Israel Trip: Jerusalem - the Holiest Land (Part 1)

July 15, 2011 (Friday).  Yipee the 5-day training is finished!  This is what we are anticipating to do since Day 1 – visiting the Holy Land!!!

A piece of history (from Wikipedia): 

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world. The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were introduced in the early 19th century. 

The Dome of the Rock within the ancient city.  This is where the first temple originally stood.

Only in Jerusalem that Christians, Muslims and Jews unite.  I wonder why they can't do this in other areas.

We are fortunate that this is part of our training.  Only 5% of the toal Christians in the whole world have the opportunity to go here.  

The best part - everything is free!  Ooops…I forgot this was paid by our company hehehehe.  From the brochure that was given to us, this tour costs US$250.00 per person (for Jerusalem alone).  The tour guide Mary Ann picked us up at around 7AM.  It took almost 2 hours of travel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 

Along the way, we saw the British cemetery and Hebrew University.  Then our first stop is the viewing deck; where you can see the temple’s entrance and the old city.  This is in the Mount of Olives.  After the photo shoot, we headed down to Gethsemane Church.

During weekends, there is a heavy traffic since a lot of tourists visit here, thus, it's best to be here early in the morning.

The Hebrew University is one of most prestigious universities in the world.  This was opened on April 1, 1925 with the vision of having a Jews university in Israel.

This is the viewing deck on top of Mount of Olives.  Here you can see the old city.  You can ride a camel (for a fee) for a picture or just have your own picture.  This is always the first stop for tourists. From here the golden gate is clearly visible.  During the ancient times, this is the entrance to the city.

After the Garden of Gethsemane, we headed down to the ancient city, starting with the Armenian Quarter.  Armenians introduced the art of pottery making in Israel, thus, pottery here are really of great work and quality.

some parts of the armenian quarters...why didn't a bought home a sample of pottery?

Next is the Jewish Quarter where most of the bakeries are located.  Too bad, haven't have the time to sample their breads.

Then the Muslim Quarter.  I think this is where we were brought by Mary Ann to buy some souvenirs.  Yes, the Muslims are selling religious icons. One of the owners here is even very fluent in Filipino language. Kuripot daw ang Filipino..hehehehe.  Of course, I spent a lot (again!) here.

Now, start of our tour of the ancient city ruins...

the map of the old city where bartering is the business and until now

these are part of the ancient city, thus, they are many centuries old...notice how the road is then

The road is used to be around 30 meters wide.  Imagine how you will cross this distance if the road are this wide nowadays.  The columns here are what's left of the ancient city.

this painting denotes the meeting of the old and new, ancient and modern times

Other areas with ruins.

this city has been damaged and restored for how many times

Then our Via Dolorosa pilgrimage...on the next blog...