Today we did our first tour which included the Mount of Olives, the Dolo Rosa in the old city and then the Israel Museum on the other side of town. This is a city of thin natives on motor scooters and fat tourists on in buses.
Our guide got rather exasperated trying to keep the group together. We did loose one or two ladies in the mornig who turned up later in the day. He has to realize that this is an old group that doesn't see or hear well. One guy has a hearing aid with a transmitter that he hangs around his neck. He stuck the transmitter in his wife's pocket and could hear everything going on around her. Fortunately she didn't say anything bad about him.
The Mount of Olives gives you a view across the Kidron valley to old walled Jerusalem providing a great perspective of the area. While there I took a short ride on a camel for $5. The camel seems to eat and work at the same time. We and a few million other people slowly walked through the narrow streets of old Jerusalem on the supposed path of Christ to his crucifixion. The group ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which also encloses Golgotha. Golgotha is much smaller than I expected. There would hardly have been room for three crosses on top. We had an excellent lunch at an Armenian restaurant in the old city and left for the Israel museum on the other side of the city. In addition to the dead sea scrolls on the inside; the outside had 1/50 scale model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ. It is about half the size of a football field and would be a great place for a model train. The natural stone display was something that provided a great perspective on the area and time. Tonight we have a lecture on the Palestinian view of things and the next night one from the Jewish perspective.
Carl
No comments:
Post a Comment