Chris has a much better memory and does a much better narration than I do (you might need an hour or two) so I asked him to write our blog about a our recent trip...
We just finished a trip to Israel and Jordan. This has been a dream for me (Chris) for a long time... when I was about 11 or 12 Leigh-Ann (my sister) did a 6-month study abroad in Jerusalem. After seeing all of her pictures and hearing her stories it has been on my list of places to go ever since.
We started our trip in Jerusalem... this is a picture looking at the walled old city across the Kidron Valley from the top of the Mount of Olives. Looking down the slope of the Mt. of Olives are a huge amount of Jewish Graves. In the middle of the Kidron Valley there is a large Christian cemetery (both Christians and Jews like to be buried here as they both believe that this will be the place where the resurrection will begin)... against the eastern wall of the old city is a Muslim cemetery that was built in part because of the Jews believe that eventually the Messiah would enter Jerusalem through the eastern gate of the city... also interesting to note that while the city was under Turkish control that the main Easter gate to the Temple Mount was actually walled shut to preclude such an event. The greenery to the middle right of the picture is a grove of olive trees known as the Garden of Gethsemane.
Although there are tons of tourists, everything from Eastern Europeans, Brazilians to Koreans) the Garden of Gethsemane still maintains a fairly peaceful atmosphere. It was here that Jesus underwent the Atonement. The Garden still includes 40 or so mature olive trees that are dated to be ~2,000 years old. As we've traveled across Europe for the past 9 months we've been awed multiple times as we've thought of the pillars of history that had walked the same streets that we've walked. All of these other places and their associated heroes pale in comparison to the thought that in this orchard of olives Christ communed with our Heavenly Father and took upon himself all of our sins and weaknesses. It was truly humbling and deepened our understanding of the plan that our Heavenly Father has for each of us... even the Brazilian Crew who were each trying to prune their own souvenir olive branch from the trees couldn't totally detract from the experience!
Our first day in Jerusalem was on Saturday (the day of the Jewish Sabbath). We spent about an hour at the Western Wall (western wall of the temple mount was the Jew's two temples were build and subsequently destroyed). It was fascinating to watch... there are so many sects of Jews with different levels of orthodoxy, style of dress and vary traditions all based on their geographic origins. As we traveled over the country we were amazed at how many different cultures of Jews could be in the same country and all figure out how to get along with each other. Its amazing that their cultural roots as Jews (many not even
religious) are strong enough to bind them together.
Since coming home the first question that family and friends have asked is whether or not we felt safe... the answer is once you get used to seeing Israeli Defense Forces and police everywhere carrying automatic weapons then you feel very safe. The last night of our trip we sat in a cafe in Tel Aviv right on the Mediterranean at night and watch low flying airplanes patrol the coast line every 5-10 minutes. We both realized that we have taken for granted the relative safety and security that we have enjoyed in each place that we have lived. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a country where a constant threat exists.
Historians and Archaeologists have disagreed since the late 1800's as to the place where Jesus was interred. After seeing both the Church of the Holy Sephulcre (large church that is crowded with more tourists than any other church than maybe St. Peters at the Vatican) and the Garden Tomb we clearly decided which one we like best... we had a fantastic time in the Garden Tomb... besides an absolutely beautiful and peaceful garden just outside of the old city's Damascus Gate we also happened upon a group from the BYU Jerusalem Center (home of BYU study abroad program) that happened to be spending the afternoon after church sitting in the Garden and singing hymns.
Jerusalem is such an amazing city historically and culturally. This of course is because of its religious history. Not only the holiest site in Judaism, center of the mission of Jesus Chris, but also the third holiest city in Islam. Situated on top of the Temple Mount, built by Herod at the time of Christ as a foundation for the second temple and later destroyed by the Romans, is the shrine of Dome of the Rock (pictured above -- important as it relates to the "Night Journey" of Muhammad) and the Al-Aqsa mosque. The structures date from 691 and 1033 AD respectively. We love to see how different groups of people have attempted to demonstrate their faith through the building of amazing structures. The mosaics of Dome of the Rock are one of the coolest things we've seen. We would have love to have spent more time on the Temple Mount but unfortunately because of the political issues in the area non-Muslims are only allowed on the temple mount twice a day for only an hour...
One of our favorite things in Jerusalem was walking around the tops of the walls of the old city. The Walls were built in the 1500s by the Turks, mostly reusing materials from older walls. The walls range from 40 feet high to over a hundred+ in some places. Behind me you can see a view of the Mt. of Olives and the Jewish cemetery on the slope to the upper left.
We were able to take a tour into the area that has been excavated along the entire length of the Western Wall... it was especially impressive when we realized that the excavation had taken place under essentially 20 centuries of layers of earth created as Jerusalem was constantly rebuilt after defeat and as it was modernized by the Turks and other groups.
After two days of exploring Jerusalem on our own (was very fun getting lost in back streets and seeing things at our own pace) we linked up with a tour guide (Daniel Rona) for a day looking at more archaeology in Jerusalem and a day at Beth-Shean, in-between the northern end of the West Bank and as the eastern end of the Armageddon Valley. The city was originally known as Philadelphia and was build by the Romans. Michelle loves any type of Roman or Greek archaeology so this was a highlight for her.
After a great couple of days in Jerusalem we headed south along the Dead Sea and through the Negev Desert. The desert landscapes were fantastic... amazing to think that anything could live here. We eventually made it to Eilat (resort town on the Red Sea) where Michelle took a relaxing desert trip on camels and Chris spent the day diving... amazing water quality and fish!
Jordan and Petra:
While in Eilat we crossed the Jordanian border and went to Petra. While we'd both seen Indiana Jones and had read that there were over 9,000 buildings carved into stone (work was done by the Nabaetans / Edomites a 1000+ BC) we weren't totally prepared for the sheer enormity of the valley... it was absolutely stunning and so much fun to be seeing something where there were few guard rails... this would of course never work in the US as we don't generally believe in personal responsibility. The colors and the heights (several hundred foot drops in a lot of places) we amazing!
The return to Israel was also a trip... the boarder between Jordan and Israel consists of two big fences about a 100 yards apart. You have to walk on a really brightly lit tunnel of chain link and razor wire where you are warned that the whole area around you is mined. You are also surrounded by towers on both sides with machine gun nests and just up the road on the Jordan side were several military vehicles with anti-tank weapons mounted... again was very foreign to us and made us appreciate the relative peace and safety that we appreciate in the US and Switzerland, although we did have a number of less progressive / backward people on our tours that looked wistfully at all of the towers and weapons and suggested out loud that they'd love to see the same thing at the US boarders...
While driving north back to Tel Aviv (and the airport) we stopped at Masada on the Dead Sea... this is the mountain top palace / fortress build by Herod at the time of Christ. The mountain top was later taken over by Jewish rebels who held it for several years before having it taken over by the Romans. It is amazing to think that 2000 years ago that something like this could have been built. To get to the top you essentially have to take a ski lift (seen in the middle of the pic) or you can walk the path... we road up and then walked down. The views of the Dead Sea and the surrounding desert were amazing from the gondola and from the path winding down through the cliffs.
We have to say that Israel and surrounding area is the most impressive place that we've ever been. As lovers of history and culture Israel is the Super Bowl for both. The spirit in the country, so important for religious and cultural reasons to so many, is unlike any place that we've been. We found ourselves already planning a return trip before we ever got on the plane to go back to Switzerland... we're tentatively thinking about next spring if anyone is interested...
Cool stairs. They totally freaked me out when I was trying to come down them. 
