Blessed Trip to Israel (Part 1)

It was rather a miracle for me to visit Israel recently. I only received the visa two days before I flew. Anyway, it was all God's work! I went and I came back. I was tanned but blessed. The weather had been very very hot. However, the heat did not keep me from learning every bit from our tour instructor, Brian. He is so knowledgeable and prepared fro every single session, whether in class or on sites.

We had a stop at JFK airport from Denver to Tel-Aviv. I met a couple on their way to Ireland and Scotland and they are from Grand Junction. We had a good talk during the flight.

The ride to the hotel from airport was about one hour. We traveled from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem.All the buildings in Jerusalem are built with local limestone and hence the color is the same through out the whole city.

Almost without any delay, after dropping off our luggage at Hotel Gloria, Cameron gave us a tour around the hotel area and to the JUC (Jerusalem University College) located about 10-min walk away from the hotel.

After that, we eagerly headed towards the Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall) in the old city. The wall is divided into male and female section and male section is two-third of the wall. I had the opportunity to touch the wall after seeing a spot. The women there prayed, cried and kissed the wall. All I could pray was asking God to bless Jerusalem. The way to exit is by reversing and not to turn around. With all respect, I followed what the people were doing.

This ended my first day in Israel. Everything was good!

DAY 2:
The first half of the day, we toured the Old City. The old city is divided into four quarters: the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian.

We began with Jaffa Gate, which is located next to Hotel Gloria.

This menorah was built according to the measurement in the Bible and it will be placed in the new (third) Temple when they build it someday.

The Dome of the Rock.

The Mount of Olives.

The Western Wall during the day. Notice that there is no division in the day!

 

 Some of the stuff people were selling as we walked around the Old City.

 The Damascus Gate.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This Church commemorates the body of Jesus after crucifixion. There are different chapels on the Sabbath such as the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian and Egyptian Coptic. That stone above was the place where Jesus was prepared for burial. Many people were kissing it and kneeling before it as a form of worship.

The Zion Gate.

We had lecture in the afternoon and we went to Aroma, a famous place for coffee, in the evening as highly recommended by Dr. Dallaire. I had Mocha because I don't drink coffee (but it has coffee in it.. haha.. but the cocoa overpowers the taste of coffee).