Israel - Day 6

We started day 6 with a return trip to the Old City. We went to the Jerusalem Archaeological Park. We were able to see some of the excavations, particularly the ritual baths that were used to cleanse those who came to the temple to offer sacrifices. We were able to sit on the remains of the temple steps - steps that date back more than 2000 years. Below is a picture of my family on the steps.



We were also able to see a mount of massive rocks that remain from when the Romans tore down the Temple. The rocks have been left as a reminder of the destruction.

We moved from the Park to the Wailing Wall. On Thursdays the Jews celebrate Bar Mitzvahs. The boy and their family march through the city with loud drums, music, and singing and make their way to the Wailing Wall. It was a very impressive celebration (wish my birthdays were that exciting!). The boys and their male relatives work their way to the men's side of the Wall and the women to the women's side of the Wall. The women stand on chairs so they can see over the divider so they can see the continuation of the celebration. They throw candy at the boy and cheer. It was really a neat thing to watch. Below is a picture of one of the boys with his family holding the Torah.

I was wrong about not being able to take pictures of the people at the Wailing Wall. It is not discouraged as long as you are not in people's faces (thanks to Dave for mentioning that in a comment to my previous post). The below picture was one of my favorites from the day as it represents the mix of people who come to the Wall to offer prayer. The second man from the right was American and the one to the left was from Burma. It was quite an amazing experience.

From the Wailing Wall, we moved to the Jerusalem Museum where we were able to view a model of how archeologists and historians believe Jerusalem would have looked around 66 A.D. It was really neat to put together the location of the Temple and other important areas of the city. We had a fascinating discussion with Hannah about the details and came away with a much better understanding of ancient Jerusalem.

Also at the museum, we were able to view a piece of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

After eating lunch at the museum, we left for the Valley of Elah. Along the way we stopped at the remains of a city that is believed to be where Samson grew up. We were able to look around at the surrounding areas that would have been controlled by the Phillistines for much of the time as we were reminded of some of the stories of Samson and the Phillistines.

We ventured on to the Valley of Elah where David killed Goliath. We read through the story and Uncle John talked to us about overcoming the giants in our lives. I climbed the mountain that the Israelites would have been encamped on to snap the below picture looking out over the fields on and mountainside where the Phillistines were encamped. My mom and the rest of the group collected stones from the stream bed much like David did back in the day.

From the Valley of Elah we returned to our hotel. After a brief break a group of us went back into the Old City to shop and then returned to the hotel to eat dinner.

After dinner my mom, uncle, and I hopped in a cab to head to Hebrew University for some night cityscape shots of Jerusalem. We had no idea we were in for such an adventure. The mountain that the university sits on was closed off (thanks again to the Pope) so we quickly changed our plans to take shots from the Mount of Olives only to find that the roads to the Mount of Olives were also blocked. Our taxi driver knew the city well and drove us a long way around the city to arrive fairly close to the Mount of the Olives. He assured us we could hike from there.

We took his word and started to hike only to find that we eventually hit a street that was completely blocked off by the Isreali military. They took my Passport but decided despite the fact that I was a "professional photographer from America" that I could not pass. We couldn't figure out how we were going to get back to the hotel so we decided to stay put for 30 minutes at which time we were told we would be able to pass. A man approached us and asked we were trying to go and upon hearing the Mount of Olives told us to follow him. Feeling like we were really on an adventure we would our way through alleys and down stairs until we eventually let out on another street. Come to find out, the man helping us was an off-duty police officer. He finally pointed us in the direction of the Mount of Olives. We thanked him and hiked off again. I estimated that we had about 5 to 10 minutes left before the sky that makes night cityscapes so beautiful disappeared. We could see we were in the right spot but could not figure out how to get up to the overlooks.

We finally ducked through a door in a fence that was open and headed down a driveway where we guessed we could see the city. A bunch of kids came out to meet us and were very excited to see foreigners. We moved on to a small private orchard where we could get a glimpse of the city but the ideal sky had already passed and it was a bit too dark. I snapped three shots before deciding we had better head back to the street to begin figuring out how to get back to the hotel. We were surrounded by kids once again who were yelling with delight and asking us our names. I have no idea what the younger ones were saying but an older girl (probably around 10) actually spoke very good English.

Once past the kids we were able to hail a cab who told us he would try to get us back to the hotel (so many streets were closed because of the Pope that it was not going to be an easy task). We would throughout the back streets of the city and the driver eventually told us that we may have to sleep in the Mount of Olives and head back to the hotel in the morning (luckily I think he was joking). We eventually hit a security checkpoint with both Israeli and Palestinian security forces where we were allowed to pass after they examined my passport and the taxi driver sweet talked the soldier. After more winding through streets, we finally made it back to the hotel.

So after $40 in cab fairs, a ton of driving, and a lot of hiking we returned with three pictures, an incredible story, and a few new friends. I guess most people would call that worthwhile. Here's an early look at one of the three images.