10 minutes from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, so it wasn’t like we had to get there at any specific time. The ride is about 45 minutes, and drops you off near the city center. We walked up to the central market, where Marie took me to her favorite restaurant. We got Beef Azura, which, as far as I can tell, is cinnamon-infused ground beef in a soupy mixture ladled onto a grilled eggplant. They love their grilled eggplant here. Regardless, delicious. We then walked through the market, where we picked up challah bread, dates, and baklava, all of which were delicious. From there, on to the old ... read more

Ihr Lieben alle miteinander! Der Count Down läuft, ich kann es gar nicht fassen?, meine Zeit hier geht mit Riesenschritten voran. Wieder werde ich nicht alles schaffen, was ich sehen oder tun wollte. So ist es! Der Arbeitsalltag ist schon so drin, da gibt es kaum Neuigkeiten, alles wiederholt sich. Obwohl ich schon viel Zeit m Nähzimmer verbringen durfte (ich habe das als Privileg gesehen. Ingrid, ich glaube du darfst bestimmt gerne das nächste Mal mitkommen)!!! Seit einiger Zeit liegen die genähten Bookmarks im Laden und werden tatsächlich gekauft. Wie schön. Aber Br Simon Petrus möchte ja viel lieber Stolen kreieren, weil er sich weiterentwickeln will! Seine Aussage. In dieser Ausgabe werdet ihr auch die Mönche von uns "kennenlernen" mit ein paar Charaktereigenschaften, Vorlieben etc. und anhand der Bilder könnt ihr euch so ein bisschen ein ... read more