Day 10 - Jerusalem

We began the day with a very quiet and peaceful visit to the Garden of Gethsemane:

This is the church that is there:

 There are actually two gardens on either side of the street, with one side reserved for groups and some benches for a small gathering.  We were the first two groups of the day, and we actually got in a little early, so it was very quiet.

 The other side of the street with the church had some olive trees that they believe are 2,000 years old.

 Looking across the valley, you can see the city walls and the eastern gates of the temple mount.  They were sealed up by the Muslims because Jewish prophecy says that the Messiah will come through those gates.  They've also put a graveyard there to make the ground unholy.  I guess this means that the Messiah can't come through those gates, so His plan is foiled?

 Our next stop was the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.  Our daughter, Allison had a chance to attend here for 2 months.  It is a beautiful center made with the finest materials.  They have tours several days a week and it is mostly Israelis who come to see it.  They also have community concerts here.  The views are spectacular.

We then once again returned to the Old City and tried to get onto the temple mount.  They have very restrictive hours and after standing in line for an hour and a half with barely any movement, it looked like we might not be able to get there.  They close at 2:30 everyday and this was our last day.  Just as it looked like we may not be able to go through, our guide, who is Palestinian, was able to sweet talk the guards into letting us through.  We did not have to go through the long and slow security line, but only had about 15 minutes to walk quickly around and get a few pictures.  Apparently, Jewish people never go there.

 The inside of the Church of the Dome of the Rock is no longer open to the public.

 Through the trees you can see the BYU Jerusalem Center.  It is distinctive on the hill because of its beautiful arches.

 We completed our tour by going to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb.  It was very peaceful and even though there were other groups there, they were either quietly listening to their guide or singing hymns.

 Below this picture of Golgotha is a parking lot behind a restaurant with garbage bins.  Not exactly what I pictured it to be like.

 This is the inside of the tomb.  It was a tomb made for three people, but had only been used once.

After dinner, our bus headed for the airport and most people left on a midnight plane for SLC.  It was the end of our tour and it had been a great experience.

We had an early morning flight to Rome and because we had to be at the Tel Aviv airport by 3:00 am, we spent the night in the airport trying to sleep in chairs.  That was fun!  But going to Rome was worth it.  Stay tuned for pictures of Rome and Pompeii!