On Sunday we started out the day exploring the tunnels that run along the West Wall all under the city. There are tons of excavations going on all over under the city since the original ground from the time of Christ is buried deep down. It's kind of crazy though, it seems as though the whole city is eventually just going to collapse into itself if the excavations continue much longer. As we were walking along Jim kept telling us that we were right under people's basements.
After the tunnel explorations we went up to the top part of the temple where the Dome of the Rock is. The top part of the temple is controlled by the Muslims, and they're pretty strict about letting people in. Some people in our group had to buy scarves to cover their arms and legs a little better (and this is a group of LDS tourists who are already pretty well covered) and Carol ended up sneaking her New Testament in under her clothes since they would've taken it if they had seen it in her bag. Pretty crazy all the power struggles that are clearly apparent all over the city of Jerusalem. And all so that they can have control of the temple.
The rest of Sunday was spent touring around the old city following along the path that traditionally people believe Christ walked while carrying the cross. I'll be honest, I don't remember a whole lot from this day. It was a pretty hot, long day, and ultimately it seemed like a lot of the places were more so just tourist traps rather than actually significant locations. We ended up at the southern steps of the temple which was actually a really neat place. This is where Christ would've entered the temple daily and where a lot of the miracles he performed took place. It really was pretty incredible being in all of these places and being reminded of the wonderful things that took place there hundreds of years ago. I can't really do it all justice here just trying to explain it all.
Monday was our last full day in Jerusalem. First thing we did was head out of the city to Bethany where we visited Lazarus' tomb. Hundreds of years ago it was just a short walk between Jerusalem and Bethany, but nowadays it's about a 20 minute drive because of a large wall that has been built, separating the Palestinian territory from the Jewish territory. I continued to be shocked by the segregation and anger of these groups and how built into their way of life it all is. It all makes one pretty grateful for the overall unity that is felt in our country, despite the differing political views and religious backgrounds.
After Bethany we made our way back to the city, stopping at some great panoramic lookouts of the city and walking along the path Christ took into the city on Palm Sunday.
After our walk we went to the upper room where tradition holds that the last supper took place. It was pretty interesting being in the upper room with a group of Muslim tourists, as well as some Christians from India. Even with the different religious beliefs we were all coming to it as a sacred place and the spirit was so strong.
We ended up at the Garden Tomb which was definitely one of my favorite places in Jerusalem. It's was so amazing how even being in the middle of a busy, loud city, as soon as you entered into the garden there was a sense of quiet and peace. Luckily huge churches were never built over the Garden Tomb since it wasn't found until the 1800's, so it's been well preserved and nicely secluded. We had a wonderful testimony meeting among our group and had some time to walk around and just enjoy the gorgeous garden. It was a great way to finish our time in Jerusalem and was definitely one of my favorite stops.
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