'O, Jerusalem'

Jerusalem is such a fascinating city! We had some great experiences there, and we were grateful to be there. (Above is a view of the city from Mount Scopus.)

For both of us the Jerusalem highlights are the Garden Tomb and the Garden of Gethsemane. We really felt the holiness of those places. (Below: me coming out of the tomb and a photo of Gethsemane)

It was also really cool to see the wailing wall. The men and women were separated, and Kim and I decided to write our wishes and place them in the wall, as is customary. I'm not saying I believe my piece of paper in the wall is more likely to come to God's attention by being there than it would if I prayed for it, but it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it.

Jacob had to wear a yarmulke, and he opted not to make a wish. Our tour guide says people fax their wishes, and someone's job is to put them in the wall!

Below is the Mount of Olives. You can see that it's basically a huge cemetery because Jewish people believe those buried on the Mount will be the first to be resurrected. Our Jewish tour guide (Raphy) mentioned it was very expensive to be buried on the Mount of Olives and that he would be happy waiting a few more seconds to be resurrected.
The photo on the right shows Jacob eating an olive on the Mount of Olives (that he had just picked from the tree behind him). The olives were awful--way overripe. But it was fun to hike the Mount. We actually hiked most of the Mount in Orson Hyde Park, which covers a vast area of the Mount.