Second Things Second - Israel

Israel was pretty awesome!

We ported in Ashdod and then took a bus into Jerusalem the first day. The second day we ported in Haifa and bused in. In general, the whole city has been built upon. If it was a sacred site, there is now a gaudy church on it or two. According to Michael Ballam, if the Sea of Galilee was any smaller there would be a church on top of it too.

At the Wailing Wall, the men are separated from the women by a shorter wall, but the women stand on chairs and look over the wall. I peered over too. You also always back away from the
wall (and fire).
The Via Dolorosa is where Jesus carried his cross through the streets. It is a very small street and has the essence of nothing more than a marketplace nowadays - with vendors and money changers.
The Garden of Gethsemane is just outside the city wall. It now has gates around the olive trees and picking the trees is looked down upon. Luckily the trees were being pruned while we where there and and the workers were kind enough to give us branches. The church at Gethsemane is extremely dark, like the cave that would have existed there at the time of Christ.
The Dome of the Rock. We didn't get to go in to see it, but this is the view of it from the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac.
The Garden Tomb is run by volunteers. It is beautiful and peaceful as far as tourist sites go. We did have an opportunity to look in the tomb and rejoice that He is not there. (This is the sign on the inside of the door of the tomb.)I was surprised to find out that Golgatha, where the crucifixion took place, was just yards away from the tomb site. There is now a parking lot over the base of the hill of Golgatha. (Golgatha means skull and you can just make out the eye sockets on the hill now.)

The River Jordan was turquoise in color. We were in a very calm section, not where Jesus would have been baptised, but it was beautiful and I did dip my hand in! (I swear that hand looks like it hasn't aged a day since.)

We went to Capernaum where Peter's house is said to be. There is a church/structure built on top of it with a glass floor so you can see down to the ruins. It has a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee.
I liked the Mount of Beatitudes. It is in a beautiful area with plants akin to those found in California (palm trees and impatients, bouganvilla, oleanders, etc.) with manicured gardens and a church on it with a bunch of Pope stuff inside.
Sailing the Sea of Galilee was totally awesome!!! It was calm and beautiful and our boat workers tossed in some fishing nets similar to what the disciples would have done.
I didn't have to go across the world to know that Jesus lives. He atoned for my sins and died and was resurrected. But seeing where He lived and taught and walked was an incredible experience. I would definitely go back.