Today I successfully took the New Europe(still don't know why they don't call it new Middle East or something) tour of Jerusalem. The guide didn't have a cast on his finger so it must not have been him who cancelled yesterday, had it been I would have mocked him or at least thought about it. The tour was really pretty good, though not quite as good as say Berlin or Prague. My guide was Israeli, and thus spoke less than perfect English. On all the New Europe tours I took in Europe the guides were native English speakers, but this was only a minor complaint. The guide was quite knowledgeable and witty, he made a joke at the end which made me chuckle. The tour went to all the major sites in the city, and was very informative.
I visited the holiest sites in Christianity and Judaism, as well as the third holiest site in Islam on this tour. Obviously this is part of what makes this city so incredible and unique, nowhere else in the world do such massive history changing movements meet. The western/wailing wall was quite an experience, the remnants of the second Jewish temple that was destroyed by the Romans is amazing. No one spoke other than prayer, and some people were so emotional that they were crying. I felt something, not a deep spiritual Jewish connection, but something is definitely present there.
The Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock make up the holy site for Muslims. The prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven from this spot and returned. Unfortunately, the Dome of the Rock has been closed to non-Muslims since the second intifada. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, I would have loved to get into it. The Al Alqsa mosque was also closed to non-Muslims, and apparently has short sporadic openings for the outside world. At least I saw them from the outside. What was crazy was to see all the Muslims from all over the old city rushing to these mosques when the prayer was called. The dedication to the religion is impressive.
Finally was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and wow I can't really describe it. The place where Jesus was crucified, buried, and came back is this one church. I went inside Jesus' tomb...let me say that again so I'm sure it actually happened, I WENT INSIDE JESUS' TOMB! The amount of Christian pilgrims, mainly from Europe, in the church was overwhelming. I heard Greek, Russian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, and Amharic along with the big three of this country(Hebrew, Arabic, English). Also amazing is how the different denominations fight over the church. Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic, and Ethiopian Orthodox have fought over who controls the church for centuries. Even down to a simple wooden ladder has not been touched in 160 years because of this. A Muslim family opens and closes the church everyday because of this as well, and they have since the days of Salahdin.
The history and culture of this city is unlike any other, and because of that it's easy to love it. It is also one of the most fought over cities in history and that is apparent sometimes. A Palestinian tour guide tried to pouch us from our Israeli guide and when no one defected he got angry. He called us "Jew lovers" and said we hated Arabs and only contributed to the Jewish occupation.
I visited the holiest sites in Christianity and Judaism, as well as the third holiest site in Islam on this tour. Obviously this is part of what makes this city so incredible and unique, nowhere else in the world do such massive history changing movements meet. The western/wailing wall was quite an experience, the remnants of the second Jewish temple that was destroyed by the Romans is amazing. No one spoke other than prayer, and some people were so emotional that they were crying. I felt something, not a deep spiritual Jewish connection, but something is definitely present there.
The Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock make up the holy site for Muslims. The prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven from this spot and returned. Unfortunately, the Dome of the Rock has been closed to non-Muslims since the second intifada. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, I would have loved to get into it. The Al Alqsa mosque was also closed to non-Muslims, and apparently has short sporadic openings for the outside world. At least I saw them from the outside. What was crazy was to see all the Muslims from all over the old city rushing to these mosques when the prayer was called. The dedication to the religion is impressive.
Finally was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and wow I can't really describe it. The place where Jesus was crucified, buried, and came back is this one church. I went inside Jesus' tomb...let me say that again so I'm sure it actually happened, I WENT INSIDE JESUS' TOMB! The amount of Christian pilgrims, mainly from Europe, in the church was overwhelming. I heard Greek, Russian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, and Amharic along with the big three of this country(Hebrew, Arabic, English). Also amazing is how the different denominations fight over the church. Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic, and Ethiopian Orthodox have fought over who controls the church for centuries. Even down to a simple wooden ladder has not been touched in 160 years because of this. A Muslim family opens and closes the church everyday because of this as well, and they have since the days of Salahdin.
daaang at the last paragraph. sounds like a fantastic time!
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