Israel

August 20:
Jerusalem

We started out our first day in Jerusalem with a walk along the top of the Old City Walls (Rampart's Walk). We loved the grassy areas outside the walls, and we would sit there eating popsicles when we were just too tired to be tourists anymore.
We also walked the Via Dolorosa the first day, which is the path that Christ is said to have walked on His way to His crucifixion. It ends inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is one of the proposed sites that Christ may have been crucified and buried. I loved these mosaic murals on the walls inside the church:

We did some shopping inside the city gates in the Christian and Muslim quarters. They sell all kinds of touristy knick-knacks...and also tons of spices and candies and such.

August 21:
We visited the Church of Dormition (where Mary supposedly died), and there were beautiful bright mosaics inside. We also visited the tomb of King David, and the room of the Last Supper. That took a little creativity, since the building that exists now has been rebuilt twice since the time of Christ. But it supposedly occupies the same air space as the location of the Last Supper .
Next we visited the church of St Peter in Gallicantu, where Petere denied Christ three times. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the City of David - which is slightly theme-parkish with a 3D movie and tours and water feature. My favorite part was Hezekiah's tunnel, which is a 30 minute walk in a pitch black tunnel with waist high water. Its purpose was to channel water into the city. It ends at the pool of Siloam, where it is said that Jesus told a blind man to wash and he was healed. If our eyes look kind of freaky in the picture remember we had been in pitch black for 30 minutes before this bright flash went off :)


August 22:
We took a taxi into Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity there, where Christ was supposedly born. Unfortunately I didn't get any great pictures of the church - it was very dark inside. After returning from Bethelehem, we visited the Garden Tomb - which is an alternative location for the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.
We visited the Western Wall for the ringing in of the Sabbath Friday evening. We had to take pictures before sundown, as cameras and phones are forbidden after the sun goes down. After leaving the Western Wall we went to a delicious dinner with Kyler [Brendon's cousin that we stayed with - the man who made this trip possible :)]
August 23:
Most of Israel celebrates Sabbath on Saturday, and the LDS church does as well, so we went to church at the BYU Jerusalem center (beautiful building!!) on Saturday. After church Kyler drove us to Galilee to see the many sights there. Our first stop was Capernaum, which is believed by Christians to be the home base of Jesus during the most influential period of his ministry, and is where he would have performed most of his miracles. Next we drove down the road to Tabgha, which is where the Mount of Beatitudes, Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes, and the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter are located.View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes:Here we are trying to walk on water where Jesus walked on water - but it didn't work so well for us. We quickly drove to Nazareth, but arrived after the Basilica of the Annunciation (the supposed site of Mary's childhood home, where the Angel Gabriel would have visited her) had closed. Thankfully the guard let us wander in and listen to part of Mass and get a view of the church.

August 24:
Thanks to our well connected cousin, who works at the Consulate, we were able to get a very VIP tour of the Dome of the Rock. We got to go inside (which most tourists are forbidden to do), and we had a guide that told us all about the sacred site. This gold-plated dome covers a slab of stone that is both sacred to the Muslim and Jewish faiths. It is here where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, and also where Mohammed ascended to heaven. I had to be dressed very modestly to enter. After our amazing tour, we drove to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Then we drove to Masada, which was once a vacation castle for King Herod, and later became a stronghold for the Jewish people when the Romans invaded. After spending a few hours visiting Masada, we took a swim in the Dead Sea.
This was absolutely one of the highlights of our trip. The Dead Sea is 30% solid matter (salt), and it is just not possible to describe what it feels like to float like that in water. Absolutely no effort whatsoever to stay afloat. It actually takes lots and lots of effort to go under the water or straighten your legs below you. We also had a great time covering ourselves with mineral mud scooped out of the ground.