Israel

Dome of the Rock

We did Israel on our own and I was a little nervous but it was all OK.  It turns out that we overstayed our Visa in Jordan, oops.  The Visa was obtained by the tour company and was only for the dates we were with the tour group.  Since we drove down to the Red Sea on our own we were 2 days over on our Visa.  Luckily, no one made a fuss and we didn't need to break out the bribes to get out of the country.  Crossing into Israel wasn't really a big deal.  There were a few soldiers with machine guns hanging around but everything went smoothly and there weren't any lines.  We weren't allowed to take the car across the border so we took a taxi from Aqaba, Jordan to the border, walked across, and then took a taxi to another rental car company on the Israeli side.  Red tape, Uggg.

The view from Masada

Our first stop in Israel was Masada.  We had a really great tour book that introduced us to the history of Masada.  It was built by Herod, yes the King Herod from Christ's time.  It was then abandoned after the Romans took over.  When the Jews rebelled against the Romans, some of the Jews hid out in Masada.  The Romans came to force a surrender but rather than give up and live a life of slavery the Jewish men killed their families and then they drew lots to determine who would kill each other and then himself.  When the Romans breached the wall, only dead Jews were left.  Hollow victory, right?  The view from Masada is amazing!

The shore of the Sea of Galilee

The stone where the Loaves and Fishes miracle occurred

Our next stop was Galilee.  We visited the Sermon on the Mount as well as Tagbha which is where Christ lived as an adult.  There was a cool old synagogue that was in use during the time of Christ.  We also visited the area where the miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes was performed as well as where Christ picked up a few of his disciples while fishing. We discussed the Christ calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee as well as Christ and Peter walking on the water.  It really brought the scripture stories alive to see the places that are described in the New Testament. 

The Lion's Gate, old Jerusalem

Our last 2 days in Israel were spent in Jerusalem.  We lucked out and found a really cool pilgrimage hostel in the middle of the old city that had room for our family.  This was one of the neatest hotels we have ever stayed in.  Anyway, Old City Jerusalem is one of the most amazing cities we have visited.  It is right up there with Venice in character.  The old city is a warren of different streets all on top of one another.  They are not wide enough for cars so it is mainly all pedestrian traffic.  The boys had a blast just running around and exploring.  There were secret doors and stairs all over the place that sometimes led nowhere but other times would lead to a new market or up on top of all the houses and shops.  The kids would hardly go to sleep at night while trying to plan where they were going to explore the next day. 

A place where Christ placed his hand to steady himself on the Via De Le Rosa

Jesus's borrowed tomb

For being the birthplace of 3 world religions (Jewish, Muslim and Christianity), Jerusalem was pretty peaceful.  We got to walk the Via DelaRosa which is the actual stations of the cross or the route Christ took on his way to Calvary.  We touched the stone that his cross sat on.  We also saw the tomb where he was buried and resurrected as well as the Mount of Olives where he was taken up into Heaven after the Resurrection.  One of the most spiritual places for our family was the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Garden of Gethsemane

For Jewish history we went to the place where the temple used to stand before it was sacked by the Romans.  It is actually on top of the wailing wall also called the Western Wall, since that is where the wall of the temple was located.  Tom and the boys were able to put on the little Jewish hats and go up to the wailing wall and place a prayer in the cracks.  The wailing wall is separated by gender and the women's side was smaller and stacked 3 deep with worshippers so I sent my prayer with the boys and took their pictures. 

Wailing Wall, trying to find a crack for our prayers

The Muslim Holy Site, Dome of the Rock, happens to be right/on top of the Temple Mount and is also the site where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac.  Non Muslims cannot enter the mosque but we were allowed to walk around it and enjoy it's beauty.  The story that goes along with that site is that the prophet, Muhammad, had a vision of traveling to the furthest mosque and praying.  The furthest mosque happened to be the Al-Aqsa Mosque, right next door.  Muhammad then stood on a rock and ascended to Heaven.  The rock wanted to go with Muhammad and rose up with him until the angel Gabriel shot it down with a different rock.  This makes it the 3rd most holy site for the Muslims apart from Mecca and Medina.  Right outside of the Dome of the Rock and Temple mount was a pretty happening market or souk.  We were able to discuss with the boys about the money changers in the temple and how it distracted from the holiness of the site.  We then went shopping, of course, like all the other tourists!  Olive wood nativities was the goal. 

Olive wood nativities for our families

Had to buy an extra suitcase to get them home