Israel

A week ago right at this moment, I was walking through the streets of the Old City in Jerusalem.  Never in my life did I think that would be a sentence I could honestly type.  When Emily invited me to join her on a quick trip to Israel, it was a dream come true.  Not being overdramatic or exaggerating, Israel has been a place I have only dreamed of.  It is a place of history.  It has been the home of men and women I have grown to love and admire over the course of my lifetime.  Having never met them, I have always dreamed of seeing the places they wandered and made their homes.    I've long been of the idea that you don't know a person until you see where they are from, until you see their home.  This was my chance.

We flew in on Tuesday night and stayed in Tel Aviv.  My few short hours there reminded me of Austin.  It made me really happy to be somewhere so familar.  We got up and drove up the western coast the next day to Mt. Carmel.  I kept saying over and over again, "It's so pretty!"  In fact, it was beautiful and I was so engrossed in it that I didn't take any pictures.  It was a national holiday so by the time we made it to Carmel, it was closed.  I didn't care though.  I got to see it.  I got to see where one of my favorite events happened.  It was nothing like I expected it to look like.  This is the only picture I took in the area.  You can kind of see it in the background.

After Carmel, we drove over the Galilee.  Still so beautiful and peaceful.  As we drove around, I made the comment to Emily that being there felt like home.  I can't explain it.  I have always struggled with feeling at home wherever I am.  Ironically, Israel naturally felt like home after only a day.  We got to see that Israeli Memorial Day is similar to American Memorial Day - barbecues, swimming, and lots of friends/family.  We saw the countryside, went to a museum with a boat dating back to the time of Christ, and of course, the Mountain of Beatitudes.  It was so lovely right on the Sea of Galilee and overlooking the area.  The garden that has been planted there was stunning.  Calm and beautiful.

Church of the Beatitudes

Galilee Countryside (sea, mountians, vineyards, and towns tucked into the hills)  So beautiful!

After Galilee it was time to head south to Jerusalem.  Along the way we drove along the Jordan River and looked across into Jordan many times.  It was amazing.  Throughout the trip, we never got anywhere near Palestinean territory.  This was the only time we encountered it and even then, it was a blink of an eye.  Where we were and how we drove made it easy to forget the situation there.  Unfortunately, its not that easy in real life.  It is interesting to love a place and stuggle with its politics all at the same time.

Once arriving, we parked outside the gate and walked into the Old City.  We were staying in the Muslim Quarter so we entered through the Damascus Gate.  As we entered, it was like walking into the Khan.  I instantly thought about Jesus clearing the temple.  It was loud and chaotic but it settled down the further into the center we got.  We settled and set out to look around/get our bearings.  We found our way to the Armenian and Jewish Quarters.  These were my two favorite quarters.  Since we were in the Jewish Quarter, we made our way to the Western Wall.

The Western Wall was one of my favorite places on the trip.  It was incredible to be there and to be surrounded by people worshipping there.  When I was actually up at the wall, I was accidentally bumped.  I opened my eyes and there at my feet were the prayers of women who had been praying throughout the day.  Along the base of the wall were prayers in every language.  It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life.  The only thing that touched me more was looking around to see the men and women that looked about my grandparents' age.  These were men and women that have waited their whole lives for this very moment.  They were experiencing a lifelong dream come true.  It was moving like few things I've ever seen.  As if those two things weren't enough, a sweet little girl topped it off for me.  She had gotten seperated from her family and was running behind them calling for her Abba.  It made me smile.

After the Western Wall, we walked around the Old City a bit more.  There were beautiful sights and churches everywhere.  Here is one of the churches on the Via Dolorosa.

There are many more pictures I could share but this is a long enough post as it is.  After walking around, we went to a neighborhood outside the Old City to this fantastic Kosher restaurant.  It was a first for me to choose the meat or dairy side of the restaurant/menu.  After an amazing dinner, we went to this frozen yogurt place Emily knew of where you could create your own flavor.  So yummy!

The next day we decided to walk the Via Dolorosa.  We looked at the map, found the locations and meanings of each station of the walk and took off.  On the way, we stopped in the Armenian Quarter and went into St. James church.

We also went out to Mt. Zion.  We went by David's Tomb and tried to find the Last Supper location.  Along the way, we saw the Church of the Dormation and a Fransiscan church.

After this we walked up to Gethsemane.

This is a view of the Mercy (Eastern) Gate from Gethsemane.  You can see it closed up and the cemetery in front of it - all to prevent the Messiah coming in.  Honestly, I had forgotten about this until Erin asked me about it when I got back.  I just happened to have this shot and am now so thankful for it!

We also decided to walk up to the Mount of Olives instead of coming back later.  It made for some amazing views of Jerusalem.  We were able to see the Old and New City, the Kidron Valley, and the cemeteries of the city.  This is also the best view we had of the Dome on the Rock since we aren't allowed to go in.

After a few minutes of enjoying the view, we went continued on to the Via Dolorosa.  It took a few hours but was such a interesting experience.  I liked how many different traditions had a role in presenting the stations of the cross.  While some were more meaningful to me than others, it was an amazing thing to see how others responded to it.  Again, there are photos of each station but I think this one sums it up pretty well:

After we went through all fourteen stations, we made our way out to another location others believe Jesus's death and burial site.  It was just outside the Old City and was another place that was significantly meaningful to me.

That night we went to have Ethiopian food for dinner.  It is Emily's favorite and I was up for an adventure.  It was tasty and I'm really glad we went.  Afterwards we went to find the frozen yogurt place again but quickly realized it was offically Sabbath.  Everything was closed except for trusty McDonalds.  Thank goodness they have pretty good soft serve!  As we were walking around, we saw some orthodox men walking to synogoge singing and clapping happily.  I so wanted to video them but have enough sense to not be that person.  We also saw people coming and going to synogoge as we walked around further.

The Old City walls at night:

The next day we headed back to Tel Aviv for our flight back to Cairo.  It was the morning we got an hour back of our time.  We still have no idea how that happened.  We also received the most thorough security sweep known to man.  Thank you Egypt for being such a great neighbor!  That extra hour came in handy with that hour and a half search.  We made it in and then made it back to real life.

I loved travelling with Emily.  She has become one of my favorite people.  She makes me laugh but can also hold some great conversations.  From light car ride talks to discussing the history of the region, it was a blast.  It was fun to be driving along and see a sign for Mt Nebo, pull out her Kindle, and seeing what happened there. (Where Moses saw the Promised Land and then died).  That happened several times.  We were so busy enjoying it we didn't get a single picture together.  Despite that, I'm glad my first trip to Israel was with her.

It was an amazing trip!  I was talking to a coworker on the bus yesterday morning and he said something that I totally agreed with.  Israel is one of the most alive places he has ever been.  He said that you can go to Roman ruins and ancient temples around the world but they have obviously ended.  Israel has been here for thousands of years and it is still here.  It's so true.  It lives and breathes generations of life.  I loved it.  I loved it so much that I booked a return ticket for June.  Fours days was NOT enough time.  The plane, guesthouse, and a tour are booked.  My list of things to see is in the works with some places already set.  That week won't be enough time either.  Israel will be that place I love more and more.  It will be that place where I can't go enough.  Israel, how I cannot wait to see you again!