Robbin’s Journey

The best things in life aren’t things.

Jerusalem, Israel Day 67 March 27, 2023

Jerusalem is one of the holiest cities in the world. This is where the Jews built their sacred Temple, Mohammed rose to heaven, and Jesus was crucified.

The Island Princess docked in Ashdod, Israel. We toured Jerusalem visiting the “Old City” including the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mt. Olives, the Via Dolorosa (the stations of the cross) and a shopping bizarre. Also, got a lovely view of the area including the city of Bethlehem. We didn’t go into Bethlehem as it is located in Palestine requiring special permission.

The Western Wall is considered the most important religious site for Jewish people. Women were praying on the right side of the partition and men on the left side.

Sunrise over harbor
Some celebration, music and chatting
The Western Wall
Praying at the wall, closest to where the Holy of Holies was during temple times.
A bunch of women we’re looking over to the men’s side where…
…A boy was celebrating his bar mitzvah. I think!
Selfie
Holy water?!? For???
Chatting, drums and jumping!
Not what I expected!

Next we walked through the Old City, viewing the Via Dolorosa “the way of sorrows” believed to be the path Jesus walked during his crucifixion. Plaques on walls gave their numbers. We only saw about 3 of them. Only have a picture of one! Oops!

First one we saw, not first one.
Interesting structure
The old city streets
Interesting doorway
Looking into an open doorway off the street
Little Jewish stool very similar to my little Mexican stool I got as a child on Olivera Street Los Angeles

Mostly the Old City was full of souvenir shops! I got a pretty scarf and a bag of candy. Candy for the ship’s crew. …Yes, I did eat a few. Really good almond and pistachio ones!

Little boy making carrot juice.
Bakery goods
Shop
Barber
Cute camel bags
The candy man
Police officers
A bigger shop
Crowded streets
Praying over the believed “place of resurrection!” Inside Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Church of the Holy Sepulcher was large and went on forever. It’s believed to enshrine the sites of Christ’s crucifixion, entombment, & resurrection.

Next we went to an overlook. Magnificent view of Jerusalem including the Old City, Garden of Gethsemane, Mount of Olives, the Temple Mount (now the site of the Dome of the Rock) and the city of Bethlehem.

We were so lucky to be able to visit and get back onboard without incident. Heavy, heavy traffic. Our tour guide was difficult to understand at times and she gave us some local event as the reason for the extra traffic, however, once back onboard we found out there were protesters rioting in Jerusalem due to unhappiness with changes made by the current prime minister. The airport was shut down. In light of this new information, we had a terrific tour!

Yes, I did place my pray in the Western Wall. I wanted to have the experience. It’s incredible to be able to touch the wall. Touching history.

Seeing people praying in all different types of ways reminded me of a sign I saw on a building once. “Does God seem far away? Guess who moved?”

robbinsjourney

2 responses to “Jerusalem, Israel Day 67 March 27, 2023”

  1. Mary richmond Avatar
    Mary richmond

    It just keeps getting better. This is my favorite yet. I would love to take a trip just there. So much to see. Its amazing how much you got to see in one day (I assume thats how long you were there). Thats what comes from a well organized tour. It just looks fantastic. I wonder if the Western Wall is the same as the Wailing Wall. A friend went there years ago and mentioned that one and how special it was. Seems the same with lots of people praying at the wall.
    I did read about the trouble in Israel and protesting etc. Wondered about your and if it affected your trip. Fortunately, not I see. Keep it coming………

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    1. robbinsjourney Avatar
      robbinsjourney

      Yes we are in each port for one day. Once in a while it’s over night like Dubai. We booked the excursions/tours through Princess pre-cruise. Yes, the wailing wall is the same. I had always heard it that way but they referred to it as the Western Wall.

      The living conditions didn’t seem to be as good in Jerusalem as say Turkey or even Jordan. That was surprising. Only ugly, small apartments in the city. No single family residences. I only saw a few SFRs in the county side where it was horse property/ agricultural area.

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