A Breakthrough....
Today we sit in Haifa, Israel and I sit on the ship serving my in port manning duty. This same duty kept me from seeing Salalah, Oman and Sharm El Sheik in Egypt as well as Alexandria (but I'd been to Alexandria and Cairo more than enough already). Yesterday was a momentous occasion that I was delighted to take part. It was the first time in 7 years that a Holland America ship docked in an Israeli port of call, which was Ashdod, Israel. The states of affairs are finally at peace enough to have us visit the port. It was slightly unsettling to go out into port today with the thought that with every first there are lessons to be learned and thankfully no harm or incidents happened while we were out in the countryside. Our tour guide told us that day that there are some areas that are still under Palestinian law. Under the law (and for the protection of the Israelis), no Israeli is allowed to be in an area still under Palestine Rule. Our guide said it is to keep down the incidents where terrorist groups kidnap Israelis and hold them ransom to trade for terrorist hostages. There are certain windows provided by the governments that allow tour guides who are Israeli to cross the borders. This is the case for Bethlehem. We set out in the morning on a bus to go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. What was also interesting about today's journey was that its now Jewish Passover and we are in the midst of Christian Easter. 
Two major religious events for Jerusalem with history behind it that people from both factions of religion have learned since they attended temple or church. We set out with warning of the large crowds and traffic that would be happening today because of Holy Week. Indeed we did encounter such crowds and traffic. As we traveled along the countryside I could only imagine what it must have been like over 3,000 years ago and then imagined what it was like over 5,000 years ago. According to our touristy little handout, Israel's account of history began in 3200 BC in the Early Bronze Age. 
That's quite ancient if you ask me. I think it's one of the oldest places I've been to yet. There were many olive trees and olive groves casing the landscape as we approached Jerusalem. Once we were there, we were told that the city has fallen so many times that the actual and original city of Jerusalem was about 20 meters below ground. We were in the midst of traffic and a city I never imagined Jerusalem to be in my imagination. It was a mixture of old and new. Our main focus was to get to the old city and we ran into many obstacles since the police had sectioned off many areas surrounding the old city. We traveled up to Mt. Olive where we made our first stop. We had a beautiful panoramic view of the old city, Mt. Zion, and a faint sighting of Jordan in the desert region. It was breathtaking. From here we traveled to one of the entrances to the old city. The closest gate we could get to was the entrance near the Muslim quarter of the city. We strolled through many narrow areas of the souks. 
There were all kinds of shops for anything you needed. Along the way we followed the path of the cross. There are stations marked to note where Jesus stopped on his way to the church to talk with his followers or to rest. He walked through Jerusalem while carrying his large cross. The places were packed with people milling about through the city. 
We stopped for a lunch and shopping break where we had chicken in a pita sandwich. Yummy. We continued on to Mt. Zion in the Jewish quarter where we had an overlook of the temple and the western Wailing Wall. In the Jewish quarter there were hundreds of worshippers coming to say their prayers on the wall. It was definitely a sight to see. Here the men and women had to separate into two areas in order to pray by the wall. Once you have your head covered, you can approach the wall and touch it while you pray or slip a piece of paper with your prayer on it into the wall. There were so many people praying, I decided to say my prayers from a distance and respect those who were worshipping the wall with fervor. 
Because of all the traffic and blockades we made our way back through the city on foot instead of exiting through the Western Wall gate. Instead we exited through the Jaffa Gate. Here we caught our bus to go back to the port area. With all the traffic in the city and the time it took to get through the old city on foot, we missed our window to go into Bethlehem. We did drive up to its borders and view it from a hilltop. As I watched over the town of Bethlehem a cloud patch got in front of the sun. The rays poked out at every angle from the side as I looked over Bethlehem and it had a Godly appearance. 
In the distance there was a sheepherder and his flock on the hillside. I got chills for a moment since this was like all the paintings you see in the churches and galleries of the Holy area. We were also close to the Jordan Desert and the Dead Sea. It would have been fascinating to go through the desert to Masada, which overlooks the sea, and to stroll into the Dead Sea itself. The salt concentration is noted to be so high that nothing will live in it. The mineral and salt content in the sea is supposed to be excellent for your skin though. I came back to the ship so overwhelmed by the sights I was able to take in today and all the history revisited.
Two major religious events for Jerusalem with history behind it that people from both factions of religion have learned since they attended temple or church. We set out with warning of the large crowds and traffic that would be happening today because of Holy Week. Indeed we did encounter such crowds and traffic. As we traveled along the countryside I could only imagine what it must have been like over 3,000 years ago and then imagined what it was like over 5,000 years ago. According to our touristy little handout, Israel's account of history began in 3200 BC in the Early Bronze Age. 
That's quite ancient if you ask me. I think it's one of the oldest places I've been to yet. There were many olive trees and olive groves casing the landscape as we approached Jerusalem. Once we were there, we were told that the city has fallen so many times that the actual and original city of Jerusalem was about 20 meters below ground. We were in the midst of traffic and a city I never imagined Jerusalem to be in my imagination. It was a mixture of old and new. Our main focus was to get to the old city and we ran into many obstacles since the police had sectioned off many areas surrounding the old city. We traveled up to Mt. Olive where we made our first stop. We had a beautiful panoramic view of the old city, Mt. Zion, and a faint sighting of Jordan in the desert region. It was breathtaking. From here we traveled to one of the entrances to the old city. The closest gate we could get to was the entrance near the Muslim quarter of the city. We strolled through many narrow areas of the souks. 
There were all kinds of shops for anything you needed. Along the way we followed the path of the cross. There are stations marked to note where Jesus stopped on his way to the church to talk with his followers or to rest. He walked through Jerusalem while carrying his large cross. The places were packed with people milling about through the city. 
We stopped for a lunch and shopping break where we had chicken in a pita sandwich. Yummy. We continued on to Mt. Zion in the Jewish quarter where we had an overlook of the temple and the western Wailing Wall. In the Jewish quarter there were hundreds of worshippers coming to say their prayers on the wall. It was definitely a sight to see. Here the men and women had to separate into two areas in order to pray by the wall. Once you have your head covered, you can approach the wall and touch it while you pray or slip a piece of paper with your prayer on it into the wall. There were so many people praying, I decided to say my prayers from a distance and respect those who were worshipping the wall with fervor. 
Because of all the traffic and blockades we made our way back through the city on foot instead of exiting through the Western Wall gate. Instead we exited through the Jaffa Gate. Here we caught our bus to go back to the port area. With all the traffic in the city and the time it took to get through the old city on foot, we missed our window to go into Bethlehem. We did drive up to its borders and view it from a hilltop. As I watched over the town of Bethlehem a cloud patch got in front of the sun. The rays poked out at every angle from the side as I looked over Bethlehem and it had a Godly appearance. 
In the distance there was a sheepherder and his flock on the hillside. I got chills for a moment since this was like all the paintings you see in the churches and galleries of the Holy area. We were also close to the Jordan Desert and the Dead Sea. It would have been fascinating to go through the desert to Masada, which overlooks the sea, and to stroll into the Dead Sea itself. The salt concentration is noted to be so high that nothing will live in it. The mineral and salt content in the sea is supposed to be excellent for your skin though. I came back to the ship so overwhelmed by the sights I was able to take in today and all the history revisited.
posted by Chris | 8:48 AM
1 Comments:
WOW.....is all I can say and your so right that picture sure has a godly apperance like maybe he watching over you as you travel the globe. I have been told by my online friend that you write so beautiful. Oh and also just to let you know I still viewing your pictures and notes of travel.
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