Old City Walks

We've been doing a lot of walking around the past two days. Five hours each day, to be exact. We haven't taken bus tours, but instead walk everywhere. This helps us to understand the geography and better interact with the land. I appreciate this approach, and it will also help me drop a few pounds!

This is a view of the Mount of Olives taken from Mt. Zion. The Mount of Olives is where Jesus ascended into heaven.

This is the Western Wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. The walls and gates are really cool. Some of the bottom level stones date to the time of Jesus, and the upper levels were constructed by the Ottomans. The Old City is divided into four quarters: Armenian, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. There are holy sites in each quarter. The Muslim holy site is the dome of the rock, where they believe Mohammed ascended into heaven. The Christian holy site is the Church of the Holy Seplechur. The Jewish holy site is the Wailing Wall, and the video for that is in the previous post. It is lots of fun to hang out in the Old City.

This is me with the Dome of the Rock in the background. This site build on the Temple Mount, also known as Mt. Moriah. It was in this location that Abraham was going to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, and was the site of the Holy of Holies and the temple. It is also considered a Muslim holy site. The wall you see surrounding the Dome of the Rock is the wall separating the temple compound. On the Western Wall is where the Jews worship and pray, known as the Wailing Wall.