Israel/Jordan 2023: Jerusalem, part 1

We reached Jerusalem after a 2-hour drive from Beit Shean. A delay in hotel check-in (I suppose the logistics in handling over 40 people is a bit complicated even for seasoned tour company), then it was an afternoon all to ourselves. Although, if you choose to, you can attend the afternoon Optional Tour (translation: extra fee) of the New City and the Holocaust Museum. The tour of the old city itself was scheduled the following day - although it was only for a half day. The other half of tomorrow would be spent in Bethlehem.

With that information we knew that 1/2 day of Jerusalem will not be enough to cover everything. This is the downside of being in a tour group. You follow their schedule, unless there's a free day or free afternoon just like today.

With another couple who like us didn't fancy a tour of the New City nor the Holocaust Museum, we ordered a taxi and we planned on exploring the Old City on our own.

The drive to the Old City was met with traffic jams. That's when I realized that even Jerusalem is not off the hook with traffic woes. We asked to be dropped off at Mt. Olives at the lookout point. This is obviously the spot because the place was packed with visitors enjoying the panoramic view of the Old Jerusalem.

We stayed at Dan Jerusalem Hotel.

The quintessential postcard shot. The feeling I got standing there, looking out at the historic Jerusalem is incredible. I think I had an out-of-body experience. There was the disbelief that this was happening to me. I don't think I was able to be truly present in the moment or even grasp the full magnitude of the experience. I thought I'd just keep on taking photos.

From the viewpoint, we crossed the street to check out the church that we saw on the drive here. We thought it was this, but instead we saw the Chapel of the Ascension. Inside the compound, we saw a small domed chapel that had no windows. Also in the compound are archeological items/ruins and one of them is labeled "the remains of a Byzantine church."

Upon our arrival, we were the only ones there, so I was okay to visit the chapel and see what's inside. But, in one millisecond, there's a large group of people already lining up to crowd into the tiny chapel. I was still very worried about contracting Covid. I want to see this whole trip through without contracting Covid (I knew people came home from trips bringing Covid home and I did not want to be one of those.) so I didn't even pursue it. None of my companions were eager to get in there knowing it's going to be crowded.

Later on, I found out that inside the domed building was a slab of stone believed to contain a footprint from the Resurrected Lord. This was also the spot Christians believed to be the place where Jesus ascended into heaven. Had I known this fact beforehand, would I have gone with complete disregard for the risk of getting Covid? I would not know. I do regret that I did not get to see the slab.

On the walk back to the viewpoint, we saw many people leaving another compound. I noticed this gated compound earlier, but I was not sure if it's open for walk-ins like us. I don't know why I had the feeling that this church was only open for Orthodox people. Thus, on the walk back I urged my companions to at least check out what's inside the gate. I was curious because at that time I suspected this was the impressive church we spotted on the car ride here. I don't know if it was, because we didn't get past the inside of the gate. None of us were brave enough to try to get in. There was a long walkway from the gate to the church itself, so from the gate area we all just took photos. Much later on, per Mr. Google this church is called Pater Noster, a Roman Catholic church, and not an Orthodox Church as I thought. Such a pity that I didn't get to see the interiors. But as my husband always say, you cannot see everything all at once.

Afterwards, on our way to Old Jerusalem we spotted the Basilica of Gethsemane - aka Church of All Nations - serendipity for sure. I was quite lazy during this trip, that I barely made any pre-trip Googling so this discovery was such a gratifying moment.

In order to reach the Basilica, you have to walk past the garden, which is planted with olive trees. You can tell by the looks of their trunks that they are ancient.

Facing the altar.

Facing the egress.

This was the bedrock where Jesus is believed to have prayed. We got lucky that there was no service at the time of visit and we got to look around freely.

A little video clip.

From our entry point, there is no way to photograph the facade completely. The accomplish that we had to leave the garden and walk down a bit, and cross the street, because the front of the church is surrounded by a fence.

From here, we walked down the hill to walled Old Jerusalem via this very steep road. It's the most direct route I believe for people on foot, if not the only way. It was so steep that you better have good traction on your shoes. Unfortunately, I watched as an old lady slipped and thankfully there were many people around her that they were able to assist her immediately.

Jerusalem requires more than one post.