Israel, 2018

Israel, 2018

Arrived early in the morning

Traditional Breakfast our first morning

We visited the Austrian Hospice which is a modern guest house that has a rooftop view.  Jerusalem is divided into four quarters.  

• The Christian Quarter.
• The Jewish Quarter.
• The Muslim Quarter.
• The Armenian Quarter.

There are pictures of important buildings from several different religions spread throughout the city.  Jerusalem has several different religions and groups of people living peacefully within the city walls.  You can see from the rooftop view some mosques, churches, temples etc.

Pool of Bethesda Ruins

Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It is believed that Jesus' tomb is in this mausoleum.

Stone of Anointing - Where they prepared Jesus' body for burial

Exploring Jerusalem

Via Dolorosa - Street they believe Jesus walked on the way to his calvary

When Muslims finish their pilgrimage to Mecca they write on the wall to congratulate each other

The view from our Airbnb

Where Jesus was baptized - The Jordan River

Masada - The ruins of an ancient Jewish Fortress built by King Herod

The option to walk up the cliff

This is us walking after we took the cable car to the top!

That square below us is one of the places where the Romans camped when they besieged and attacked the Jewish Rebels until, according to historians, they were forced to kill themselves rather than allow themselves to be captured.

Tons of Palm Trees

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve

Beautiful waterfall

Best popsicle ever!

View of the Dead Sea from the bus.  We were in the lowest place on the Earth, 430 meters below sea level.  The Dead Sea is 34.2% salt.  

Natural mud bath

Floating in the Dead Sea!

This place is called Golgotha and that means 'the skull' and this rock formation is similar to a skull, so some people believe that this could be the location Jesus was crucified but there are other theories too.  The official Catholic position is that his place of crucifixion is near the Holy Sepulchre Church.

A potential place where Jesus was buried.  A more recent discovery.

Garden Tomb

Dome of the Rock

Western Wall - Aka Wailing Wall - The only remaining wall of the old sacred Jewish Temple before it was destroyed in 70 AD.  The Dome of the Rock is behind this wall.

They made us wear this over our clothes.  Once we were inside we realized we were pretty much the only ones, everyone else was wearing their normal clothes!

Mint Tea.  Basically black tea with fresh mint leaves inside, so satisfying!

View of the city of Jerusalem 

Mary's house, several levels underground.

Tea again?

Ancient Olive Grove called Gethsemane

The Grotto of Gethsemane where they believe Mary and Joseph are buried.

We stumbled upon a Bar Mitzvah early in the morning!

Christian Monastery in the middle of the dessert

Sea of Galilee

Ancient ruins of Capernaum - An old fishing village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Basilica of the Annunciation.  Some believe that this is where the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would bear a child.  They had artists from different countries create a different version of their interpretation of Mary.

Canada's contribution.

Tel Aviv