Yesterday was a very big day. First we woke up at 8:00, got dressed and gathered our things for the day. We went downstairs to eat a breakfast consisting of mostly cereal because no one wanted to eat salad for breakfast. Then we got on the bus for a very short ride to the Old City of Jerusalem.
Once we got in they made us close our eyes for a little while so we wouldn’t see the Western Wall. Then we went to the entrance of the Western Wall where we had to go through a security then once we got on the other side we and held hands and closed our eyes, and started to walk towards the Western Wall with our backs turned towards it. We stopped and they told us to open our eyes and turn around. We did so and saw the great Western Wall. We all took a minute to look at it and see the thing that we heard about for all our life but finally got to see in person. It was tall and like all of Jerusalem it was smooth and gold. We wrote notes to place in the wall using pens and paper that the chaperones gave out. Some of the girls put on skirts and long sleeves and Ilan and I put yarmulkes that they had at the wall. The girls went on their side, that was considerably smaller, and me, Ilan and Drew went on ours. We placed our notes in and said a prayer of our own.
Then we looked at it for a little bit longer and started to head for the Temple Mount where we saw the Golden Dome and the El-Aqsa mosque. It was very pretty and had a lot of cool designs on it. After that we headed to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in there for once we might have been the only Jews. We saw a lot of famous sites all of which had to do with Jesus, and there was this Russian Christian group that was walking around holding huge metal crosses and chanting something that I couldn’t understand.
Then we went to get lunch and see the Jewish quarter of the Old City. For lunch we went to Burgers Bar where I got a nice big burger and cold Coke. Then we went to the tunnels of the Western Wall. It’s a place under the Jewish quarter that runs along the Western Wall. We walked along it until we got to the exit where we got out and entered the streets. Then we went back to the streets and walked to the western wall again where we hit the bathrooms and went back to the hotel and went to big because we have a big day tomorrow.
I think this is certainly found this one of the most exciting parts of Jerusalem, seeing all the religions walking through the various quarters, with great respect and interest. Our group was all Jewish except for Nick, who told us and led us through the path that Jesus took. It made it that much more meaningful. Of course he found the Jewish Quarter and the wall the best. Thank you all for making Israel even more wonderful as seen through your keen eyes. Great trip. Gideon's Grandma, Lore
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