Day 6

I'm getting closer to the finish line. I just have a few more posts (2?) to finish up the trip.

This was my view at breakfast on Day Six. There were actually people swimming in the pool and it was not warm that morning.

On my previous three trips to Israel, the group didn't go to the Dome of the Rock or to the Temple Mount. I was excited to be doing something else new.

The picture above and the picture below were taken while we were waiting in line. We had to go through security and a scanner and we had to allow them to look in our bags.

Fashion statement -- normally, I would not wear red and pink together but I had to layer every day and my fleece vest just happens to be bright pink.

It was beautiful.

The workmanship was amazing on these old pieces.

As we were walking, we could see the gold dome.

Look at the detail below!!

This was my view to the right (above)

and the view to my left (below)

Rafi has been our guide on all four trips. He is a citizen of Israel and is Jewish. He is the man on the right of the picture below with the white hat.

Look at the picture below. This was on the outside of the mosque and it looks like a demon face!! It was some kind of art that just happened to look like a demon. Rafi compared it to an inkblot test. The Temple Mount is not controlled by Muslims and is open only a couple of hours on certain days of the week. We could not go INTO the mosque but were able to walk around and see everything outside.

The wind was blowing like crazy and it was quite cold.

The photo below is my POV as I was looking up.

We were inside this little "gazebo."

After leaving the Temple Mount, we headed to the Teaching steps. Some of these steps are original and Mary and Joseph and Jesus would all have walked on those steps. Sitting on them is so humbling.

Our next stop was the Western Wall. Brian took a pic of the guys on the men's side but I didn't take any pictures on the women's side. It was sooooooo crowded this year.

I had a HUGE plastic bag of prayers from folks at church. We divided them up amongst the group and prayed for all of those requests while standing in a very holy place. Yes - I firmly believe God hears our prayers no matter where we are but this is indeed a holy place.

We headed to another "new to us" site -- The City of David. I loved every minute. My class for this semester is Survey of the Old Testament and I had been reading all about King David and that time period so to actually walk where David walked - powerful. We climbed through amazing tunnels -- how did they build it back then??? We ended up at the Pool of Siloam. For those of you interested in the stories from the Bible, the Pool of Siloam is where Jesus mixed mud and placed it on the man who had been blind since birth . . .and the man was able to see.

I wish I had more pictures inside the tunnels - it was amazing!! We had planned to walk Hezekiah's tunnel but it is a wet tunnel and it was too cold. We walked the dry tunnel instead which is called the Canaanite Tunnel. It is 4000 years old and King David and his men probably used this tunnel. Once again, I was amazed!! If you travel to Jerusalem, this is a must do.

Shiloah and Siloam - same thing

our group standing by the pool

We have on multiple layers!!

The Pool of Siloam was only discovered in 2004 when workmen hit the first step. I borrowed these two pictures - above and below from the internet. Angela, Donna, and I are standing at the bottom of that metal staircase in the picture up above (multiple layers).